by Richard George

Shigeru Miyamoto, the man responsible for the creation of iconic franchises like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, is stepping down from his position at Nintendo.

Miyamoto plans to remain with the company, but will no longer act as the Senior Managing Director and General Manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development Division, the large group responsible for much of the company's internal game development.

"I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position," Miyamoto told Wired in an interview.

Miyamoto expressed an interest in returning to development, working on "smaller projects with even younger developers." The legendary designer even suggested he might work on projects entirely on his own. The ultimate result, Miyamoto noted, was not becoming entrenched in projects that would take many years to develop. The designer noted he hoped to begin starting a new project in 2012.

Over the last several years, Miyamoto has been able to train many younger teams and developers, which is one of the key reasons he feels comfortable resigning from his current post. "After all, if I'm there in my position as it is, then there's always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today."