Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former Nintendo president who transformed the company from a small-time playing cards outfit into a global video game giant, passed away this morning. He was 85.
Japan's Nikkei reported the news earlier today, and New York Times reporter Hiroko Tabuchi corroborated the report. A Nintendo spokesperson told the BBC that the company was in mourning over the "loss of the former Nintendo president Mr Hiroshi Yamauchi, who sadly passed away this morning."
Yamauchi took his role at Nintendo president back in 1949, following in his grandfather's footsteps. His early years at Nintendo were difficult, as his young age and lack of management experience meant many of his employees did not take him seriously.
However, as the electronic age began, Yamauchi was keen to see his company thrive amidst this new technology. He began dabbling in the latest video game consoles, including the Color TV Game hardware series in Japan.
He later expanded Nintendo to the U.S. in a bid to meet the needs of the American arcade market. It was when Yamauchi published Shigeru Miyamoto's Donkey Kong in 1981, and set the Game & Watch movement in motion, that Nintendo's rise to prominence in the U.S. truly began.
Obituary: Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the former Nintendo president who transformed the company from a small-time playing cards outfit into a global video game giant, passed away this morning. He was 85.