I don't remember the exact year I first played the Nintendo Entertainment System but I do remember the day and the setting in which it happened. I remember my family was at my grandparents house for a get together (probably Christmas eve as is the tradition in my family) and set up in the den on the old 13" TV was a brand new NES. The whole family (cousins, aunt and uncle, my parents, and my grandparents) were all crowded into the small room as I picked up the controller and powered up Super Mario Bros. Everyone was in awe at the device and EVERYONE wanted to play. I remember taking turns, and passing the controller around to my parents and cousins and other family members and just being totally blown away by what was on the screen. The NES that year brought the whole family together on one solid ground to enjoy our time together and watch in amazement at technology literally changing the way we all viewed the world and I will never, ever forget that day because it also changed me at such a young age and steered me towards what has become my ultimate passion and that is video games.
To say that the NES changed my life is an understatement because at that point I was only a small child with no real grasp on the world. The NES inspired me to embrace technology and that is why I took the news of Hiroshi Yamauchi's passing earlier today so hard. Mr. Yamauchi is one of the most influential if not THE most influential person in the entire gaming industry. He single-handedly took a small trading card company in Japan and built it into one of the most recognizable and successful video game companies today. Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and former chairman of publisher Eidos, said it perfectly today: ""He understood the social value of play, and economic potential of electronic gaming. Most importantly he steered Nintendo on its own course and was unconcerned by the actions of his competitors. He was a true visionary."
Mr. Yamauchi changed the world and inspired so many along the way. Nintendo will always have a place in my head for what it accomplished and how it affected my life. Without Mr. Yamauchi I may never have started this blog, I may have never taken an interest in video games, I may never have learned to appreciate the visual arts that are presented in games. Mr. Yamauchi is solely responsible for getting me started in the world of gaming and is THE iconic figure that the world will sorely miss. Even though he stepped down from his presidency at Nintendo in 2002 and then from the executive board in 2005, Mr. Yamauchi created a video game empire and was responsible for bringing some of the most iconic characters in all forms of entertainment to the masses to embrace and love. Today is a day of mourning all around the industry as one of its brightest lights has been extinguished.
Thank you Hiroshi Yamauchi for everything you have done for the industry and thank you for letting me play.
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