It has not too long ago been revealed that Nintendo veteran Hideki Konno retired from the corporate final summer time after virtually 40 years.
Becoming a member of Nintendo in 1986, Konno formed lots of the Japanese sport firm’s main sequence. He labored as assistant director on Tremendous Mario Bros. 2 and three, in addition to designing the video games’ ranges and characters. Later, as a director, he helmed video games together with Yoshi’s Island, the SNES model of SimCity, and Luigi’s Mansion on the GameCube.
Nevertheless, Konno might be finest recognized for his intensive work on the Mario Kart sequence. He directed the unique Tremendous Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, earlier than occurring to provide Mario DS, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8 (plus the Deluxe model), and Mario Kart Tour. He acquired a particular thanks credit score on Swap 2 launch title Mario Kart World.
Konno produced many different video games like Nintendogs and was additionally {hardware} director for the 3DS. As head of Nintendo cell, he produced titles corresponding to Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and Fireplace Emblem Heroes, in addition to contributing to the worldwide success of Pokémon Go!
As reported by Japanese information outlet Sport*Spark, final 12 months Konno up to date his employment standing on Fb to say that he left Nintendo in July 2025. This was not too long ago noticed by followers over on the Famiboard boards and has turn out to be a speaking level on Twitter / X over the weekend.
Noticing the dialogue of Konno’s departure, Takaya Imamura (one other former Nintendo worker who was artwork director on Star Fox 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Masks) tweeted: “Konno’s resignation is beginning to entice consideration. The individuals who outlined an period are leaving Nintendo.” Imamura himself departed Nintendo in 2021 to pursue his personal tasks, ensuing within the Omega 6 manga and Swap sport Omega 6: The Triangle Stars (he even wrote a weblog publish on why he left).
Final week, it was revealed that one other longtime Nintendo creator, Kensuke Tanabe, had not too long ago retired, with Tanabe confirming that Metroid Prime 4 was his final sport at Nintendo (as reported by Video Video games Chronicle). Most of the legendary sport creators who formed the NES and SNES eras are actually of their 60s and 70s, together with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto (72). We are going to probably be seeing many extra of those influential sport designers departing Nintendo within the coming years, particularly with the Swap 2 out the door.
Photograph by Andreas Rentz/Getty Pictures.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance author who beforehand served as editor, contributor and translator for the sport information web site Automaton West. She has additionally written about Japanese tradition and flicks for varied publications.