Hiroshi Yamauchi died of pneumonia on September 19, 2013, and is survived by 4 children. Nintendo Co., Ltd. continues his legacy.
He may have never designed, developed, or wrote games, but through him, we now enjoy a massive and constantly growing video game industry. It was Hiroshi Yamauchi’s vision and strong beliefs in the future of console gaming that turned Nintendo into the powerhouse it is today –and with it, all the iconic legacies the Japanese game company bore fruit to. But more than the man who gave rise to console gaming, Mr. Yamauchi was also a philanthropist, and a family man.
There are many interesting tales about the history of Nintendo, after all, the
company’s past stretches even beyond 1949, when Yamauchi first took the
position of president. Nintendo was the company that saw the rise of Shigeru
Miyamoto and many other iconic gaming gurus. But for Hiroshi Yamauchi, his tale
began before them all, as the young man entrusted with an entire company from
his dying grandfather. It was not an easy step to make, but he aggressively took
charge of the company and steered it towards creating more marketable products
beyond its original lineup playing cards.
After successfully gaining ground as a toy company (and in between, taking a few losses in other ventures), Yamauchi pressed the expansion of Nintendo even further by taking on the electronic games industry (which was still at its’ very early years). It was here that Nintendo was able to create gaming milestones like Shigeru Miyamoto’s Donkey Kong arcade game, and Gunpei Yokoi’s Game and Watch handheld device.
When Nintendo developed the Famicom (to be known as the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES, in the US), it was Yamauchi who set down the basic ground rules that would turn the small gaming industry into a massive breakthrough for new talent and great games. Despite not having any experience in design or programming, it was Yamauchi who determined that artists are the key to designing great games, and it was great technicians who made that game happen. He personally oversaw which games would be released by the company, and he created an internal development system that inspired Nintendo’s developers to grow alongside each other.
Seeing how successful the Famicom was, there’s no doubt that Yamauchi was a man with a vision of the future. Yamauchi would then continue to be part of Nintendo, overseeing the selection of games and systems that the company produced, until his retirement in 2005 (he stepped down as President in 2002, and spent three years as part of the board of directors). While his pension was significantly huge (estimated to be at 9 to 14 million USD), he chose to let the company keep the money, believing they could put it to better use.
His funeral is scheduled to be held on September 22, Sunday, and he will be fondly remembered by the gaming industry as a pioneer.
After successfully gaining ground as a toy company (and in between, taking a few losses in other ventures), Yamauchi pressed the expansion of Nintendo even further by taking on the electronic games industry (which was still at its’ very early years). It was here that Nintendo was able to create gaming milestones like Shigeru Miyamoto’s Donkey Kong arcade game, and Gunpei Yokoi’s Game and Watch handheld device.
When Nintendo developed the Famicom (to be known as the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES, in the US), it was Yamauchi who set down the basic ground rules that would turn the small gaming industry into a massive breakthrough for new talent and great games. Despite not having any experience in design or programming, it was Yamauchi who determined that artists are the key to designing great games, and it was great technicians who made that game happen. He personally oversaw which games would be released by the company, and he created an internal development system that inspired Nintendo’s developers to grow alongside each other.
Seeing how successful the Famicom was, there’s no doubt that Yamauchi was a man with a vision of the future. Yamauchi would then continue to be part of Nintendo, overseeing the selection of games and systems that the company produced, until his retirement in 2005 (he stepped down as President in 2002, and spent three years as part of the board of directors). While his pension was significantly huge (estimated to be at 9 to 14 million USD), he chose to let the company keep the money, believing they could put it to better use.
His funeral is scheduled to be held on September 22, Sunday, and he will be fondly remembered by the gaming industry as a pioneer.
No comments:
Post a Comment