Masayuke Uemura, the video game icon credited with creating the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System has died. He was 78 years old.
Uemura was the lead architect on both Nintendo's legendary consoles, which went on to house some of the most important and influential video games ever made - classics like Super Mario Bros., The Legend Of Zelda, and Super Metroid.
Uemura joined Nintendo as an engineer from Sharp way back in 1972 just as the company was starting to dip its toe into the world of interactive entertainment. The Famicom - which became the NES in the west - was very much his baby. He started work on the system in 1981 after Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi tasked him with creating a device that could play arcade games on a TV.
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Ultimately, Uemura rose through the ranks and became manager of Nintendo R&D2, where he produced the NES and its much-loved successor, the SNES. While with the company, Uemura also worked as producer on a number of fondly remembered titles including Ice Climber and Clu Clu Land.
Uemura left Nintendo in 2004 and began teaching as a professor at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto. His colleagues there broke the tragic news of his death, revealing that he passed away on December 6.
"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Uemura, not only for the development of the Ritsumeikan University Game Research Center, but also for making a great contribution to the development of the game industry," the university wrote.
Truly, Uemura's impact on the video game industry cannot be overstated. It simply would not be what it is today without him. GAMINGbible extends its condolences to Uemura's friends and family.
Featured Image Credit: Nintendo/Nintendo LifeTopics: Nintendo
