Shigeru Miyamoto (Ohga Shrugs)

Shigeru Miyamoto (born November 16, 1952) is a Japanese video game designer and producer. He is known for creating and working on some of the most notable video game franchises of all time, including Mario, The Legend of Zelda Star Fox, F-Zero, Pikmin, and the Revolution series.

He is currently a general manager at Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division.

Biography
Shigeru Miyamoto was born November 16, 1952, in the town of Sonobe, Kyoto. He was strongly influenced by his childhood experiences, which would influence his later works in various ways. After graduating from college, he had no job waiting for him. He considered becoming a manga artist, but instead got roped into helping Nintendo make some of their earliest video games.

In 1979, Shigeru Miyamoto had completed the artwork for Sheriff, an early dual-stick shooter. However, his first major hit was the game Donkey Kong. Tasked with modifying an existing game called Radar Scope to appeal to American audiences, Miyamoto eventually created one of the earliest notable platforming games, and one of the definitive games of the era. The game was successful enough to warrant a couple of sequels, which Miyamoto also made.

Mario Bros. was Miyamoto's next major work, based off of one of the characters to appear in Donkey Kong. This game placed an emphasis on multiplayer, and was the first game to grant the eponymous Mario superhuman abilities.

Perhaps Miyamoto's most notable works were 1985's Super Mario Bros and 1986's The Legend of Zelda. These games focused more on completing a quest than reaching a high score, a trend that has affected hundreds if not thousands of games made since. They also launched major franchises that continue to this day.

Miyamoto continued his career for the next ten years making sequels to his previous hits and the occasional new series, such as the 3D game Star Fox and the 2.5D racer F-Zero. His next revolution, however, came with the development of Mario and Zelda games made for the N64. Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: ocarina of Time helped define how games would let players navigate three-dimensional spaces, particularly in platformers and action-adventure games. Furthermore, they revolutionized camera control, something previously left automated.

Since then, Miyamoto has created the Pikmin franchise, the most successful strategy series on consoles, and the Revolution series, which aims to broaden the appeal of games. He has also overseen the evolution of his other series, including 2007's Super Mario Galaxy and 2011's Skyward Sword. Currently, Shigeru Miyamoto is working on the third installment in the Pikmin series.

Impact
Shigeru Miyamoto is considered by many to be the founding father of modern video games and one of the most influential creators of video gaming, due to his many groundbreaking works. In addition, his the various games he has worked on have sold many tens of millions of units, with many selling over ten million by themselves.