When I look around and see how aged cartoonists continue to work on their manga and how movie directors create new movies all the time, I understand that they would never retire. And by the same token, I guess I will still be making games somehow. The only question is whether the younger people will be willing to work with me at that far point in the future.

To create a new standard, you have to be up for that challenge and really enjoy it.

I don't like all the attention. I think it's better to let my work do the talking.

Their attitude is, 'okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.' It's kind of a passive attitude they're taking, and to me it's kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself with more advanced games.

There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not. For those who don't, video games are irrelevant. They think all video games must be too difficult.

What comes next? Super Mario 128? Actually, that's what I want to do.

We don't pay a whole lot of attention to the Internet until people have played the game - then we pay a lot of attention to whether people liked it. We read through it and see it, but we don't take it into consideration. ... [The Internet] is not going to dictate the direction of where the game goes.