Mention the words "Shigeru Miyamoto" to any given gamer out there, and they'll likely rattle off their favorite moment from a Mario or Legend of Zelda game, in great detail.  There's no question that the legendary designer has left his mark on more than one occasion, serving millions of happy gamers at a time.  However, it looks like he might he slowing down as he approaches his late 50's, as rumors indicate he'll be "retiring".  But to what extent?

In a recent interview with Wired Magazine, the great Miyamoto indicated, through his interpreter, that he would be "retiring", since he's spent so long working on games and such.  However, it's not the kind of retirement that you think.  According to the report, he isn't going to quit game development entirely, rather seek a smaller position within Nintendo, one that probbaly wouldn't have much to do with day-to-day operations.  So, no, it doesn't look like the magic is going to fade completely, he'll still work on games.

Nintendo has since stated that he's not "retiring", and that someone mistranslated, but we're not so sure.  Why would the company be in such a hurry to backpedal the potential retirement of its greatest game creator?  Are they worried about their recent downturn in game sales and worried about losing one of their best weapons?  Or perhaps they want Miyamoto to stick around in his active duties until, at the very least, the Wii U launches next year?

Here's the thing, though.  Miyamoto is simply looking to take a smaller role, that's not the end of the world, right?  Yeah, he probably wouldn't give as much input as he has in previous years, but I personally think the guy has earned it.  I mean, Mario, Zelda...they've sold so many copies that he's practically become Nintendo's success in himself.  And even Nintendogs, one of his oddest creations, has become a huge hit with young kids and pet lovers alike.

While we'll know what Miyamoto will "officially" do sometime over the next few months (maybe even days), we can honestly say that, yes, we would definitely miss him if he truly does leave the industry.  But it sounds like his passion is still in it, even if his business savvy quite isn't.  We'll take any extent of him that we can get.  Let's just hope Nintendo doesn't press him into making an even more drastic decision...

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.