Hiroshi Yamauchi Dies at 85.

[Luke]

Great businessman, awful gamer. Yet not judge a man by his hobbies but by his business acumen.

May he rest on a cloud level.

[EvilRyu2099]

RIP Godfather of the successful console market..

[MulishaSoldier929]

Apparently he was proud of having never played a single video game in his life. Weird.

Yeah I thought that was this guy.

RIP regardless.

Honestly, it makes sense to me. He was surrounded by them at work all day. Why would he want to play one?

I work in television, so I don't want to watch any when I'm at home.

I read on cnn that he is a majority owner of the Seattle Mariners but has never been to a game.

Either way, RIP to a man a head of his time.

[CavZee]

Apparently he was proud of having never played a single video game in his life. Weird.

Yeah I thought that was this guy.

RIP regardless.

Honestly, it makes sense to me. He was surrounded by them at work all day. Why would he want to play one?

I work in television, so I don't want to watch any when I'm at home.

I didn't mean anything negative by it, just couldn't recall if it was him who said that or not. I'd have to imagine a lot of executives in the game industry don't really play games.

[ZeroAX]

Great business man, but I don't understand why some mainstream media sites call him a visionary for the video game business (cause imo the guys who built Nintendo were Gumpei Yokoi and Shiggy). It sounded like they were comparing him with Steve Jobs, a guy who was much more personally involved in the development of his company's products.

Of course all firms need solid business men to become succeful. Specially when it comes to picking the right things to invest in (I'm sure we all know a blue themed rival of nintendo who could have used someone in the helm who would have been more willing to restrict their engineering team).

[SNESdrunk]

Of course all firms need solid business men to become succeful. Specially when it comes to picking the right things to invest in (I'm sure we all know a blue themed rival of nintendo who could have used someone in the helm who would have been more willing to restrict their engineering team).

Except Yamauchi was far, far more than just a "solid" businessman. The video game industry was totally dead in the water in 1983-84, until he said "Bullshit, we can do this." He went on to re-invent a billion dollar industry in the next decade by applying Japanese business practices in an American landscape. That takes, as Alec Baldwin said in "Glengarry Glen Ross," brass balls.

[AppleQueso]

Of course all firms need solid business men to become succeful. Specially when it comes to picking the right things to invest in (I'm sure we all know a blue themed rival of nintendo who could have used someone in the helm who would have been more willing to restrict their engineering team).

Except Yamauchi was far, far more than just a "solid" businessman. The video game industry was totally dead in the water in 1983-84, until he said "Bullshit, we can do this." He went on to re-invent a billion dollar industry in the next decade by applying Japanese business practices in an American landscape. That takes, as Alec Baldwin said in "Glengarry Glen Ross," brass balls.

I thought that Nintendo wasn't even going to bother with the US market until Howard Lincoln convinced them to give it a shot?

[SNESdrunk]

Of course all firms need solid business men to become succeful. Specially when it comes to picking the right things to invest in (I'm sure we all know a blue themed rival of nintendo who could have used someone in the helm who would have been more willing to restrict their engineering team).

Except Yamauchi was far, far more than just a "solid" businessman. The video game industry was totally dead in the water in 1983-84, until he said "Bullshit, we can do this." He went on to re-invent a billion dollar industry in the next decade by applying Japanese business practices in an American landscape. That takes, as Alec Baldwin said in "Glengarry Glen Ross," brass balls.

I thought that Nintendo wasn't even going to bother with the US market until Howard Lincoln convinced them to give it a shot?

Yamauchi basically said to Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa, "We have a great product. Make it work in the US. Do what you have to do." Lincoln and Arakawa were the ones that got Nintendo their foot in the door in the US market, busting their asses at CES conventions and such, but Yamauchi after the fact was the one who solved a lot of the problems Atari dealt with (counterfeiting, setting a quality standard, not letting shitty games flood the market).

[samsonlonghair]

Much respect to Hiroshi Yamauchi. The man was unafraid to take risks and succeed in business.

[Blu]

Such a sad loss, rest in peace. Hirokazu "Chip" Tanaka has remixed Metroid and Super Mario Land themes in honor of Hiroshi Yamauchi. They're worth a listen.

http://www.gamnesia.com/news/in-memory- ... o-land-and