Considering his excitement and passion for Nintendo, it feels strange to consider that Imamura could ever have gone down a different path. But he almost did. As it happens, we've got his mom to thank for his career at Nintendo. "The truth is, when I applied to games companies, I applied to Konami as well as Nintendo, and I got through to the final interview," he reveals, adding that he "really wanted" the job at Konami since he was a "big fan of the Gradius series."