“”Considered the father of modern video games, he has been behind all the technological and creative revolutions that have allowed the global expansion of interactive entertainment, promoting modes of play that have highlighted the power of video games as mental, physical, and social activators.””.

Proposed as a candidate by Gamelab, it was announced today that the creator of iconic industry characters like Mario and his companions has won the renowned Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, established in 1981 to recognize “a person, group of people, or institution whose creative work or research represents a significant contribution to universal culture in these fields.” The first recipient was the writer María Zambrano, and since then, the award has recognized personalities and institutions such as the newspaper El País, the Efe news agency, the CNN television network, and Google.

Born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1952, Shigeru Miyamoto has repeatedly revolutionized the world of video games by continuously pushing the technical and creative boundaries of his time. Named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine and honored with the French Legion of Honor and the British Academy’s BAFTA, his career has also been marked by the exclusion of violence from his creations, and he has succeeded in bringing women and older people into the world of interactive entertainment.

As often happens with great occasions, Miyamoto’s journey at Nintendo began somewhat by chance, right after finishing his degree in Architecture: his father was a friend of the company’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who found a place for him as an artist. After a few years of training, he was tasked with designing an arcade machine (coin-operated) for the U.S. market based on Popeye’s adventures. However, the game was halted due to licensing issues, but that didn’t stop Miyamoto, who had devised a groundbreaking formula: a short, mustachioed man trying to save a girl from the clutches of Donkey Kong. Despite initial doubts, that arcade game broke the mold and achieved unprecedented success.

Since its creation, Mario has become the most successful franchise in the history of the industry, with over 450 million video games sold and has become a global icon. A 1987 survey already ranked Mario as the most popular fictional character among American children, ahead of Mickey Mouse.

But Mario is much more than that: he was the first character to move freely across the screen (1980), the first to introduce side-scrolling camera movement (1987), and the first to move in a 3D environment (1993). Miyamoto’s work is considered the most decisive in his field. According to the website Gamerankings, four of the five best games in history bear his signature.

Like all great visionaries, Miyamoto’s inspiration comes from his immediate surroundings. He drew from the forests surrounding his home and the caves that served as the setting for his childhood games to create the Zelda series, one of the most acclaimed games in the history of the industry. The same approach was used to incorporate elements of cinematic storytelling in the nearly 200 video games he has created: tracking shots, the use of camera angles, music…

His keen observation skills also led to the breaking of the glass ceiling in video games: age and gender. By noticing how players not only handled the joystick but also moved with it, Miyamoto conceived the Wii controller. Thanks to its intuitive interactivity, he succeeded in bringing women into the world of video games. Additionally, with some releases for the Nintendo DS, such as Brain Training, he also managed to engage older adults, not only introducing them to interactive entertainment but enabling them to enjoy it.

His vision and the communicative power of his work have led publications like The New York Times to declare him the heir to Walt Disney and consider him among the most brilliant minds in history. Creators like Steven Spielberg have sought his collaboration to bridge the gap between their productions and the interactive world.