We all know the gaming industry is brutal; the next best thing comes along before the current best thing has even had its 15 minutes in the spotlight. Chiming in, Nintendo veteran Shigeru Miyamoto recently reflected that he’s worried the younger generations of game developers still want to waste their energy on this ruthlessly competitive cycle.

“Really when we’re talking about working with younger people, I always tell them trying to chase the trend or trying to one-up the thing that’s the most popular thing right now is going to be difficult,” he told IGN.

Rather than letting that stress bring him down, Miyamoto envelopes himself in the fresh creativity of others. “I have the opportunity to work with creative people,” he explained. “So it’s not to say I’m sapping their energy, but it really gives me this great stimulus that feeds the energy and creativity that I yearn for.”

With Miyamoto’s claims that he’s not an energy vampire established, he explained that those newer to the industry seek to follow the trends and create the next big thing that somehow tops the last big thing – which he explicitly attempts to discourage.

“I really feel like what’s important is to be able to create something new, try to do something that nobody’s done before,” he continued, admitting that this prospect may seem even more stressful than simply trying to lean into the curve, but is ultimately worth it. “The process of coming up with something new, coming up with a new experience is very fun,” Miyamoto said.

Credit where credit’s due, Nintendo, and Miyamoto specifically, are responsible for some of the most creative and original IP the gaming world has ever seen, and you don’t see a whole lot of people accusing them of chasing trends. With the Switch 2 just over the horizon, we’re about to enter a whole new era of Nintendo innovation, although we’ve yet to see whether it’ll stick the landing.

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