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Hiroshi Yamauchi dies at 85 (Nikkei)
- Thread starter bernardobri
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Data Elemental
Member
I'm shocked... and sad. May he rest in peace.
ss_lemonade
Member
Was shocked hearing about this on radio while driving to work. RIP
CountAntonius
Member
Rest In Peace.
R.I.P. Most awesome person this business has ever seen.
I'm pretty sure I glimpsed him once. In 2000, I was in Japan for the Spaceworld 2000 event, and went to Kyoto for one day. Took a cab to Nintendo's hq (the old one, right before they moved) and poked around. Sat a little while in the white lobby and looked at the enormous amount of ashtrays that stood around in there. And the lady behind the desk gave me some brouchures. When I left soon after, the working day was over and people came out from all the buildings. The door to an underground parking garage opened and an expensive black car, maybe a limo, drove out. It was driven by a uniformed chauffeur, and somebody sat in the back. It must have been Yamauchi. Who else at Nintendo had a private chauffeur at that time?
I'm pretty sure I glimpsed him once. In 2000, I was in Japan for the Spaceworld 2000 event, and went to Kyoto for one day. Took a cab to Nintendo's hq (the old one, right before they moved) and poked around. Sat a little while in the white lobby and looked at the enormous amount of ashtrays that stood around in there. And the lady behind the desk gave me some brouchures. When I left soon after, the working day was over and people came out from all the buildings. The door to an underground parking garage opened and an expensive black car, maybe a limo, drove out. It was driven by a uniformed chauffeur, and somebody sat in the back. It must have been Yamauchi. Who else at Nintendo had a private chauffeur at that time?
Anticitizen One
Banned
I'll always miss how he misdirected people like when asked about a successor to the N64 he was like
"We plan to show something new at next year’s E3, though typical gamers are not demanding high specs. The people who speak about the “next generation” are people who don’t know games"
Also this gem (which is apparently unverified):
[People who play RPGs are] “depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games.”
- Hiroshi Yamauchi in a 1999 interview
"We plan to show something new at next year’s E3, though typical gamers are not demanding high specs. The people who speak about the “next generation” are people who don’t know games"
Also this gem (which is apparently unverified):
[People who play RPGs are] “depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games.”
- Hiroshi Yamauchi in a 1999 interview
GayForMaster
Banned
MisterHero
Super Member
Awesome. I've been trying to find an old version that had captions.
IIRC He thanks people for playing their software. The last sentence was something like, "What kind of product is this anyways?"
He was Nintendo's biggest share holder, so his death will affect the fate of the company in one way or another.
Anticitizen One
Banned
uh he was a major stakeholder in the company
It always blows me away how ignorant "gamers" are about the industry they love
Dimitri LH
Member
Rest in Peace....you deserve it <=)
TheQuickening
Neo Member
Good night sweet prince. So what happens to his shares now? Forwarded down the line through the will? Forgive me if I am ignorant on this matter
Porcile
Member
Apparently to his daughter, who happens to be married to former NOA President Minoru Arakawa. I think they live in Hawaii.
MisterHero
Super Member
Calling gamers ignorant over who owns shares. What.
Maybe the kids get it. Maybe Nintendo decides to buy it from them; they have the cash. In any case, it would feel weird without the original family's presence.
Their current plans for the next 1-2 years will probably be the same. Iwata already started filling the board of directors with younger people, and might seek to do more of that.
grandjedi6
Master of the Google Search
His legacy will live on. At least as long as his descendents control a plurality stock of Nintendo. RIP
dinosaur_hunter2
Member
Basically this (except for the birthday). He was a legend and will be solely missed. Truly shocking.
It should also be mentioned that the industry's shift away from arcade style games (space shooters/bullet hells like R type, fighters like street fighter, run & guns and beat em ups like Final Fight, Contra, and the NES Ninja Gaiden, and casual games, I mean in the traditional sense like sports titles and racers, not the Brain Age sense) towards games with more complex mechanics and progression (RPGs, adventures, platformers, modern shooters and action games) was directly pushed for by Yamauchi. That's why we got titles like Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario Bros, because Yamauchi told Yokoi and everyone else at Nintendo to stop making games like Tennis, Golf, and Donkey Kong, and to make new experiences that users had never seen before, ones that had a beginning and an end, and weren't just attempts to get high scores.
Anyone who grew up in the 90s probably remembers his or her parents asking them if they were "Winning" or "getting the high score" on a game like, say, Sonic. Questions which didn't really make sense for the game you were playing because it wasn't a tug of war match or a game of points.
The reason why games largely moved away from that style is Yamauchi.
Anyone who grew up in the 90s probably remembers his or her parents asking them if they were "Winning" or "getting the high score" on a game like, say, Sonic. Questions which didn't really make sense for the game you were playing because it wasn't a tug of war match or a game of points.
The reason why games largely moved away from that style is Yamauchi.
AuthenticM
Member
Was he the one with a buckload of Nintendo stock ? I wonder what'll happen to them, and to Nintendo by ricochet.
GreggTheGrimReaper
Member
This man had a huge influence on me in my childhood and not just on me but millions of other people who grew up on Nintendo games. His legacy will live on in all of us.
