In an interview in the new issue of Famitsu, Miyamoto was asked why Nintendo‘s IPs are enjoyed around the world.
Miyamoto replied that the key to a successful game isn’t looking at what’s trending and trying to capitalise on that, but starting with ideas that the developers personally find fun and working around them.
“People have long asked me, ‘why does a mustachioed middle-aged guy like Mario sell so well?’ and I always think, ‘that’s a bit rude, isn’t it?'” Miyamoto joked (via machine translation). “Well, I wonder the same thing myself – why did an older guy like this become a hit? But if you look at it simply, it’s because he was introduced alongside incredibly fun games.
Not sure how well that applies to a company who spends more suing people than it does making games and keeps trying to pretend they never had a massive number of broken JoyCons that they refused to repair without a fee that was higher than they werte worth.
The biggest problem with Nintendo IP is that Nintendo still owns it. THey're not EA or Ubislop or Activision, but they're doing their best.