The man behind Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda says he plans to retire from his current position at Nintendo so he can spend time working on smaller projects and with younger developers or on his own, Wired reported tonight.
UPDATE - Nintendo has since issued a statement saying "He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned." More information here.
Shigeru Miyamoto, 59, told Wired's Chris Kohler that he's been telling people in his office that he's going to retire, but that he means he is retiring from his current position, not from the industry.
"What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself," Miyamoto tells Wired. "Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."
The developer says he hopes to show off a new project he's working on sometime next year.
Check out the full story over on Wired's Gamelife.
In a 2007 interview with Kotaku, Miyamoto hinted that he would likely die before he fully retired from Nintendo. Last year, Miyamoto told GamesTM that while he may one day have to retire he doubts he'll ever stop making games.
‘I'm Retiring,' Nintendo's Miyamoto Tells His Staff [Wired]
(Top photo by Lucas Jackson | AP)