I posted this in my UNITY thead but I feel this needs a separate standing in light of the death of Hiroshi Yamauchi, the legendary President of Nintendo.

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=5678470

Thank you Mr. Yamauchi.
Thank you Yamauchi-san.
Thank you for laying down the Principles that brought Longevity to this videogame business we enjoy so much.
Thank you for your piercing vision & insight.

That vision & insight that made you know that Nintendo could be MORE than just playing cards.
That vision & insight that allowed you to see a maintenance man named Gunpei Yokoi, take his self-invented gadget to the world as the Ultra Hand, & usher Nintendo into the world of toys with Yokoi at the helm.
That vision & insight that let you see the promise of the Odyssey, the magic of Atari, & transition Nintendo from toys to electronic toys to the special electronic toys known as Videogames.
That vision & insight that inspired you to hire that dreamer Shigeru Miyamoto who knew nothing about electronics, nothing about engineering, but was endowed with a child's heart & imagination.
That vision & insight which despite all naysayers allowed you to approve of Miyamoto & Yokoi's creation known as Donkey Kong.
That vision & insight which gave way to the creation of the Nintendo Family Computer, the Famicom, the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Your judgment was KEEN & your wisdom was MIGHTY.
You knew talent when you saw it & arranged your company to be run by the artists & ideamen over the bean-counters.
You never played a videogame in your life but you knew quality when you saw it.
You are responsible for that legendary Nintendo Seal of Quality.
You were wise in business & never allowed your company to become bloated & wasteful.
Small staff, budget focus, affordable prices, high quality products...and YOU NEVER WAVERED on these crucial points.
When the gameworld was ruled by chaos & randomness, you brought order & structure that ensured that this business could mature & shape the world even further.

The key Nintendo tenets that I rep so hard on this site & anywhere else I talk about videogames.
You set the tone, you set the pace, you made the arrangement.
The Dad of Dad's House. The Father keeping the The Kids in line so that they can become responsible adults.

The discipline it takes to ensure that longevity. Not following the crowd or the latest fashions.
Going Left when everyone goes Right. Going Forward when everyone goes Right.
You don't just do the opposite of what they do, you do what is right to do REGARDLESS of what everyone else does.
No matter how much they ridicule you, you do what's right. Your long-term vision is all that matters.

Your guidance has made Nintendo one of the best-run companies in the world.
Your guidance has made Nintendo THE BEST gamemaker in the world. BAR NONE.
You have trained your successor GREATLY & Satoru Iwata will honor your legacy as he takes Nintendo even further ahead in the 21st Century.

Now you weren't a kindly man, no.
You damn sure weren't cuddly. Hell no.
You were tough, firm, & direct. Nintendo Direct BEFORE there was a Nintendo Direct!
The imperial iron grip that took no prisoners. But your judgment could be trusted & the majority of your decisions were profound.
Even without ever playing a videogame, you knew this business inside & out.

The company of Nintendo is your lasting legacy.
Once a mere playing card-making company from Kyoto, Japan, Nintendo has become the lifeforce of this creative inspiring world-changing medium called videogaming.
Without Nintendo introducing the world to the Japanese legend of the Tanuki in Super Mario Bros. 3, does anybody think that we would have the anime & manga explosion that happened in America & the rest of the world in the 1990s?
Would we have the American version of Super Sentai known as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers?
Would we know of Dragon Ball Z? And Sailor Moon? And Gundam Wing? And Ronin Warriors? And Fist of the North Star? And Naruto? And Bleach? And Full Metal Alchemist? And Cowboy Bebop? And Afro Samurai?
The circle of cultural exchange is now complete.
America influences Japan. Japan influences America.
Disney changes Japan. Nintendo changes America.
One hand washes the other symbolizing the Yin & the Yang.
Once divided by war, now creating history together in peace.

Rest In Peace, Hiroshi Yamauchi.
Your work here is done & we are eternally grateful.
Thank you SO very much!
Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu!

John Lucas

Thank You Mr.Yamauchi

*cries* your posts are always beautiful!

RIP Mr. Yamauchi!

Love him or hate, Yamauchi was responsible for saving the console industry after the hardware crash of the early 80s.

Well. Sort of. He never actually played a game. He just approved  concepts thinking they would sell good. He was a great businessman though it was the development staff at nintendo the did the real saving. 

he hired the development staff. so yeah.

Really it's Gunpei Yokoi who developed Nintendo as we know it today. Yamauchi's genius was in realizing that Yokoi had good ideas instead of telling him "shut up and make more hanafuda cards."

This is a very good point. Gunpei was extremely instrumental in damn near every classic Nintendo game, he was Miyamoto's mentor. Very underappreciated.

However, like Phil Jackson and MJ, it takes a strong minded individual to get talented people to stay in line and reign in developer creativity for the betterment of the company as a whole. Yamauchi was such an individual. I hope Nintendo does not die with him.