gaming world has lost one of its pioneers. Hiroshi Yamauchi, a Japanese father and video game shows former head of the Nintendo group, died Thursday at the age of 85, from pneumonia, according to a statement. At the head of the group today centenary Kyoto for more than half a century (1949 to 2002), patriarch allowed Nintendo to become in 1980 the firm precursor of gaming, an emerging industry has transformed the company specializes in playing cards. Born in Kyoto, Hiroshi Yamauchi was a student at Waseda University in Tokyo when he took over the family business at the age of 22 years. It was during his era that Nintendo took the turn of electronics. “We need to develop video games”: it was in November 1981, Yamauchi Hiroschi thus addressed one of his subordinates, Masayuki Uemura, now 70 years old. “I want a machine that leaves rivals far behind for three years,” said the chief.
difference as a trademark
After the Famicom (Family Computer) came the machines Game Boy Pocket and other consoles later, accompanied by a multitude of games and iconic heroes of the mark (Mario, Pokémon, Zelda, etc..). This man was also an avid baseball, which had even invested in 1992 in a personal capacity in the U.S. team the Seattle Mariners, where he became the largest shareholder. At the head of Nintendo for 53 years, Hiroshi Yamauchi gave way in 2002 to Satoru Iwata, the current leader of the group. “Mr. Yamauchi has taught us that being different has value,” it said in a statement.
“We will continue to transform Nintendo flexibly from one period to another, as did Mr. Yamauchi and Nintendo, as a group, will keep its spirit alive. ” Hiroshi Yamauchi, who became Special Adviser to the group, while Nintendo goes through a difficult phase due to competition from games on smartphones and a segmented harder to hit market. The former master Nintendo has died a few days after another great man of Japanese industry, Eiji Toyoda, leader of the international expansion of Japanese automaker Toyota. The death comes as Hiroshi Yamauchi held since Thursday in the suburbs of the Japanese capital Tokyo Game Show, Japanese high mass of the video game company Nintendo which has paradoxically never participated.