Nintendo’s Koizumi: You Can’t Have The Same Old People Working On Games Forever

When Nintendo started off 2017 with the Nintendo Switch Presentation, change can be felt in the air – Yoshiaki Koizumi and Shinya Takahashi took more prominent roles in representing the company, while Shigeru Miyamoto and other veteran developers have taken a step back.

Koizumi, who led the charge in the direction and conception of Nintendo Switch, told EDGE in an interview Nintendo can’t be relying on veteran developers forever.

“Generations turn over, and when you’re working on games like these, you can’t have the same veterans on everything forever. Any time that you have a new generation working on games, they’re always going to think about the things that are close to them, and incorporate those into the game somehow. That definitely changes the way the games feel.”

What Koizumi said makes sense – times change, and so do games. Seeing how Miyamoto has taken a step back working on smaller projects and supervising the construction of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Osaka, it’s better for the company as a whole and for game development and innovation to move forward.