10 Video Game Origins You Never Knew
1. Star Fox's Gameplay Was Inspired By Shigeru Miyamoto's Visit To A Shrine
While by modern standards the original 1993 Star Fox might seem like a relatively straight-forward rail shooter, designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto received inspiration for the game from a most unexpected source.
While walking around Kyoto's Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine - only around a 15 minute walk from Nintendo's main HQ - he ended up at the famous Senbon Torii gates, a series of winding arches which would guide walkers along a twisty path.
This gave Miyamoto the idea of creating a rail-like path which players would fly along while having to pass through gates, and better still, the surrounding shrine area is also not-so-conveniently adorned with idols of foxes. You can see how he got there.
It's often said that Miyamoto incorporates simple life experiences into many of his games - The Legend of Zelda, for example, was influenced by his childhood spent in the Kyoto countryside - and that may well be the true root of his undeniable genius. Clearly, it paid off once again with Star Fox.