Nintendo pioneer Masayuki Uemura has passed away at age 78

The video game fraternity has lost one of its elder statesmen in Masayuki Uemura. The man was responsible for the creation of the legendary NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and the Super NES. He died at the age of 78. His work will live on forever as he was one of the main architects of one of the most popular systems in the history of video games. His work then propelled Nintendo to new heights as the company went on to survive the video game crash of 1983. He joined Nintendo in 1971, and along with Gunpei Yokoi, worked on consoles that would go on to change the world. 

He started off working in Nintendo’s R&D2 division. His first real project was to develop the hardware behind the NES and he then went on to work on the Super Famicom, which was the progenitor of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. His work on these systems led to the development of the next generation of consoles and as we all know, the rest is truly history. Nintendo may not be the biggest gaming company around, but it is definitely the most influential, whether you know it or not. And, Masayuki Uemura was a huge part of the global influence. Without him, we wouldn’t have the juggernaut that is Nintendo today. 

In fact, just the idea of the modern console is intrinsically linked to Uemura’s work on the OG Nintendo Entertainment System. He also worked on important games like Ice Climber and other sports games. Since 2004, Uemura has been retired from Nintendo, although he did teach video games at Ritsumeikan University. The man is responsible for a lot of our childhoods and since his passing away, we have one less light to show us the way in the dark. 

Also Read: In A Cosmic Twist Of Fate, A Hacker Named Bowser Has Been Sued For More Than $10 Million By Nintendo

Follow Us

Andrew Lu

A geek and nerd at heart, I love comic books, horror movies and professional fighting. Yes, I know how insane that sounds. View Full Profile