Legendary Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka is seemingly retiring from the company
Key takeaways
- Handout/Getty Images Nintendo legend Takashi Tezuka is retiring from his leadership role at Nintendo after more than 40 years at the company, where he helped design some of the Japanese giant's most beloved games.
- Tezuka's departure was announced in an official document outlining upcoming personnel changes at Nintendo as part of the company's quarterly earnings release.
- He later helped Miyamoto design the original The Legend of Zelda, which he directed and wrote for.
Handout/Getty Images Nintendo legend Takashi Tezuka is retiring from his leadership role at Nintendo after more than 40 years at the company, where he helped design some of the Japanese giant's most beloved games.
Tezuka's departure was announced in an official document outlining upcoming personnel changes at Nintendo as part of the company's quarterly earnings release. Now serving as the company's Executive Officer, Tezuka joined Nintendo in 1984, when he was initially brought in part-time to aid with the development of Punch-Out!!. Tezuka was famously not a big gaming enthusiast at the time, to the extent that he apparently hadn't even come across Pac-Man when he started at the Kyoto company.
But it didn't take long for the Osaka-born designer to learn his way around a controller, as before long he was assisting Shigeru Miyamoto on the development of Super Mario Bros. for the NES, in what would become an enduring creative partnership. He later helped Miyamoto design the original The Legend of Zelda, which he directed and wrote for.