Japanese computer game pioneer Masayuki Uemura has died aged 78. Ritsumeikan University, where Masayuki teaches, confirmed the sad news. They say the main architect behind the Nintendo Co. game console, died on Monday (6/12). However, they did not reveal the reason for Masayuki Uemura’s death.
“We sincerely appreciate Mr. Uemura’s great contribution in developing the game industry by introducing various video game consoles,” Ritsumeikan University said in a statement. “May he rest in peace.”
Masayuki Uemura was born in Tokyo in 1943. He studied electronics engineering at the Chiba Institute of Technology and joined Nintendo in 1971.
Uemura was then assigned to Nintendo at the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, in 1981 to develop console games, such as Donkey Kong, which became a hit in the US at that time.
The Famicom gaming system swept the Japanese market in 1983 when cartridge-based consoles allowed users to play on cassette format. The latest version of Super Famicom was later released in 1990 in Japan.
The Nintendo Entertainment System hit the US in 1985 and became a global sensation with more than 60 million consoles sold worldwide.
This made the international community recognize the company that previously sold the traditional Japanese card game.
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.
