One of Nintendo's mantras, for the past three decades, has been the desirability of expanding gaming into every corner of popular culture.

But in a new interview published this week by Edge magazine, the company's talismanic creative leader Shigeru Miyamoto signals a strong desire to appeal to highly engaged consumers, aka the hardcore. In an unusually frank answer, Miyamoto seems to almost dismiss casual gamers.

"[These are] the sort of people who, for example, might want to watch a movie. They might want to go to Disneyland," he said. "Their attitude is, 'okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.' It's kind of a passive attitude they're taking, and to me it's kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games]."

Edge's online sister-outlet CVG today ran excerpts of the interview, in which Miyamoto acknowledged Nintendo's role in spreading gaming to new consumers. But the man behind Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong seemed to suggest that the company's approach is changing.

"In the days of DS and Wii, Nintendo tried its best to expand the gaming population," he said. "Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. It's a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people's daily lives."