Famicom is an orphan. Masayuki Uemura, creator of Nintendo’s first game console, dubbed “Famicom”, a shrinkage of “Family Computer”, and known to the rest of the world by the acronym NES – for Nintendo Entertainment System – died on December 6, at the age of 78 in Kyoto . “I pray for the rest of his soul. The NES is the game console that has influenced me the most. Without it, I wouldn’t be here”Masahiro Sakurai, creator of the universes replied Smashing And Kirby from Nintendo.
Born June 20, 1943 in Suginami Ward, west of Tokyo, Masayuki Uemura dedicated his life to electronics and video games. His interest in images was born in elementary school when he discovered television. Deciding to become an engineer, in 1967 he joined the electronics department at Chiba Institute of Technology (east of Tokyo). He was then hired by Hayakawa Electric, a company later renamed Sharp. It works on light-sensitive systems, which it sells to various companies, including Nintendo, which is using this technology to develop its light cannon or Zapper, an electronic cannon that allows interaction with on-screen targets.
Masayuki Uemura reintegrated Nintendo in 1972
Working with Nintendo, Masayuki Uemura ended up joining, in 1972, the Kyoto-based company, which was set up in 1889 and whose first business was the manufacture of playing cards. It would have been spoiled by Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997), the creator of mobile games for the Game & Watch series, and then by the Gameboy console.
In his new home, the engineer is focusing on electronic entertainment. The president, Hiroshi Yamauchi (1927-2013), heir to the founding family, appointed him as head of the Office of Research and Development, R&D2, a newly created division focused on hardware.
Masayuki Uemura was instrumental in the development of the Nintendo Color TV-Game Systems — the company’s first foray into home video games. The group launches Game 6 and Game 15 TVs, as the world sees rapid development of consoles making the game a success bong, from the American Atari.
In 1981, Hiroshi Yamauchi asked Masayuki Uemura to build a powerful and inexpensive console, allowing the user to play arcade games on TV. He wants the software to be on interchangeable cartridges, which amounts to separating the hardware from the software, “Really revolutionary idea”According to Imura.
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