It’s been a heck of a year for Nintendo: The Wii game console, which celebrates its first birthday on Monday 19, sold almost 14 million units worldwide and is now poised to dominate its second holiday season. On the handheld side of the market, the Nintendo DS has been an even bigger success, having sold nearly 55 million units since its introduction in November 2004. None of that would be possible without Shigeru Miyamoto, who saved the company’s floundering American division in 1981 by creating Donkey Kong. In the mid-’80s, with Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, he breathed new life into the then-moribund console market, establishing fundamental gameplay concepts that defined entire genres. In anticipation of this week’s release of Super Mario Galaxy—the first “real” Mario console adventure in five years—TONY took advantage of the opportunity to speak with Miyamoto when he visited San Francisco during the summer.
The recent “I Am 8-Bit” art show in Los Angeles featured serious art inspired by video games. Overwhelmingly, the artists’ favorite subject matter seemed to be Nintendo characters. Punch-Out!!'s King Hippo, Piston Honda and Bald Bull, Mario, The Legend of Zelda’s Link, Donkey Kong. What is it about these images and characters from Nintendo games that seems to get stuck in the subconscious?