The man behind some of the most recognizable characters in pop culture turned 63 this week – Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of Mario, Donkey Kong, and many other legendary game characters. Miyamoto has become a name synonymous not only with his company, Nintendo, but with video game culture as a whole.

Miyamoto was born on November 16, 1952, in a rural area northwest of Kyoto, Japan. As a child, he often would explore the areas around his home; his experiences while on these adventures would serve as an inspiration to one of his best known creations, The Legend of Zelda. Miyamoto would graduate from the Kanazawa Municipal College of Industrial Arts with a degree in industrial design, though he had no job lined up after college and actually considered getting into the manga industry before trying his hand at game design. He enjoyed the arcade hit, Space Invaders, and interviewed at Nintendo as the company was just beginning to branch into toy and game designs.

After contributing to arcade games such as Sheriff and Radar Scope, Miyamoto was tasked with another arcade project. He, along with Gunpei Yokoi (who would go on to design the Game Boy system), worked to create a legitimate arcade hit after the disappointing sales numbers of Radar Scope. Miyamoto’s concept for the plot revolved around a gorilla, a carpenter, and a girl – inspired by the rivalry between Bluto and Popeye for Olive Oyl, though Nintendo didn’t have the rights for a Popeye game. Eventually the gorilla became an ape, and was dubbed Donkey Kong, and the playable character was named Jumpman.

The arcade version of Donkey Kong was a massive success around the world, and two sequels were made – Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3. The Jumpman character was renamed and given a brother for a different arcade title – thus, the Mario Bros. were born, and were now plumbers instead of carpenters.

In 1985, Nintendo released their Family Computer system in Japan, though it’s probably better known as the Nintendo Entertainment System around the world. Along with it, Miyamoto’s earliest console titles were released, and they’re two of the most impactful on gaming overall: Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Other early Nintendo titles Miyamoto worked on included Ice Climber, Excitebike, and Kid Icarus. Over the next three decades, Miyamoto has produced more games in his various franchises, plus started new ones such as Star Fox and Pikmin. He’s now the company’s “Creative Fellow” following the death of president Satoru Iwata.

Miyamoto’s impact on the video game industry and on pop culture has not gone unnoticed; not only has he been credited with rescuing the video game industry following its crash in the mid-1980s, but he has straight-up been called the “father of modern video gaming” due to his design philosophies.

Miyamoto’s future looks just as busy as ever, with games such as Star Fox Zero and a fourth Pikmin title both on the horizon. He’s also worked on two other projects, simply called “Project Guard” and “Project Giant Robot,” though few details about these are known right now.