Best of 2019: The Most Important People in History Nintendo

Fusajiro Honey

It's good to start at the beginning, no? Fusajiro Yamauchi invented Nintendo to make it Hannahfuda is joking cards that keep the company in business for sixty years or more. It was the man responsible for burning the company – a dispute over the exact origin and meaning of the word & # 39; Nintendo & # 39; the title itself. It's a little silly and who knows – we might have been playing the Yamauchi Entertainment System. YES.

Fusajiro Yamauchi's son-in-law, Sekiryo Kaneda, will continue to succeed him as president, taking over the name of Yamauchi when he took over in 1929, and the founder a grandson will be Nintendo's third – and longest – president …

Hiroshi Yamauchi

A handsome looking man with a fiery temper, Hiroshi Yamauchi is the man responsible for moving Nintendo away from playing cards and shaping the company to its present-day height. After brief negotiations in various areas in the early 1960s (including taxis and hotels & # 39; love & # 39;), Yamauchi redirected the company to the toy market and consequently became video games.

I really enjoyed playing Go more than any lack of video games, Yamauchi's gifts included seeing the talent when he saw it, filling Nintendo's ranks with the best people and with the incredible judgmental skills needed in any given situation – the addition of a second Nintendo DS screen at his persistence even though he has retired and resigned his position as president of Satoru Iwata. It looks like he had some eccentric policies & # 39 ;, but his firm's steel approach to business kept him and his company for 53 years.

Shigeru Miyamoto

& # 39; Who this is a shadowy figure? & # 39; he asks. A genius in action and theater, there is no need to stay with this man – as you well know, he was instrumental in making the best of plays rather than having hot food. His hobbies include climbing tea tables, exploring new cities without a map, gardening and playing the banjo, and loves to turn those experiences into video games; most of the time, that goes really well. We allow the unpleasant Wii Music

He is reportedly a difficult task manager who does not wish to be easily praised, but was training the next generation of engineers and gradually accepting the role of consultant and ambassador. My colleague Ryan still remembers the story of meeting Miamoto (and the next person on our list) too still it makes us green with envy. Come to think of it, maybe that's why he does it.

Takashi Tezuka

Tezuka has worked at Nintendo since 1984 and was instrumental in making some of the company's most popular and respected games, including director credits at History of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Previous Link and Yoshi Island – not a bad start on a CV.

Apart from the title of these games, it is only in recent years that Tezuka has played a significant role in this high profile. He has been with Miyamoto and has appeared prominently in the development of Manufacturer of Super and it sounds like you're finally enjoying some recognition with that list of Classics above, and a too much in addition they play an important role in the construction.

Masayuki Uemura

Originally a Sharp engineer, Uemura is the man responsible for designing Famicom and its western partner, NES. Since launching Nintendo's first series, he's behind the iconic Nintendo computer that continues to tap to this day. For more details about this most important player in Nintendo's history, check it out USGamer interview him.

As long as Nintendo continues to add their own retro kudos catalog, his influence will be felt.

Makoto Kano

Another longtime employee, having been with this company since 1974, most people can see his income. Super Metroid and say & # 39; yep, well enough – you're on that list & # 39 ;, but Kano worked as the original Concept Designer Metroid as well as Famicom battles and Kid Icarus.

That's it three (okay, two-and-a-half) important franchises have helped create them from the beginning stages, marking the pages of classic landmarks to come.

Satoru Okada

Metroid Director and Super Mario World, Okada worked extensively as a developer on a handmetheld mobile handheld, all the way from the original Game Boy to the DS. It was actually opposed to the second screen launch at the beginning, but the unrepentant Hiroshi Yamauchi president used his authority over the unemployed as chairman of the board of directors.

The decision was reversed another known as Yamauchi, Okada agrees. He retired in 2012 with an impressive list of Nintendo handsets bearing his name.

Hitoshi Yamagami

This guy has an impressive long list of features to his name and has been involved in many Nintendo puzzle games Dr. Mario, Tetris Attack (Panel de Pon in Japan) and Tetris DS. He is a former manager of SPD2 (Software Planning & Development group 2) and has worked as a producer on many different topics, most notably Fire Cone and Pokémon series.

Squeeze Takahashi

A familiar face from various Iwata Asks and a man who went to the beginning of the year wrote the news Metrop Prime 4 be it a resumption of development, Takahashi is the Chief Executive Officer, at any rate. Browsing a long list of credits, us it is possible choose his guiding works Wave Racing 64 as a highlight, but you have a surprising amount of General Manufacturer credits.

