Super Mario Creator Says Nintendo Can Only Reach So Many People With Games

by Alan Velasco — Thursday, April 02, 2026, 10:47 AM EDT

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The gaming industry continues to face headwinds, as even seemingly money printing enterprises like Epic Games haven’t been immune from massive layoffs. Nintendo, though, has found itself on better footing thanks to its recent efforts to diversify the ways people can access its characters and gaming worlds by using movies and theme parks. Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Mario, told Polygon this approach is necessary to widen its audiences beyond what’s possible with just gaming consoles.

“I start to feel like there's only so many people that we can reach through Nintendo's systems and consoles,” said Miyamoto.

He would add that Mario has changed to keep up with the ways people interact with digital media, and that movies that eventually end up on streaming platforms is a great way to create new fans for the plucky plumber. Ultimately, he wants people to think of the kinds of worlds the company is working on rather than just what type of game is coming next.

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Nintendo isn’t the only major game company working on this kind of initiative, though. Sony has had The Last of Us be very well received on HBO and has a partnership with Amazon for a future streaming series based on God of War. However, neither of these have quite the level of mass appeal as the newly released Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which can be enjoyed by fans of all ages.

These new ways of engaging with gaming are more critical than ever as hardware becomes increasingly more expensive, locking out a wide swath of potential fans. For Nintendo specifically, the mass appeal of its characters and worlds also lend themselves to lucrative merchandising, helping bring in needed revenue for the company. It also has the added benefit of leading to a potential hardware purchase at some point in the future.