Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Head of Nintendo till 2002 (from 1949), passed away on the 19th of September. He was the President of Nintendo from 1949 - 2002, and was the reason behind Nintendo transforming from making game cards to electronic gaming consoles. A number of ups and downs, but he was instrumental in giving us franchisees like Mario, Super Mario, Mario Bros, Pokemon and what not. He was quite a visionary, who believed that artists make games come alive rather than technicians, and allowed for open competition between multiple technical teams to vy for the best game. This allowed for some major creative breakthroughs and the games that we've all played at some point in our life. Though some consoles din't work as well as hoped (Nintendo Virtual Boy), Some became the rage and you simply had to have one, (Super Nintendo). Though Nintendo is not as strong as it used to be in the market. It was the Pioneer at one point and part in thanks to this gentleman! RIP! Hiroshi Yamauchi, Man Who Built Nintendo's Gaming Empire, Dies at 85 | Game|Life | Wired.com