For the few who don't know, Hiroshi Yamauchi was the man who turned Nintendo from a lowly playing card company into a video game powerhouse. You can read a bit more about him in the Time article about this death. -Zero
Hirokazu Tanaka (long-time Nintendo composer from 1980 to 1999) made some tribute remixes in Yamauchi-san's honor. These are posted here. ~ DrFinkelstein
Chalk me up as one who thought he was into his 90's, the guy seemed immortal, though I also didn't hear about his health issues. It's tough to say how different the game industry would be without him, but one thing's for sure, Nintendo would probably still be just playing cards if not for him. Nobody's perfect, but even with his faults, no one could have turned Nintendo into a successful videogame company better than he did.
Also, did IGN's headline for this happen to read "Some Very Interesting Hiroshi Yamauchi News"?
Hirokazu Tanaka, a composer that worked at Nintendo for some of the eighties and all of the nineties, remixed the themes to Metroid and Super Mario Land in honor of the late passing of Hiroshi Yamauchi.
They sound great and I know Yamauchi would be proud.