Mario and Zelda legend Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo’s “generational handover” is “progressing smoothly,” with “developers that are young and brilliant”

Shigeru Miyamoto, a man who probably doesn’t need an introduction but who I will nonetheless remind you created The Legend of Zelda and Mario series, has responded to concerns about his age.

During Nintendo’s 2024 shareholders meeting (via Automaton), Miyamoto was once again reportedly asked to comment on his own age and whether he plans to remain at the helm. At 71, Miyamoto has been with the company since 1977 and said as recently as December that he isn’t retiring any time soon, but it’s natural for the question to come up more and more frequently as he ages.

Miyamoto had a different answer this time. Although he said nothing about retirement, he did acknowledge that there’s a “generational handover” happening and suggested there’s already plenty of talented new blood at the Big N.

“I consider (Nintendo’s) generational handover to be progressing smoothly,” he said. “We have developers that are young and brilliant.”

It’s hard to imagine a single game developer with as much sustained influence as Miyamoto, having created several of the industry’s most enduring mascots and having been involved in the design of every piece of Nintendo hardware from the NES to the Switch. To say Nintendo’s new developers have big shoes to fill is an enormous understatement, but it’s encouraging to know they’re doing so under Miyamoto’s stewardship.

Automaton reports that Miyamoto said during the same meeting that “most of the practical development” on new Nintendo games is relegated to younger developers, but “he is not detached from the process either.” He added that he’s still “fully involved” in the development of Pikmin Bloom, the mobile adaptation from Pokemon Go developer Niantic.

It’s never a bad time to play something from our list of the best NES games.