Shigeru Miyamoto is a household name to many gamers for his contributions to the industry over the years. He is widely considered to be the father of the “modern” video game with the creation of Super Mario Bros. In short, he is a legend and when he talks, people listen. His latest comments, however, might disappoint some of his most ardent fans.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, the legendary game designer revealed that his favorite game from last year was Angry Birds. His love for the bird vs. pig combat simulator seems to stem from it having a “traditional videogame feel to it.” He then goes on to say the team at Rovio put a “very creative side” into the game while “having fun developing the game.”

It’s hard to argue with the man when Angry Birds has become such a hit. The latest game in the franchise, Angry Birds Space, has already been downloaded over 20 million times. There’s a reason these kind of games are popular and Miyamoto can see that.

As for smart phone games in general, Miyamoto admits that he doesn’t have much time for them. He does, however, say that smart phones have opened up game creation to more people. This brings in more competition which “inspires us to try even harder, and create even more unexpected new things.”

This kind of attitude in regards to smart phone gaming and casual gaming in general is why Miyamoto is so respected in the industry. While a lot of gamers, and people within the industry, are blasting smart phone games; we should be welcoming them as a new form of interaction. There is a lot of shovelware on the app store, but we shouldn’t judge a platform by its amount of bad games. If we were to judge a platform based on that criteria, everything from the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 3 would be considered wastelands of mediocrity.

Do you agree with Miyamoto on Angry Birds being a great game? Or do you think he’s off the mark? Let us us know in the comments.