Today marks the 70th birthday of the one and only Shigeru Miyamoto!

Having created beloved Nintendo franchises such as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda – Shigeru Miyamoto stands as one of the most recognizable and talented game developers of our time. While Miyamoto is no longer actively making video games, he is still guiding the next generation of Nintendo’s developers as a fellow in the company, and handling projects such as Super Nintendo World and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Having graduated from the Kanazawa Municipal College of Industrial Arts, Shigeru Miyamoto originally wanted to become a manga artist. Thanks to his father’s help however, he joined Nintendo in 1977 – where he started by making toys. He would eventually shift to video game development after former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi recognized his talent.

A world without Shigeru Miyamoto would certainly have been quite different – especially given his involvement in so many beloved games and characters that millions of gamers across the world love today. That being said, the NintendoSoup team would like to wish Miyamoto-san a Happy 70th birthday!