September 20, 2013

Nintendo’s main-brain Hiroshi Yamauchi passes away, aged 85

by Gareth Mankoo

Legendary Japanese businessman, Hiroshi Yamauchi, passed away at the age of 85. It his his vision and belief that should be credited for the phenomenal success that Nintendo grew into becoming. Yamauchi ran the company for 53 years and held the title of being the its second-largest shareholder at the time of his death. A spokesman from Nintendo confirmed the news of the “loss of the former Nintendo president Mr Hiroshi Yamauchi, who sadly passed away this morning.” Yamauchi died of pneumonia at a hospital in central Japan. The funeral will take place on Sunday. On can imagine the tremendous contribution of Yamauchi between the years 1949 until 2002.


“Hiroshi Yamauchi transformed a run-of the-mill trading card company into an entertainment empire in video games,” said Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and former chairman of publisher Eidos. “He understood the social value of play, and economic potential of electronic gaming. Most importantly he steered Nintendo on its own course and was unconcerned by the actions of his competitors. He was a true visionary.”

[Via – BBC]