Nintendo, Super Ninendo Console designer, dead at 78

alxlwson

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/japans-nintendo-game-console-pioneer-uemura-dies-at-78

Masayuki Uemura, a Japanese home computer game pioneer whose Nintendo consoles sold millions of units worldwide, has died, according to the university in Kyoto where he taught. He was 78.

Uemura, the lead architect behind Nintendo Co.'s trailblazing home game consoles, died Monday, Ritsumeikan University said in a statement. The cause of his death was not released.

Born in Tokyo in 1943, Uemura studied electronic engineering at the Chiba Institute of Technology and joined Nintendo in 1971.

Uemura was tasked by then-president Hiroshi Yamauchi in 1981 with developing a home console for games like Donkey Kong, which was a huge hit in the United States at the time but only available for arcade use.

The so-called Famicom game system hit the Japanese market in 1983 as Nintendo's first cartridge-based console, allowing users to play popular games that came in cassette formats. The upgraded Super Famicom was released in Japan in 1990.

The Nintendo Entertainment System, as it was known, hit the United States in 1985 and eventually became a global sensation with more than 60 million consoles sold worldwide, bringing international recognition to a company that previously made traditional Japanese card games, other playing cards and toys.

After retiring from Nintendo, Uemura taught game studies starting in 2004 at Ritsumeikan University in the ancient Japanese capital, which is also home to Nintendo.

"We offer our heartfelt appreciation for Mr. Uemura's huge contributions to the development of the game industry by introducing a variety of video game consoles including family computers," Ritsumeikan University said in a statement. "May he rest in peace."
 
Rest in peace Masayuki. He lived the best life, one that enriched the lives of millions upon millions of people, not only once but a million times over. The best one could hope for. Thank you for the memories.
 
Nintendo was the only console that mattered to me as a Kid. Everything else was 3D graphics garbage. Gotta live those Sprites.
 
Nintendo was so far ahead of that awful Atari garbage system, it was not even funny.
 
Rest in peace, and thank you for all of the wonderful 8-bit and 16-bit memories and experiences, you will be sorely missed. 🪦
 
Hit me rrreeeaaalll fuckin' hard when I heard the news the other day. I got in with the Atari 2600, NES changed my life. SNES is my favorite console of all time. I still play both systems. The NES I had since childhood is working fine, replaced the 72-pin cartridge connector over a decade ago, then last month I replaced it again with this device:


The SNES I had since childhood had the CPU die some years back. My Super Famicom ended up with a broken trace going to the vRAM chip (according to my repair buddy who owns a store doing arcade/console/pinball repair). I've been borrowing another Super Famicom for years now.

I really don't have the words for what these two consoles, and Uemura's work, mean to me. Sadly I don't know enough about the man himself and his contributions, but that needs to change. All I can say is, thank you man for the unfathomable impact you've had on my life.
 
Will never forget the magic of waking up Christmas and getting my NES and SNES. I have the VHS tapes of those mornings still and need to convert them over to digital still before they degrade completely. I wonder if he had any idea of the impact these systems would have around the world to the industry and lives of those playing on these consoles.

RIP Masayuki and thanks for being a huge part of my life.
 
Well Jaguar had a couple good games. Tempest 2000 was a classic and Aliens vs. Predator was probably the best FPS for consoles at that time by a wide margin.
 
RIP
will watch 8bit xmas later to relive the feel.
kinda hoping his casket is themed...
 
Nintendo to Atari 2600?

And ironically, so was SNES over Jaguar.
Forgot about the Mattel Intellivision System, too.

IMO, THE single greatest game period, was Blaster Master for the NES. I could not beat that game until I bought a joystick with Turbo and Slo-mo.
 
I really liked Gyromite. Especially since I had R.O.B. the robot and he could play second player for me.
 
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