Hideki Konno, Director of Beloved Mario Kart and Luigi’s Mansion, Leaves Nintendo After 40 Years
You might not have heard of Hideki Konno, but you have definitely heard of his work. He has been working at Nintendo ever since the days of the NES, and his credits include such classic games as the Mario Kart series and Luigi’s Mansion. Now, he has announced that he is leaving Nintendo, though the reason why remains unknown.
About Hideki Konno and His Work at Nintendo
As reported by IGN, Hideki Konno announced via Facebook that he left his job back in July of 2025. He did not give any reasons why he was leaving, though since he worked at the company for almost forty years, he might simply have retired. Konno first joined Nintendo in 1986, and he worked as an assistant director and level designer for Super Mario Bros. 2 and the highly acclaimed Super Mario Bros. 3. Super Mario Bros. 3 is generally considered one of the best games on the NES, and Konno is one of the people to thank for it.
During the SNES era, Konno was a director on such beloved games as the SNES port of SimCity and the amazing Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Yoshi’s Island demonstrates an overload of creativity in its level design, graphics, and music, so Konno should be proud to have that game to his credit. Konno also worked as a director on the brilliant Luigi’s Mansion game for the GameCube, which gave Luigi his own series that is still going today. Konno would go on to serve as special advisor for the equally brilliant sequel, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon.
Konno’s most prominent series would be Mario Kart, which he has worked on since the series debuted on the SNES with Super Mario Kart. He served as a director of Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, then he went on to produce future games such as Mario Kart DS, Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8, and the mobile game, Mario Kart Tour. He also received a special thanks credit on Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch 2.
In addition, Konno served as a hardware director for the Nintendo 3DS. He also produced several Nintendo mobile games such as Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Fire Emblem Heroes. While most of Nintendo’s mobile games have received mixed reception, they are still full of that Nintendo charm.
A Generational Shift at Nintendo
Hideki Konno is not the only longtime Nintendo face to leave recently. Kensuke Tanabe, producer of the Metroid Prime and Paper Mario series, recently announced his departure from the company. He too had been working for Nintendo since the NES era, when he served as director of Super Mario Bros. 2.
The generation that worked on the NES and SNES era is aging rapidly, which could leave people wondering what the future will look like for Nintendo as the initial generation retires. As old blood leaves and new blood arrives, Nintendo games could gradually change in their feel and design. While Nintendo is known for their creativity and their willingness to try new things with their classic franchises, there is still a certain “feel” to their games that gives them their charm. Could that feel fade away as more faces leave?
Nintendo’s Ongoing Legacy
As more games get released for the Switch 2, we might get a glimpse of how that generational shift looks. Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders are all excellent games that are full of Nintendo’s charm and creativity. If this streak of great games keeps up, the future looks bright for Nintendo’s latest console, along with the generation that created them. Still, one has to wonder what the next Mario Kart game will be like without Konno’s influence.