You are one of those people who even though they have a fingerprint on several Classics, you probably wouldn't mind if you were asked to name a number of Nintendo employees. Bland, difficult topics such as & # 39; Assistant Producer & # 39 ;, & # 39; Project Coordinator & # 39; or & # 39; Supervisor & # 39; it hides important contributions, especially in planning, planning or in the field of local practice, which means these people rarely get proper recognition. Check out their credits, though, and you'll be surprised to find out how many of your favorites you've worked on.

Hiroyuki Kimura

After joining Nintendo in 1988, Kimura created a character in Super Mario Bros. 3 before moving on and directing Metroid II in Game Boy. He then did background work on Super Metroid before joining Miyamoto & # 39; s EAD (Analytics & Entertainment) team. Recently he has been working on Pikmin and New Super Bros. series. A It's pretty cool then start again.

Hisashi Nogami

When he joined Nintendo in 1994, he worked on designing characters for Yoshi Island. From that great beginning he continued to direct much of the Animal Crossing series and recently participated in the production of Splatoon

It's hard to argue, though, that the most appealing thing on her CV apparently & # 39; Word Swooping & # 39; made at Rareware & # 39; s 3D platform seminar, Banjo-Kazooie (with Keisuke Terasaki). Now that is a video game.

Takaya Imamura

Another multi-talented artist, his creative skills have begun to be applied to domains and their actors F-Zero on the SNES and has participated in the series since then – we're big fans of that right, as you may know. That's fine, you may be thinking, but what have they been sixteen years ago? However, he is involved in a position similar to Fox star series from the original game, where he worked with Dylan Cuthbert, up to bespoke content Switch Starlink: Atlas War.

As co-founder of Fox McCloud and Captain Falcon (and, perhaps most notably, Tingle), he also has the credit of the & # 39; Supervisor & # 39; to Super Smash Bros. Finally. I've said that, actually everyone on this list you get credit from Smash Bros.

Hideki Konno

After joining Nintendo in 1986, Konno standards design for Super Bros. 3 and Super Mario World before moving on to the direction Mario Kart series that he continues to be involved with to this day. He was a director in Joshi's Story too Luigi's house and he worked through it Nintendogs. You are currently in control of Nintendo's mobile release, arguing that you are the perfect person to watch development in the future Mario Kart Tour.

Satoru Iwata

Another common name. Iwata's background has given him insight into the growth of the game that made him the president of the & # 39; comparison program, & # 39; completely different from its predecessor. The first president to appear outside of Yamauchi's teams, his position was noted for opening the company to a wider audience through Nintendo DS and Wii and interacting directly with listeners through Nintendo Direct sermons. He also helped raise fans' curiosity with the details behind the event with game development and the Iwata Asks series of interviews.

That is simply his presidential legacy – before joining Nintendo he was a presenter at HAL (and became president there too, in the presence of Hiroshi Yamauchi) working on many games including Kirby, The world over and Super Smash Bros.. It was fun down to her editing skills Pokémon Gold and Silver showed the entire Kanto region more than Johto, and when things got worse during the Wii U he took a pay cut and put Nintendo on a trajectory to its success now having a switch. His death in 2015 was felt throughout the industry but his fingers are still found on Nintendo and the company's release.

Gunpei Yokoi

The man behind the D-pad, the Game and Watch series, the Game Boy and the Nintendo entry into the toy market with Ultra Hand, Jokoi's impact on Nintendo and the gaming industry was huge. He left the company in 1996 following the failure of Virtual Boy and developed a WonderSwan handheld console before his death in a car accident in 1997. He has also been instrumental in the production of Metroid and Kid Icarus.

Yokoi has been a young attacker for using & # 39; mature & # 39; s technology to deliver exciting experiences, from toys developed in the early days to the humble Game Boy. This approach marked the development of a Nintendo home console since it left the race & # 39; race car & # 39; behind GameCube and adopted the Jokoi and Wii method. So it continues with Change – a console that delivers new experiences and ways of using innovative, proven technology.

Yoshiaki Koizumi

The current and most recognizable face of the Mario Franchise (after Miyamoto, of course), Koizumi oversees the stats of the most recent wooden series, which is pretty cool. Don't let the youthful faces deceive you, though – you are a fan of the company whose first game was Link to the Past which provided a background story and some creative work.

