Super Mario & Zelda Creator Shigeru Miyamoto Stepping Down?

Nintendo's Miyamoto says he still wants to develop games but "smaller projects with even younger developers" and maybe even on his own.

By Matt Mann /

This story is a little confusing so bare with me. Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who created two ot the most iconic video game franchises of all time with Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda is possibly stepping down from his post at Nintendo. Miyamoto was interviewed by the American magizine Wired and made this statement:
"I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position,"
Miyamoto basically went on to say that he still wants to develop games but "smaller projects with even younger developers" maybe even on his own; he says that he really just wants to avoid projects that will take years to develop. Now this is where the story gets strange, Nintendo then basically releases a statement saying everything in the interview is not true and that the Miyamoto is keeping his position:
"This is absolutely not true. There seems to have been a misunderstanding. has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation. He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned,"
Nintendo later clarified that Miyamoto would be lessening his game development duties to help train younger developers but he would still be working on the bigger titles. Then Nintendo released a third statement:
"Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto's role at Nintendo is not changing. He will continue to be a driving force in Nintendo's development efforts. In discussing his priorities at Nintendo in a media interview, Mr. Miyamoto explained how he is encouraging the younger developers at the company to take more initiative and responsibility for developing software. He attempted to convey his priorities moving forward, inclusive of overseeing all video game development and ensuring the quality of all products. Mr. Miyamoto also discussed his desire to pursue fresh ideas and experiences of the kind that sparked his initial interest in video games."
What I don't get is Miyamoto stepping down is not some rumor, Miyamoto himself said in an interview that he is "retiring from my current position"; Nintendo is trying to deny words that came directly from Miyamoto. Here is what I think happened - Miyamoto basically states he will be moving on from major video game development to focus on training and developing smaller games; that is when Nintendo goes into full blown disaster control trying to state everything is fine and nothing is changing. From what I can gather is Miyamoto will be keeping his title only in name and will stepping away from the game development side of his job to focus on training and smaller titles. What do think of the situation, do you believe Shigeru Miyamoto is really stepping down and Nintendo is in spin control or is it like Nintendo said and Miyamoto will still work on the bigger projects?