Before joining the company, Nintendo had already begun applying for patents for Shigeru Miyamoto’s works.

Today, Shigeru Miyamoto’s works have long become iconic for Nintendo, but looking back on the past, he was one of the many job-seeking college students who walked into Nintendo’s door with his own portfolio. Surprisingly, before he officially became a member of Nintendo, one of his works seemed to have attracted the attention of the company, and he even intended to apply for a patent for it.

Graduation Shigeru Miyamoto, who majored in industrial design, cherished the dream of designing household appliances and creating toys and amusement facilities for children in his early years. At that time, it was the 1970s, and Nintendo was still known as a toy and traditional game company, far from being involved in the field of video games.

　Nintendo did not openly recruit designers at the time," Shigeru Miyamoto told Japan's Game News in 2000. "Maestro" magazine revealed in an interview, which was later translated by the "Shmuplations" website, "Thanks to the introduction of my father's acquaintance, I was lucky enough to get an interview opportunity. At that time, Nintendo not only manufactured amusement equipment, but also dabbled in strollers and games. Ball machines and other products I found out that they were making huge profits from games such as poker and Hanafuda, so I thought they would support me in pursuing my dream.”

Interview. At that time, Shigeru Miyamoto brought his "collection of creative works from his student days". He shared: "One of the pieces is a clothes hanger designed for kindergarten children. It incorporates animal faces and easy-to-grip handles, aiming to make it easy for shorter children to use. The other piece is combined with a swing function. The seesaw is both fun and practical. ”

When I first met Hiroshi Yamauchi, he showed extraordinary affinity: "He told me that he hired me not because of letters of recommendation, but because he sincerely hoped that I could join the Nintendo family." Miyamoto Mao said with a smile, “However, after I joined the company, I unexpectedly discovered that they had applied for a design patent for the clothes hanger I designed. This meant that I Being able to get a patent without having to apply for it was great news for me. (Laughs) I thought, 'This is a really smart company! ' But more importantly, they gave me freedom. I consider them generous funders and supporters as they allow me to pursue my creative ideas.”

Today, it may be difficult to imagine someone Would be so optimistic about a potential employer trying to be the first to patent their idea. But in Japan in the 1970s, the social environment and industry rules were very different from today. Hiroshi Yamauchi is known in the industry for his iron-fist approach - Tetris co-founder Henk Rogers once mentioned that Nintendo employees were so in awe of Yamauchi that anyone who disagreed with him in meetings risked being fired. He even fired the president of Nintendo Europe without mercy. Just imagine, if Shigeru Miyamoto was so concerned about patent issues at that time, we might not be able to have the company of classic characters such as Mario and Donkey Kong.