Before he retired fromNintendo, Takaya Imamura was a certified veteran, having been with the company for 32 years. He served as the art director onStar Fox 64,The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, chief designer on F-Zero X, and worked on many other games in various roles.
Despite Imamura’s significant contributions to Nintendo and gaming as a whole, he recently described the “inferiority complex” he felt working at Nintendo (thanks for the translation,Automaton West).
Celestial Beings
“There were so many incredible people at Nintendo,” Imamura wrote in asocial media post. “I remember constantly wondering how I could demonstrate my own worth in such an environment.”
He said that leaving the company wound up being a relief, because it freed him from the negative feelings he felt regarding his self-worth.
“I felt like I was finally free from the inferiority complex I’d been carrying for years,” he continued. Imamura also added that he wanted greater creative control over his future games, and more generous timelines, a luxury not afforded at a well-oiled machine like Nintendo.
Shinji Watanabe, another ex-developer at Nintendo,replied to Imamura, saying developers at Nintendo were like “celestial beings.”
Nintendo is currently in the midst of a very busy period, having just launched the Nintendo Switch 2. The console is a resounding commercial success, having already sold over 3.5 million units.
The priority for Nintendo now is ensuring the console has a steady stream of first-party games, especially considering the fact that third-party games are underperforming on the console. The Switch 2 launched with Mario Kart World,a game courting controversy after a recent, unpopular update.
Donkey Kong Bananza is set to release on July 17,but fans fear that the game was made by the team behind Super Mario Odyssey. Although this would indicate that Bananza is likely a very good game, it also means that we’re potentially years away from a 3D ‘Mario’ platformer, which has upset some observers.
As for Imamura’s personal favourite series, Star-Fox and the Legend of Zelda, we’ve received no information about potential Switch 2 instalments. The former series hasn’t received a mainline entry since Star Fox Zero on the Wii.