He will continue to be an assistant director Super Super 64 with Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto, so it's definitely not a new baby face on the block you can imagine. As a director only Super Super Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine, it's proven that Mario has a bright future when Miyamoto resigns playing banjo in his garden.

Tadashi Sugiyama

Joining the company in 1983, Syiyama's design work introduced several games from the early NES era and the SNES era. He named the Ice Climbers and his first credit started Zelda II: The Link Adventure. He then moved on to the Mario Kart and F-Zero series, most recently doing work on Wii Fit and Star Fox.

Eiji Aonuma

First thing to start as a designer on NES Open Golf, Aonuma has been designing the Zelda series for many years now. It was his work on the Japanese-SNES title only It's Awesome: Another Treasure Island that earned him the attention of Shigeru Miyamoto, who promptly moved him to work in the design of the valleys Ocarina of Time.

He then went on to direct Majora's Mask (and Joshiaki Koizumi, of course) was subsequently given the keys to the series he's been using since then, so his influence on one of Nintendo's precious crowns cannot be underestimated.

Yoshio Sakamoto

Sakamoto is a veteran of the company since 1982 and has been responsible for directing and writing after many Metroid games since Super Metroid (minus the Prime games). & # 39; Nuff said, actually.

While his reputation as a & # 39; s Mr. Metroid & # 39; makes him a respected member of Nintendo's creative staff – especially in the west – he is heavily involved in the finest design. WarioWare microgame series and production of Rhythm Heaven games.

Koji Kondo

The artist behind many classic songs from the Super Mario and Zelda games, is his music that cured those 8-bit worlds. These days a good Hyrule rating can be seen in three aspects, as we have seen in Wild Breathing, to let music take a backseat – to keep up with the world. Back on Famicom, though, make no mistake – it was Kondo's music that made Link's adventures.

These days he has the support of a team of talented designers including Naoto Kubo, Shiho Fujii, Mahito Yokota, Toru minegishi and Yasuaki Iwata to name a few, but the first unwritten themes of those small mixed-up countries continue to be felt by the company's big games; part of the fabric of those locations with Nintendo itself.

Katsuya Eguchi

Starting the company in 1986, Eguchi was a designer for Super Mario Bros. 3 and went on to direct with Star Fox and Wave Race 64 before taking on the role of Chief Designer no The story of Joshi. He has produced many games on Wii, Wii U and 3DS consoles, but these days he's known as the creator of the Animal Crossing series.

Generation Takeda

Takeda retired in 2017 after spending 45 years at Nintendo. According to Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata (and they may know), he was the original Nintendo game developer working on an arcade game called EVR Racing. He later read well Punch-Out !! and StarTropics but he spent a lot of time developing console technology – he worked alongside Masayuki Uemura designing Famicom / NES chips and was heavily involved in the development of the Wii.

Minsuu Arakawa

Nintendo's first American President and key figure in bringing the NES to the US, was the son-in-law of Hiroshi Yamauchi. & # 39; Motivation & # 39; Yamauchi led to his overseas installations and directed his efforts to build Nintendo's presence in the USA. Arakawa Chris is a wooden warrior Donkey Kong & # 39; Edward & # 39; s and who created the company's western vision following the 1983 video game accident.

Of course, Arakawa was not alone in his efforts to translate Nintendo's western audience. Other players have been instrumental in introducing the company to the American market, including Peter Main, Gail Tilden and the next person on our list…

Howard Lincoln

Lincoln became a legal trader and became a Nintendo employee in 1983. He was responsible for hiring lawyers who won a major lawsuit in 1981, saving the company after Universal Studios took it to court for the use of & # 39; Kong & # 39; e theme Donkey Kong. As Nintendo's American chairman, he represented the company during a US Senate hearing on video game violence, stating that Night trap

In partnership with Arakawa, he laid the foundations for today's NOA through illegal and commercial advertising. He has also worked closely with the following man to defend the most important Game Boy title…

Henk Rogers

Dutch designer who led the development of Onyx in black, one of the first Japanese based role-playing games, Henk (not Hank) Roger is best known as the man responsible for licensing the Game Boy killer app, Tetris. The race to Russia to obtain those rights has been documented on various occasions, including a The BBC documents which we totally recommend – a catchy line that involves confusion, dirty dealing and a world of saturation. Some of the people on this list have been interviewed about everything being discussed in the company giving a good insight into the company's continued success with the industry in the '80s.

