The father of Super Mario is retiring, but not according to Nintendo

Is this the end of an era? Not quite, but it's pretty darn close. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of legendary video game franchises like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, revealed to Wired that he will retire from his current position at Nintendo. While the designer made a point to say that he will remain with the company, working on smaller projects with younger teams, Nintendo has denied Miyamoto's words, saying "this is absolutely not true," to Reuters.

"Inside our office, I've been recently declaring, 'I'm going to retire, I'm going to retire,'" Miyamoto told Wired through an interpreter. "I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position."

The creator of the Mushroom Kingdom went on to say that he wishes to return to being hands-on with the game design process within Nintendo, working on smaller projects with younger game developers. According to Wired, Miyamoto made the decision in confidence of the staff that worked on acclaimed games like Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii. Nintendo has denied what the developer said in the interview completely.

"There seems to have been a misunderstanding," a Nintendo spokeswoman told Reuters. "He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation. He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned." Miymoto told Kotaku a few years back that he had no intention of retiring entirely. Rest easy, Nintendo fans.

[Via Kotaku]

[Image Credit: Giant Bomb]

Are you surprised that Miyamoto plans to step down from his big-time role at Nintendo? Does this necessarily spell doom for the age-old game company?

This Mario Kart 7 ad has real Mario Karts (and some CG) in it [Video]

Have you seen this recent ad for Mario Kart 7 on the picture box? It sure looks like it was done using CG (computer graphics), doesn't it? Well, not as much as you might think. The ad team behind this Nintendo game advertisement likes to do things old school, apparently, and released a behind-the-scenes video showing that the ad was made using real, customized go-karts.

Better yet, one of those real Mario Karts actually did one helluva jump off of a ramp in the making of this 35-second video. The 13-year-old inside you is probably already crying to mom that he just has to have this game when it hits the 3DS Dec. 4. As for us, we're more interested in getting our hands on one of those legit karts. Who knows, maybe they'll pay Times Square a visit. Check out both videos below:



[Via GeekSugar]

Are you surprised that this ad was made using real go-karts? Do you plan on picking up Mario Kart 7 when it hits this weekend?