Hideki Konno

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Hideki Konno
Hideki Konno
Born May 13, 1965 (age 60)[1]
Super Mario–related roles Manager, producer, director

Hideki Konno (紺野 秀樹 Konno Hideki, born 1965) is a video game designer who was employed at Nintendo EAD from April 1986 to July 2025. He had served as the Manager and Producer of Software Development Group No.1 of EAD Software Development Department of Entertainment Analysis & Development Division, starting in 2003.

History and work[edit]

At the age of 16, Konno became interested in personal computers, tinkering with Japanese PCs and the Apple II. He became intrigued with video games after playing around with some of Apple II's titles. After purchasing the Famicom, he decided that he wanted to create video games and, after graduating from Electronic Data Processing Department of Japan Electronics College, Konno immediately applied and was hired for a job at Nintendo, which he recalled as a "true blessing."[2] Konno was immediately drafted into Hiroshi Ikeda and Shigeru Miyamoto's Research & Development 4 Department, in a very hands-on role with designing characters and backgrounds for a variety of video games. Konno worked on a big internal project at Nintendo titled Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic. The game was successful in Japan, but the company executives made a decision to redesign the eccentric title into a Super Mario game for the North American audience. This decision introduced Konno to the franchise, and also established him as one of Miyamoto's top apprentices. In 1996, Konno made his solo directorial debut on Mario Kart 64.[3]

Konno went on to direct several titles such as Luigi's Mansion. He has mostly been involved in directing and producing game titles in the Mario Kart series. Konno later on became the hardware director for the Nintendo DS's successor, the Nintendo 3DS. In 2015, he became the group manager of the Smart Device Production Group at Nintendo EPD.

Konno is also the staff ghost of Rainbow Road in Mario Kart Wii and DS Luigi's Mansion in Mario Kart 7.

Konno left Nintendo in July 2025 after 39 years at the company.[4]

Credits[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sinfield, George (2001). Luigi's Mansion Player's Guide - "Developer Interview" with team members Hideki Konno, Tadashi Sugiyama, and Hiroki Sotoike. Nintendo of America (American English). ISBN 1-930206-14-3. Page 88-93.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ @NE_Brian (January 23, 2026). Hideki Konno, who led Mario Kart, 3DS hardware, and more, is gone from Nintendo after 40 years. Nintendo Everything. Retrieved January 24, 2026.
  5. ^ [3]
  6. ^ https://www.interactive.org/games/video_game_details.asp?idGame=1702