I know some others have posted the news but in case you haven't heard, Hiroshi Yamauchi died this morning at the age of 85. He was Nintendo's president during the NES, SNES, and N64 years and is the one responsible for getting them into the electronics business in the first place. USGamer has a great retrospective/tribute on their website. Check it out here. Yamauchi did much to shape the industry we all love and though he hasn't been active at Nintendo since 2005, it's still sad to see him go.
RIP, Mr. Yamauchi.
It's very sad indeed. I find myself wondering what kind of mind such a person must have had to take a company like Nintendo and make it so succesful. Of course Iawata, Gunpei and others like them have had a huge share in the success of the company but I always find it food for thought to wonder about such things.
I still remember seeing his name during the credits of star fox, not knowing at the time, who's who. He did good by surviving the gaming industry and I have fond memroies playing with my NES, SNES, N64... I hope he's in a better place along with Gunpei. :)
It's amazing all the things he led the company to try out before finally settling in video games. He was an incredibly determined man.
I started following gaming news well after Yamauchi had left Nintendo's presidency, so I kind got to know more about him now then back when he was making Nintendo the company we know and love (most of us at least, I believe).
Rest in peace, and thanks for the hard work Mr. Yamauchi.
Great article from USGamer. I never really knew anything about this man; I always connected Myamoto with Nintendo, and I suppose most people do, but Yamauchi's influence is far greater. Without Yamauchi, Myamoto might never have even worked for Nintendo. Shrewd businessman....that's what Nintendo needed during the NES days, and now look at the company. We gamers will be eternally grateful to you, Mr. Yamauchi.
You really need to read Game Over by David Sheff. It's covers how Nintendo got into games and came to dominance, especially in America, as well as interesting things like the origin of Tetris. That's where I learned all about Yamauchi.
Pete Davidson used to write for Gamepro magazine. I want to say he worked with Dan Amrich, but I'm not sure of that. I've heard his name somewhere before and maybe it was on Dan's OneOfSwords podcast.
Rest in peace Mr Yamauchi. What would be of gaming without you.
It's amazing all that he did. We all seem to focus more on the current presidents and all they've done with the Wii/DS yet all of that wouldn't have been possible withought the foundation built by this guy. Rest in peace mate.