Miyamoto 'not actively thinking about retirement'

The Legend of Zelda and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is "not actively thinking about retirement," but is preparing Nintendo for a future when he no longer works at the company.

"The one thing I want to say is I'm not actively thinking about retirement, but the thing is you look at my age and you have to naturally take into account that a time may come when I'm no longer there," Miyamoto told Games Industry International. "And particularly at my age now, it wouldn't be strange if I were to just one day fall over." [Laughs]

Though imminent retirement is off the table for now, the industry veteran explained that his mindset is instead, "How do you ensure that you've trained the young staff in a way that will allow things to continue?"

To achieve this, Miyamoto explained that on certain projects, he tells his team that he won't do any work on the game, thus pushing other developers to come into their own.

"Certainly, I think in the last few years we've done a really good job of raising up the younger designers and helping put them in a position that they'll be able to carry things on even if I end up not being there anymore," Miyamoto said.

Miyamoto explained in March that it would be "strange" not to think about retirement, considering he is turning 61 this year.

"This year I'm past 60; I'm going to be turning 61 this year," he said at the time. "So for me to not be thinking about retirement would be strange."