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
Guess it shouldn't come as much of a surprise at his age, but it still did. The guy was a brilliant businessman and the industry wouldn't have been the same without him.
Yeah I don't even know if he was sick or it was just old age or something.
For all the crap he got for some of his business practices he did have a keen eye for talent. He gave guys like Gunpei Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto the reigns to make the games they wanted and he was the one who thought Shigesato Itoi might be one to something with his RPG idea.
The Reuters article that tons of outlets use says "the company's fortunes have since faded as smartphones displace consoles among gamers". It's amazing what can be reported as "fact".
RIP. Thanks for everything, you gave birth to my favourite entertainment company. Loved seeing your name come up at the end of credits for old school Nintendo games.
I must pay my respects to Mr. Yamauchi. The guy absolutely had an eye for talent and knew exactly how to steer Nintendo to becoming kings at what they do. He was an imposing and intimidating guy, but that's just what 1980s Nintendo needed. Yamauchi, I salute you for your contributions! Maybe now he's playing go against Gunpei Yokoi in the afterlife.
Requiescat in Pace, Yamauchi-san. Thank you for all your contributions. Without you, the world would be a very different place. A world without video games, *shudder.*
@sirmastersephiroth Well I'm sure there would still be video games, but it's questionable when or if the console business would've recovered. I don't want to think about that alternate universe though.