Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of a host of Nintendo games including Super Mario Bros., has spoken about the future of the franchise, as well as the upcoming second animated movie – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. In an interview with Japanese architecture and design magazine Casa Brutus (via VideoGamesChronicle), Miyamoto also spoke about the massive success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, on which he served as producer. While he didn’t reveal too many details about the upcoming sequel, he did note that it was in the final stages of production.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie was possible because so many people took action and worked together,” said Miyamoto. “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?”
“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).”
Further in the interview, Miyamoto also spoke about the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, and the general future of the series. Among other things, he reminisced about Nintendo having wrapped up development of Super Mario World, and then tackling a brand new frontier with Super Mario 64 and the shift into 3D.
“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.”
In more modern times, Miyamoto said that there are team mates who help maintain the “Mario-ness” of the newer titles of the franchise, which he elaborated as meaning a game to be unique and accessible to any kind of gamer. While he might not be personally involved in making the new Mario games anymore, Miyamoto noted that he still plays each new entry in the franchise for at at least half an hour.
“Nowadays, I have teammates who help maintain the world of Mario, so I entrust much of it to them,” he explained. “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, he spoke about how the Mario franchise has expanded into movies, and how just about every Nintendo console so far has had a Mario game made specially for it. While he doesn’t know how the developers will tackle the next game in the series for the Nintendo Switch 2, he did note that he wants to be healthy to enjoy the 50th anniversary of the character.
“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!”
