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Mario maker Shigeru Miyamoto obsessed with Pokémon GO

"The average person playing Pokémon GO in Japan is probably around 60 years old"

Mario maker Shigeru Miyamoto obsessed with Pokémon GO

Nintendo veteran games designer Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Mario and Zelda franchises, has admitted that he is obsessed with Pokémon GO.

As reported by NintendoLife, the revelation came to light during Nintendo’s 81st annual General Meeting of Shareholders where the heads of the company were each asked what their favourite games currently are.

Miyamoto stated that he had been enjoying playing a lot of Pokémon GO and attributes his enjoyment to the social aspect of the location-based AR title, such as playing with family and neighbours.

Pokémon GO has continued to remain popular even after five years, accumulating $5 billion in revenue throughout that time.

"Dream come true"

"I basically tend to play the games I created myself, so I haven’t been influenced much by the games of other companies," said Miyamoto via an official Nintendo translation

"That said, the first game that influenced me when I started the job of game development was Pac-Man, and from a design perspective, I think Tetris is wonderful.

"I’m currently hooked on Pokémon GO. This game, which I’m playing with my wife, is a dream come true of playing a game with my whole family.

"I’ve been enjoying Pokémon GO with my wife and neighbourhood friends for some two years now. The average person playing Pokémon GO in Japan is probably around 60 years old."

Pokémon GO developer Niantic has recently soft-launched a new AR game in Singapore, based around Pikmin - a series that has always been a favourite of Miyamoto's.

Earlier this week, Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch (OLED model), which is scheduled to launch in October later this year.


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