Today we lost a legend. Simply put, Hiroshi Yamauchi is basically the reason we have video games today. A man ahead of his time his entire life, he had insights that no one could ever have anticipated. He took the family company, Nintendo, to new and unforeseen heights, cementing them into near permanent success.
Having admitted to not really enjoying video games himself, it's astounding the huge decisions he made (without any input from others), and how they impacted not only the game market, but the world. He was a master businessman, and had the innate ability to spot potential and latent success. He was the person who made the decision to move Gunpei Yokoi from factory maintenance to product development. He was the person who decided to hire Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the person who decided to put Satoru Iwata in the President/CEO chair. These people in turn made their own groundbreaking decisions, mentored prodigies of their own, and continued the legacy of ongoing innovation. Yamauchi just knew what would work. He would have a tiny flashes of brilliance that would each end up turning into decades long success. His instincts were spot on most of the time. And this is way before home video games entered the market too. After Nintendo moved decidedly into designing, manufacturing, and licensing toys, it was the start of a new era. Yes, there were some failures through the company's history, but it's no coincidence that Nintendo is where they are today.
Anyone and everyone who knew and worked with Yamauchi respected the hell out of him, and wouldn't even think to question his decisions. His keen intuition and ability to see solutions around corners is unsurpassed. Even upon leaving the position of chairman of Nintendo's board of directors in 2005, he left some small tidbits of advice and insight that the company continues to follow and have success with today.
Many websites and other media sources mark his death as the end of an icon, but I feel they still undervalue his everlasting impact that will continue to influence major trends and decisions in the far, far future. Especially living in North America, it's hard for us to truly realize how big of a figure Yamauchi is in terms of what he did. As big as the Nintendo boom was for us in the mid/late 80's, it was even bigger in Japan. Way bigger. Not to mention it started way earlier.
There are various books and interviews discussing Nintendo's continuing impact on the market, and it's extremely satisfying to see nearly everything come back to this one man. I highly recommend seeking out material pertaining to the company's history and inner workings. But since Nintendo is such a secretive bunch, it's easier said than done.
David Sheff's Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World is a brilliant look inside both Nintendo Co., Ltd. as well as Nintendo of America's early electronic gaming years. Osamu Inoue's Nintendo Magic: Winning the Videogame Wars is a more current look inside the company and key players' philosophies, focusing on the era of the DS and Wii. Yet all interviews and insights come back to Yamauchi and how he somehow could not only anticipate trends, but get a head start and basically create them himself. Both books are pretty much bibles of the video game industry, regardless if you're a Nintendo fan or not. If you're at all interested in the industry's inner workings, it is a veritable crime to leave these books unread. For full Nintendo of Japan history, Florent Gorges' two The History of Nintendo volumes cannot be beat for information on the company from its inception (1889) to the end of the Game &Watch era (1991). Hopefully the next volumes will be written/translated soon. But I'm not holding my breath.
I have an unfathomable amount of respect for Yamauchi. He will be sorely missed. But his spirit, philosophy, and innovation will live on. Because he was Nintendo.
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