An interview with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, who in recent years has focused on movies and amusement parks, on the new Nintendo Museum in Kyoto and more
Decades after Miyamoto invented Mario and Zelda, he explains what makes Nintendo special and its transformation into a global entertainment brand.
Context & Ripple Effects
Nintendo’s museum adds a permanent physical venue to an expansion that company leadership had already described as moving beyond games into broader entertainment, including live events. Nintendo of America’s account of that broader entertainment strategy provides the corporate backdrop for Miyamoto’s focus on films and amusement parks.
The interview also places the creator of Mario and Zelda in a stewardship role for Nintendo’s heritage and its use across new formats, rather than solely in game development.
First-order effects
- Nintendo gains the Kyoto museum as a controlled setting to present its history and franchises to visitors, extending how it engages audiences beyond a game release or console cycle.
- Miyamoto’s public remit is further centered on safeguarding and translating Nintendo’s creative identity across the museum, films, and amusement parks.
Second-order effects
- Nintendo’s teams and outside entertainment partners have a stronger incentive to keep Mario and Zelda representations consistent across games, attractions, and other audience touchpoints.
- The museum can make Nintendo’s legacy and characters a more visible part of its visitor-facing entertainment portfolio, alongside the company’s live-event ambitions.
Third-order effects
- If this approach continues, Nintendo’s valuable franchises may be managed increasingly as cross-format entertainment properties, with game design, location-based experiences, and screen projects requiring closer coordination.
- That shift can make the company’s creative stewardship and brand controls more consequential: each new format broadens reach but also raises the cost of an inconsistent portrayal of its characters.
The trend: Nintendo is extending its game franchises into a coordinated, global entertainment brand spanning interactive products, physical destinations, and screen media.