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
oconnomiyaki
Member
Couldn't have said it better myself. Like Jobs, he was a visionary and an asshole. We should remember the former but should not forget the latter.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
Damn, as a Sega fan(atic) until the fall of the Dreamcast I loathed that guy, but I respected his work. Since then I have become much more friendly to Nintendo and I have come to really understand his impact and role in Nintendo.
Rest in peace, you did good Yamauchi. There will never be another industry guy like you with the swagger, charisma, and the cut throat mentality.
Rest in peace, you did good Yamauchi. There will never be another industry guy like you with the swagger, charisma, and the cut throat mentality.
Even metal legends 'In Flames' are paying their respects:
https://www.facebook.com/inflames?hc_location=timeline
RIP
https://www.facebook.com/inflames?hc_location=timeline
RIP
Taco_Human
Member
Processesing this in my head, I made myself sad. One day the headlines will be "rip Miyamoto" :-(
ShockingAlberto
Member
When someone dies, their shares don't just release in to the ether for people to buy back. They're considered inheritable income and might be taxed but are not just released back to the company unless they're specifically outlined in the will to do that. They'll almost certainly go to his daughter and Arakawa.
I wouldn't be so quick to call others ignorant, were I you.
He never said that they would be transfered back to Nintendo, you should read a little more carefully before starting to write.
No one knows who will get those shares and even in the likely case that his children or Arakawa receive them, we don't know what they would do with those. For all we know they could sell the shares the day after they received them.
SlavetodaBOX
Member
He's at the big arcade in the sky....
Femmeworth
Banned
Rest in piece.
Did anyone post the Drinky .gif yet?
Edit: For good measure.
Did anyone post the Drinky .gif yet?
Edit: For good measure.
I know he was kind of viewed as a Tywin Lannister of gaming, a strong man if you will, but I enjoyed reading about him as a regular person. His father abandoned his family and he felt alienated for a while. Later on after his father's passing and funeral he cried for months afterwards and learned about his Dad's other family, he regretted not reconciling with his father. He was initially viewed by others at Nintendo as a rich kid who didn't know what he was doing but he slowly built up his reputation.
On a side note one of his sons, Katsuhito Yamauchi, tried his hand in the gaming business but it didn't work out. He went on to produce Pokémon movies. I guess he will also receive a lot of Nintendo shares if they are divided evenly among his three children.
On a side note one of his sons, Katsuhito Yamauchi, tried his hand in the gaming business but it didn't work out. He went on to produce Pokémon movies. I guess he will also receive a lot of Nintendo shares if they are divided evenly among his three children.
For anybody speculating that Minoru Arakawa might come back, he's currently running international Tetris tournaments while living in Hawaii.
He's making tons of bank doing relatively little work. I doubt he would want to leave that for the hectic world of high stakes Video gaming that Nintendo is currently in.
He's making tons of bank doing relatively little work. I doubt he would want to leave that for the hectic world of high stakes Video gaming that Nintendo is currently in.
Banjotanooki
Member
R.I.P Yamauchi, thank you so much for the memories and for getting me into gaming. Without you, I wouldn't have had so many adventures with Mario, Link, Samus, or anybody else. Thank you so much. 
Which is good news considering his track record in opposing Miyamoto's hiring and saying donkey kong etc sucked and would doom NOA isnt very good for his record
It's so bizarre how a man I've never met directly influenced my life so much. Normally someone like this would affect his family (condolences to them as well) and perhaps fellow shareholders with his passing. Yet, he reached far further then that. Gamers all across the net, whether they aligned themselves with the blue blur, the crashing marsupial or the master of chiefs are coming together to mourn his passing.
Whether his leadership would've saved the Gamecube, revitalized the 3DS or un-doomed the WiiU is irrelevant. The accomplishments of the past outweigh the current-day failures.
R.I.P
Whether his leadership would've saved the Gamecube, revitalized the 3DS or un-doomed the WiiU is irrelevant. The accomplishments of the past outweigh the current-day failures.
R.I.P
NoirVisage
Banned
never personally owned a Nintendo console, but i respect his contribution to gaming as a hobby and a business..Rest in perfect peace.
Arc Christelle
Member
Rest In Peace OG Beast.
Manmademan
Member
So Yamauchi is dead, eh? Heard it on NPR during my drive back.
Very influential, no one can deny otherwise. Yet during his twilight years before he "stepped down" it was clear he had become inflexible and VERY ornery. remember this?
A CEO with that kind of outlook is just incomprehensible now. I'm sure we're in the middle of a ton of H.Yamauchi love at the moment, but one could say he was easily as much of a liability as an asset.
I compose this post not to praise Caesar, but to bury him...
Very influential, no one can deny otherwise. Yet during his twilight years before he "stepped down" it was clear he had become inflexible and VERY ornery. remember this?
A CEO with that kind of outlook is just incomprehensible now. I'm sure we're in the middle of a ton of H.Yamauchi love at the moment, but one could say he was easily as much of a liability as an asset.
I compose this post not to praise Caesar, but to bury him...
next to the wiiU
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