Masayuki Uemura, the head of Nintendo’s R&D2 during the 1970s and 1980s, and the designer of both the NES and SNES, has passed away at the age of 78. Uemura was one of the driving forces atNintendowhen it came to pushing the hardware of both the NES and SNES and was instrumental in the success both consoles shared then and now.
Uemura joined Nintendo in 1972 working alongside other visionaries such asGunpei Yokoiand Genyo Takeda. All three men took on the task of developing electronic light gun games for arcades and specifically for the Japanese arcade Laser Clay Shooting System, which was eventually released by Nintendo in 1973.
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Due to his success in designing light gun equipment, Uemura was appointed head of Nintendo’s R&D2 division focusing on hardware and, at the time, Nintendo’s Color TV-Game systems. These systems, which were produced in 1977, were part of Nintendo’s first steps into manufacturing domestic video games. In 1981, Uemura began work on what would eventually come to be knownas the Famicom (NES outside Japan). After the president of Nintendo at the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, pushed for a game console that took advantage of insertable cartridges, Uemura and team set to work developing the console and released the NES to near-universal acclaim in 1983.
Uemura and team were instantly set to work on a successor to the NES and thusbirthed the SNES (Super Famicom)which Uemura worked on for many years starting in 1988. While he mainly worked on hardware, Uemura also had a hand in developing on a number of NES games including such classics asBaseball,Ice Climber, andClu Clu Land. He retired from Nintendo in 2004 but stayed on as an advisor for the Research and Engineering Department.
Last year Uemura gave one of his last talks at The National Videogame Museum, detailing his time at Nintendo and what pulled him in to the company. Turns out Uemura really enjoyed the fact that the staff at Nintendo weren’t looking to replicate others' successes but instead forge their own way through the industry, always with an eye on innovating. Uemura ended up being one of those defining developers, creating a product that still resonates to this very day, and has since its inception, paved the way for the entire industry to follow suit. Masayuki Uemura was a true pioneer in the industry, leaving behind a huge legacy and twosuccessful consoles in the NES and SNES, as well as many thankful fans.
