hiroshi-yamauchi 20 Sep

Former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi has passed away at the age of 85 Nintendo announced today.

“Nintendo is in mourning today from the sad loss of the former Nintendo president Mr Hiroshi Yamauchi, who sadly passed away this morning,” the company said to CVG.

Current Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also issued a statement saying: “We will continue to treasure the values Yamauchi taught us – that what makes you unique lies at the core of entertainment. And we at Nintendo will continue to change the company flexibility to adapt to the times, as Yamauchi did, to carry on his spirit.”

Yamauchi joined Nintendo in 1949 as company president and later oversaw Nintendo’s initial steps into video games. Yamauchi stepped down in 2002 following the launch of the GameCube, but he remained close with Nintendo and as of March 2013 was its largest shareholder.