Inafune on Nintendo and making game devs a household name

A portion of a CNET interview with Keiji Inafune...

CNET: I was going to ask you about Nintendo, because, from my perspective, it has the model to follow. We know its creators, and even people such as Iwata. As Nintendo gets older, and the creators we all know begin to retire, do you think that it will be able to successfully continue that effort? No one really knows how to relate to Iwata's successor, Tatsumi Kimishima. We don't know who he is or what to think about him. He doesn't the same kind of history that we can relate to. Do you think that Japanese creators will continue to earn international recognition, or is it nostalgia that's keeping the original creators relevant?

KI: The reason Nintendo pushes more of their creators is because the founder, Yamauchi-san, is the one who actually pushed Miyamoto as a creator. To continue that tradition, it will become harder and harder, especially after Miyamoto. It's really tough to say how we can change this, because, there will be fewer and fewer people well known to the media and the Western world, so I really don't know what's going to happen to the industry in that respect. Even Kojima: I think some people in Japan know him, but even Kojima is not that well known by the general public. It's a really tough time.