Roger continued to make the Tetris Company where he still serves as Managing Director. An absolutely crucial figure in the Nintendo handheld story and, no doubt, in the popularity of RPGs in Japan. You can read more about Roger's unbelievable story and his relationship with Hiroshi Yamauchi in our feature from last year by the excellent John Szczepaniak.

Chris and Tim Stamper

The brothers behind the developer Ultimate Play Game, the company may be struggling and create some of Nintendo's biggest achievements for Super Nintendo and N64. The Country Donkey Kong The series has made the SNES a sharper send-off, but when Sony's PlayStation gave the N64 a real kick in the late '90s, it was an amazing game like GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie with all the Raree beat that kept the candle on Nintendo fans.

After Microsoft's 2002 acquisition of Rare, the brothers left in 2006 and maintained a very low profile ever since (Tim appeared on Twitter in 2015 with a handful of tweets about the cancellation of the SNES Project Dream, a game that will eventually break into Banjo- Kazooie). There is no doubt, however, that Nintendo's history will be the same too much is different from Rare's games to strengthen the N64 library.

Masahiro Sakurai

A former HAL Laboratories and father of Kirby and Super Smash Bros., Sakurai has really been treated the same by Satan as Patrick Stewart and Cher, which creates a lot of confusion when he tries to join a ten-year-old challenge pic. . Elsewhere in the Japanese attic, there is a disgusting picture of Mr Sakurai.

When you think of the many issues that suggest you are totally putting it off everything at her job – it hurts her life – it is surprisingly good for the years she hasn't spent her youthful looks. Along with his most famous generation of games, he also led design in puzzles Meteos and writes a weekly column for the Japanese Famitsu bible film. His dedication helped Nintendo unceremoniously, even though he was done packing Smash Ultimate DLC packs, we hope he gets the much-needed R&R.

Hiroshi Imanishi

Imanishi is the man who helps convince Yamauchi that toys and electronics are right where Nintendo should be. He founded the Games division of the company back in 1969 and also managed to hire Gunpei Yokoi, Genyo Takeda and Masayuki Uemura. So, without this guy, Nintendo wouldn't have those subjects. Which is important, we say.

Kensuke Tanabe

Tanabe's first credit as director of Doki Doki Panic, a game that will pop up Super Mario Bros. 2 west. After that, he did creative work on numerous platform games, including numerous Kirby games, and wrote for the Zelda series including A Link To The Past, Link Rise and Ocarina of Time. Recently he has done production work heap of the titles, perhaps the most notable of the Metroid Prime series – he's listed as a producer on the upcoming Metroid Prime 4, so he has undoubtedly put his skill in the hole as we speak.

Hirokazu & # 39; Hip & # 39; We are beautiful

While Koji Kondo is getting famous for Mario and Zelda, most of the music in the original NES catalog comes from the man. Adopted by earworm-y melody tracks and ambient tracks alike, he helped drag the game's video music from a place of just blips and blops. That it is his complexity Balloon Fight unity, the unpleasant atmosphere of Metroid, the unpleasant encounters with real consequences Donkey Kong either that Tune from Game Boy's version of Tetris, Hip Tanaka created the sound of Nintendo in the & # 39; 80s that kept making video games all the way.

The best man by all accounts, sometimes performing in clubs and elsewhere under the name Chip Tanaka. Although he left Nintendo in 1999, he worked for Organising, Inc. (one of the three that includes The Pokémon Company and Nintendo and Game Freak) since then, became its president in 2001.

Tatsumi Kimishima

Take a look at Kimishima's CV and you can conclude that he is a man you trust for a while management positions. Although he kept a low profile on average, he spent two years working for the Pokémon Company before securing Minoru Arakawa's position as Nintendo's US President in 2002 (after which Reggie ruled). In 2015 he was a member of the presidency around the world when Satoru Iwata died. He shepherded the Switch market marketing in 2017 and moved the ship until Sudntaro Furukawa took over in 2018. Though he won't play the show like everyone else on the list, he looks at Nintendo's huge success from positions across the company.

Reggie Fils-Aime

Yes, yes, we added a great person. His good marketing and strategy for success has been at the forefront of the company's continued success in the US. Though he was able to sell only what he was given to work with and ultimately had little impact on the overall direction of the Japanese company, Regie's toughness and personality as Nintendo's western face lifted him into the minds of many players. From a PR perspective, he had a significant impact on Nintendo's outlook, with the exception of having little influence on the company's products. For that reason, we think you deserve to skip the list.