Topic: Former Nintendo President, Hiroshi Yamauchi, Dies

[the_dan_x]

The man who helped make Nintendo a household name is no longer with us. 

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/35460

Hiroshi Yamauchi, former president of Nintendo, passed away today, Thursday, September 19, at the age of 85. Yamauchi was being treated for pneumonia at a hospital in Kyoto. A memorial service will be held at the company headquarters on September 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hiroshi Yamauchi began working at Nintendo as president in 1949. During his time on staff, Yamauchi radically changed the company throughout his tenure, making Nintendo a worldwide household name with the introduction of the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System and the many lovable characters featured in franchises for the console. Even after retiring from the position of president in May 2002, Yamauchi continued to work as a chairman of the board of directors with Nintendo until 2005. He worked for Nintendo for 53 years as president and three years as chairman. 

[Oblivion]

...****.

[nhaines]

Wow, talk about the end of an era.

I know he wasn't really active with Nintendo anymore, and I blame him for Nintendo's online/networking reluctance, but he was a visionary who really shaped Nintendo back in the 1980's.  To put so much trust into these strange "video games" and stick to a clear vision while trusting his engineers really took a lot of guts.

[azeke]

he was a visionary who really shaped Nintendo back in the 1980's.

Think at least 1960s or even earlier. It was extremely fascinating to read about his earlier projects way, WAY before even Famicom/NES in the "History of Nintendo" books from Pix'n'Love.

From playing cards to toys to videogame company. All him.

Titan of a man. The story of his life and deeds can be easily made into a few of hollywood thrillers.

He and Yokoi basically created videogames as we know them.

[oohhboy]

Man, here I am thinking the guy was an immortal. You have to respect a man who invest in Love Hotels. I would imagine he is running what ever joint he has ended up in with an iron fist.

I hope his legacy will continue to bring joy, entertainment and fun to billions more far into the future.

[pureval]

Wow that is really shocking news. Sad day.

[Adrock]

Bummer. He had a good run though. I thought he was older than 85.

For better or worse, he's responsible for the Nintendo we have today. The people in charge of Nintendo today are following his line of thinking.

[nhaines]

Think at least 1960s or even earlier.

Oh, I didn't mean to downplay everything else he did.  But Nintendo was a toy and playing card company in 1978.  A couple of years later and everything had changed.

Videogames were a huge fad but far from a certainty--especially after the Atari incident.

[ShyGuy]

The Yamauchi Ninja Clan has lost their Shogun.

Rest in Peace, Godfather of Nintendo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

R.I.P.

[motang]

R.I.P.

[Caterkiller]

First saw the news on Miiverse.


RIP. This guy made life happen.


I wonder what this means for Nintendo?

[Fatty The Hutt]

That's a shame. R.I.P.

[BlackNMild2k1]

R.I.P.

[broodwars]

Alright, I've never been one to sugarcoat my words before, and I'm not going to start now: I've never liked Yamauchi. It was his policies and mannerisms during Nintendo's golden age that led both to Nintendo's dominance in the 8 & 16 bit eras as well as Nintendo's Fall from Grace in the N64 & GameCube eras.  We are still seeing 3rd party repercussions from his arrogance as president of Nintendo.

I respect what he accomplished as President of Nintendo revitalizing the video game market in the 80s, and the Nintendo he ran will always be fond in my memory as an icon of my childhood, even if it was rather insidious in reality.  That said, I can't say I feel altogether bad about one of the biggest obstacles to removing Iwata as head of Nintendo being gone now.  I'll be interested to see what happens once his controlling interest in Nintendo passes to its new owner, someone who doesn't have the weight hanging over their head of being the one who appointed Iwata.

[Adrock]

I wonder what this means for Nintendo?

We may actually see Nintendo loosen up a bit. Even though Yamauchi hasn't been involved with Nintendo's day to day operations for over a decade, his influence cast a shadow over the entire company. Sure, he got outvoted by the board of directors at times, but I still feel like they adhered a little too closely to his mentality.

[Ian Sane]

I actually heard about this on a radio during my drive to work.  I was listening to a station from Washington state and they announced it due to his ownership of the Seattle Mariners.  I found myself feeling pretty sad for someone I did not know personally.

I thought it was in his 90's so I'm shocked to see he was only 85.  The guy looked 85 when it was in his late 60's!  The guy led Nintendo to greatness and without Nintendo's rise to the top with the Famicom the Japanese videogame industry probably never would have left arcades.  Though his stubborness is also a big part of Nintendo's corporate culture.  I get on Nintendo's current leaders for having their heads up their asses but Yamauchi made that cool.

Now does this change Nintendo?  How much involvement did he still have or has Iwata pretty much just being running things his way?  This could be like Bill Wirtz, the former owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, who in his later years kept his team in the gutter due to stubborn refusal to adapt to modern times.  When he died his son took over and the franchise rebounded almost overnight and have since won two Stanley Cups.  Yes, it's the morbid story of an old curmudgeon running a company into the ground until his death saves the company from his meddling.  I have a much stronger fondness for the Yamauchi era over the Iwata era but I don't know how much influence Yamauchi had on present day Nintendo.  For Yamauchi's sake I hope his dead isn't beneficial to Nintendo but as a Nintendo fan I can't help but hope it does.

Of course I also wonder what impact this has on the Seattle Mariners.  Who is Yamauchi's heir?

[Luigi Dude]

Of course I also wonder what impact this has on the Seattle Mariners.  Who is Yamauchi's heir?

Well he has three children so I'd imagine a lot of the things he owned will be passed down to them.  Considering all the reports of his death are saying he's survived by his oldest son Katsuhito, that's probably who'll end up inheriting much of what he owned.  Since he had two daugthers and one son and he was very conservative, it makes sense the son will probably inherit almost everything.

Of course one of his daughters Yoko, is married to Minoru Arakawa who was the first president of NOA and was there for 22 years, so I'd imagine she'll at least get some of Yamauchi's shares of Nintendo since her husband were very important to the company.

[ThePerm]

I had looked for this thread, but didn't see it at first. Kinda down in the middle threads.(so, oops for posting another thread)

Yamauchi saved video games and hired the right people. If there was no him there would be no mario, no zelda. Miyamoto probably would have been making baby cribs. No metroid. Yokoi probably would have been making programmable calculators. Atari may have made a comeback. It would be a weird alternative universe.

[Wah]

R.I.P,may the aura be with you!

[pyrokamileon]

RIP Yamauchi-san :-(

[UncleBob]

He's not dead.  He's just sleeping.  Long Live Yamauchi.

[NeoStar9X]

RIP

[StrawHousePig]

Executive Producer: Hiroshi Yamauchi

Never looked right seeing Iwata's name in that slot. No offense, just never got used to it.

[ThePerm]

some future games better have In Memory of Hiroshi Yamauchi!