Shigeru Miyamoto
Hired as Nintendo's first staff artist through a family introduction; created Mario and Zelda.
- Born
- 1952 · Sonobe, Kyoto, Japan
- Roots
- Japanese
- Family
- Middle class
- Rural household outside Kyoto; his father taught English.
- Education
- Kanazawa College of Industrial Arts (industrial design)
- Started with
- A family introduction
- His father arranged an interview with Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi in 1977.
- Affiliations & societies
- None documented.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1977 · age 24Nintendo's first staff artist
Hired into a playing-card-and-toy company moving into arcade games.
- 1981 · age 28Donkey Kong
Asked to salvage unsold arcade cabinets after a flop; the game rescues Nintendo's US business.
- 1985 · age 32Super Mario Bros.
Defines the side-scrolling platform genre; bundled with the NES worldwide.
- 1986 · age 33The Legend of Zelda
- 2006 · age 53Wii
Leads the motion-control design push that broadens gaming's audience.
- 2019 · age 66Person of Cultural Merit
Among Japan's highest cultural honors.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.