Super Mario turned 40 last week, and to celebrate, BBC Archive dug into its library to produce a clip from 1990, a time when Nintendo was dominating both Japan and North America (not entirely unlike today, you could argue).
Taken from an episode of The Money Programme broadcast on March 25th, 1990, the footage is notable for giving what would have been an impossibly rare glimpse inside Nintendo's Kyoto HQ. It also includes a brief interview with the one and only Shigeru Miyamoto.
The reporter points out that the developers in the building earn their employer countless millions, yet they are paid "ordinary salaries" and even turn up to work in uniforms emblazoned with Nintendo's logo – something that wouldn't happen in the West, it is claimed.
While the footage is exciting for Nintendo fans in 2025, giving us a look at how smash hits like Super Mario Bros. 3 were created, the BBC presenter was clearly less impressed with his visit 35 years ago. "The creative cauldron of Nintendo is a bit of an anti-climax," he says.
When asked why Nintendo's best developers don't "seek their fortune elsewhere", Miyamoto replies:
"That's a difficult one. Well, we're not paid glamorously for developing games which sell well. But the company's a sponsor. It encourages and pays for us to visit museums, to go to movies, or even take short trips so that we can get inspired. So everyone's happy to work for the company, especially as we get the prestige of being associated with it."