Shigeru Miyamoto dreams of Nintendo consoles becoming a rite of passage for everyone coming of age: “Which Nintendo would make you the happiest?”
Nintendo executive and Mario’s papa Shigeru Miyamoto says that he wants to give people as many reasons as possible to buy Nintendo consoles, and hopes parents might give them to their children as coming of age gifts.
In an interview with Famitsu that’s been translated by GamesRadar+ Miyamoto talks about his philosophy on selling consoles, and imagines a world where everyone receives one of the company’s consoles when they’re old enough.
“I am always saying that the company should ‘create reasons for people from all over the world to pick Nintendo,'” he says. “In Japan, when children start elementary school you buy them their own school bag. In the same way, I think it would be great if there was a selection to choose from like, ‘Now that you’re six, I’ve got you a Nintendo’, ‘Which Nintendo would make you the happiest?'”
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You might be confused how buying your child a Nintendo Switch 2 is remotely similar to picking up a backpack, but in Japan the hybrid console is usually the cheaper option. This is because Japanese elementary school children have a special type of backpack that they use called a randoseru.
These are hand-made luxury goods that usually cost hundreds of dollars. Unlike a standard backpack, they have a hard shell, multiple pockets and are exceptionally robust. The cost is high, but your randoseru is expected to last your entire six years of elementary school, and if necessary, can be passed down to younger siblings.
Technically, elementary school children can bring any type of backpack to school, but you’re unlikely to see young school kids carrying anything except a randoseru. In the West, receiving a bag doesn’t seem like a momentous occasion, but to a Japanese six-year-old it’s a sign they’re coming-of-age. Receiving your randoseru means that you are about to start school, which is your first minor step into adulthood.
Getting your child a Nintendo Switch 2 might be cheaper than picking up a randoseru, but there aren’t nearly as many color combinations to choose from and you can’t fit an A4 file inside. However, given how long the Nintendo Switch lasted, you might get a few more years out of it.
