‘It’s going to be fun’: Miyamoto discusses Mario Galaxy Movie and the future of Mario games
Miyamoto says he has “deep feelings” for every Super Mario game he’s worked on
Shigeru Miyamoto has discussed the Super Mario Galaxy Movie and the future of Super Mario games in a new interview.
Super Mario dons the cover of the latest issue of Casa Brutus, a Japanese magazine focused on design and architecture. The issues covers a broad range of topics related to the Nintendo mascot, including the creation of the original Super Mario Bros., the Nintendo Museum, and Super Nintendo World theme park.
The issue also includes an interview with designer Shigeru Miyamoto, in which the Nintendo director touches on the upcoming movie sequel, and his thoughts on how the Super Mario series will evolve in the future.
On The Super Mario Galaxy movie, Miyamoto suggested that he’s confident Illumination and Nintendo will deliver a strong follow-up to the $1.3 billion-grossing original.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie was possible because so many people took action and worked together,” Miyamoto said, via machine translation. “As a producer, I tried to make sure the team functioned smoothly. Many of the people involved said they’d like to work on the next project as well, so I guess that means we succeeded to some extent?”
He added: “The setting for the next movie is, just as the title says, the galaxy — that’s all I can really say. We’re in the final stages of production now, but I think it’s going to be fun. I usually just say, ‘I’ll keep working on it until it becomes fun,’ so that alone should tell you how confident I am (laughs).”
Discussing the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario series, Miyamoto said he has “deep feelings” for every game he worked on.
“By the time we finished Super Mario World, I felt we had thoroughly explored what could be done with Mario in two dimensions,” he said. “Then, when we moved into 3D with Super Mario 64, it brought back memories from my childhood.”
Miyamoto said that even though he isn’t as involved in game development today compared to the past, he still ensures that each entry has “Mario-ness”, which he defines as being easily accessible and unique.
“Nowadays, I have teammates who help maintain the world of Mario, so I entrust much of it to them,” he said. “Even so, I always personally play through about the first 30 minutes of the game and check the interface thoroughly — to make sure it really feels like Mario.”
Looking to the future, Nintendo’s creative fellow suggested that he was looking forward to experiencing Mario’s evolution as more of a bystander than he has in the past.
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“With the help of many passionate people outside our company, Mario has expanded into theme parks and movies, and I’m really looking forward to how things will develop from here,” he said.
“Up through Super Mario Odyssey, I feel we’ve done just about everything we could on the Switch. In the past, whenever a new console came out, we always released a new Mario game, so I do wonder how the current team will take on that challenge.
“But maybe I’ll say, ‘I won’t look anymore!’ (laughs) I just hope to stay healthy until Mario’s 50th anniversary!”
As part of the Super Mario 40th anniversary celebrations, Miyamoto and other members of the original Super Mario Bros. development team also featured in the first issue of the Nintendo Museum Official Book.
