Miyamoto responds to retirement talk

We had a bit of excitement earlier this week with word coming from Wired that Nintendo superstar Shigeru Miyamoto would be taking his leave of the company. In the time since shareholders have wavered, Nintendo has been quick to deny and, finally, Miyamoto has made a statement clarifying his intent. In an interview with MSBC’s In-Game he states that “There is no plan to retire.”

He goes on to intimate that the company probably would not “allow [him] to retire.” Apparently that last bit is a joke. However, the company’s stock dropped 2% soon after his supposed retirement was announced, so there’s an obvious need for him, or someone like him. That, Miyamoto continues, was his intended meaning in the Wired interview. 

“For many years now I’ve been repeatedly telling this to the team at Nintendo so they can be more responsible. So they can take on more important assignments and take the initiative to make quality games to finalize and commercialize for the company.”

He looks at recent works like Super Mario 3D Land and Skyward Sword as proof that his teams are finally growing into his shoes. His goal is to have teams in place that can manage themselves without his presence after his eventual retirement.

So there you have it: Miyamoto’s not retiring and all is well. 

Miyamoto says he has ‘no plans’ to retire, but is preparing devs for his eventual departure [MSNBC via GoNintendo]