Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary man behind Nintendo icons such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda, was recently announced as Times Magazine’s “most influential person of the year“. To celebrate the event, The New York Times has pieced together a lengthy biography-type article about the man himself.

The article also features a chat with Shiggy, where they discuss his views on the importance of gameplay, Nintendo’s recent shift into the world of “casual games”, and briefly touch on Wii Music, where he says:

Nintendo is expected to release more details about Wii Music this summer, but the basic concept is that while popular music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band allow players only to recreate canned tunes, Wii Music will try to enable users to capture the feelings of composition and improvisation.

Mr. Miyamoto grew up on Western music like the Beatles and the Lovin’ Spoonful. He plays piano and banjo and, as a bluegrass aficionado, immediately recognized the name of Ricky Skaggs when told over dinner in Manhattan that Mr. Skaggs was scheduled to perform in town in a few days. Mr. Miyamoto even joked about extending his stay to catch the show. (He didn’t.)

“We’re trying to create an experience where people are very simply able to get the feeling like maybe they’re creating music,” he said. [...]

I seriously recommend giving the article a read, and getting a small glimpse of what keeps the legend ticking.