By: Andrew Vestal with Cliff O'Neill and Brad Shoemaker
Designed by: Katie Bush

Nintendo's top developer, Shigeru Miyamoto, floored millions of gamers around the world with his Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom in 1985 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Gone was the openended "highest score" criterion of previous titles, and in its place was a more concrete goal: "Complete" the game. Games had evolved from just-for-fun endurance tests to simple narratives with (in the best Socratic tradition) a beginning, middle, and end. Gamers had a reason to play beyond simple continued survival.

With Zelda, Miyamoto wanted to take the idea of a game "world" even further. In his own words, the intent of the original Zelda game (and every Zelda title since) was to give players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer." His inspiration came from the fields, woods, and caves outside Kyoto that he had explored as a boy, and he has always tried to impart this sense of exploration and limitless wonder to players through his Zelda titles.

But even the longest journey begins with a single step - for Miyamoto, that first step was the Legend of Zelda.

Special thanks to Zelda fans around the world, Janice Ta, and viewers like you.