2010 Academy Fellow: Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo game designer and director who created Mario, accepted the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship at the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards.

Miyamoto, general manager of Nintendo Entertainment, Analysis and Development, was recognised for his outstanding design work on pioneering games like Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda.

Celebrated as the Steven Spielberg of gaming, he’s often called the father of modern video games thanks to his sustained and significant impact on the industry.

“The Fellowship is the highest accolade the Academy can bestow on an individual for their creative work and we are honoured to have Miyamoto with us to accept his award,” said Academy chair David Parfitt.

“With previous honourees including Hitchcock, Kubrick and Pinter, it’s only fitting that Miyamoto be recognised alongside these other pioneers for his groundbreaking work. He helped to develop an entire creative industry and is still a major force in its continuing success.”

Miyamoto received the Fellowship on Friday 19 March at the London Hilton.

Miyamoto’s career began in 1977 when he was hired by the Nintendo president as a staff artist. One of his early jobs was re-working an older game to help the company break the US. The result was hit platformer Donkey Kong.

Two years later, Miyamoto took the lead character from his first game and reinvented him as Mario. Since the the mushroom-munching Italian plumber has featured in scores of spin-offs and sequels on his way to becoming one of the most iconic video games characters of all time.

In the 1990s gaming moved out of the arcades and into people’s homes, driven by Nintendo’s popular consoles. Miyamoto threw himself into feeding this hungry market. He was involved in developing breakthrough NES, Super NES, GameCube and Nintendo 64 titles including The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox and Super Mario 64.

“I am very grateful to be able to receive such an honourable award from the British Academy. Our video games cannot be created by one person – since Donkey Kong until the most recent New Super Mario Bros Wii, I have been working closely with a number of friends for three decades to develop fun and enjoyable games. I would like to receive this honourable award on behalf of all of these dependable colleagues,” Miyamoto said.

Maybe his greatest contribution to the industry has been attracting people new to games through Nintendo’s DS and Wii platforms.

In 2005 he created pet simulator Nintendogs, expanding Nintendo’s reach to fresh audiences. Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Music have since taken gaming from single player to social events.

Miyamoto’s work has inspired countless others to explore their creativity through gaming. As a modern design leader, he can take responsibility for the global appeal of video games today.

Awarded every year by the Academy, the BAFTA Fellowship is the highest accolade given to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or TV.

Previous Fellows include Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave.

For more inspiring stories from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA Award Stories section.