Born in Kyoto, Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make something that brought joy to people. Starting in elementary school he would do puppet shows for people, and in middle school started drawing comics. He was a naturally creative person who was obsessed with heroic characters from a young age. Graduating in 1977, he was hired by Nintendo to be their first industrial designer. Nintendo was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi; originally called “Nintendo Koppai” to manufacture Japanese playing cards. At first Miyamoto was assigned to design these cards and board games, but impressed by his work, they quickly reassigned him to work on computer games.
With the launch of arcade games and Nintendo being desperate to create a ground-breaking new game, they look to Miyamoto for his creativity. During his childhood he would explore the mountains and caves around his home, and he used his past experiences to bring some of the most popular video games to life. Mario’s first debut wasn’t in his own game, but in Donkey Kong where he climbed and jumped his way to saving the princess. In 1985, Mario Bros. was released for the NES and was a hit around the world, and by 1987 it already sold 27 million copies.
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