# Hiroshi Yamauchi

Hiroshi Yamauchi 山内溥 (7 November 1927 - 19 September 2013) was the third president of Nintendo, famous for transforming Nintendo from a small hanafuda card making company in Japan to a multi-billion dollar video game company.
Due to inherent difficulties in translating Japanese to English, his quotations have been grossly misconstrued.

## Quotes

* I have been saying this for some time, but customers are not interested in grand games with higher-quality graphics and sound and epic stories. Only people who do not know the videogame business would advocate the release of next-generation machines when people are not interested in cutting-edge technologies.
** Prior to the announcement of the Nintendo Revolution "Top 10 Tuesday: Wildest Statements Made by Industry Veterans" ign.comquote-
* [People who play RPGs are] "depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games."
** "Top 10 Tuesday: Wildest Statements Made by Industry Veterans" ign.com
* "If we can increase the scope of the industry, we can re-energise the global market and lift Japan out of depression - that is Nintendo's mission.". Regarding lukewarm GameCube sales which had yielded the company's first reported operating loss in over 100 years, Yamauchi continued: "The DS represents a critical moment for Nintendo's success over the next two years. If it succeeds, we rise to the heavens, if it fails, we sink into hell."
* There are many people in the industry that know nothing about games. In particular, a large American company is trying to do engulf software houses with money, but I don't believe that will go well. It looks like they'll sell their game system next year, but we'll see the answer to that the following year.
** In reference to Microsoft, prior to the release of the Xbox "Top 10 Tuesday: Wildest Statements Made by Industry Veterans" ign.com

## Misattributed

* Hey Ballmer, suck my yellow balls
** This comment was reported as being a response to Microsoft's offer to buy Nintendo in "How Nintendo boss silenced Steve Ballmer" The Inquirer (7 January 2005), and other news sites, but it actually derives from a parody article "Pride" that was purportedly to be in the February 2005 issue of Wired magazine, and which first appeared on the web at a Spanish gaming site, Gamerah.com
** "Microsoft's Ballmer beat off Asian genital challenge" ~ The Register (7 January 2005)
** "Nintendo Responds to Fake Interview" ~ Advanced Media Network (8 January 2005)

## References

* 1 2 http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/the-legend-of-zelda-board-off-topic-thread-depleted-uranium-edition.47958663/page-95#post-53096646
* ↑ Nikkei talks with Nintendo's Yamauchi and Iwata. GameScience. Archived from the original on January 27, 2006. Retrieved on May 27, 2014.
* ↑ Metts, Jonathan (February 13, 2004). Iwata, Yamauchi Speak Out on Nintendo DS. Nintendo Worldwide Report. Retrieved on May 27, 2014.
* ↑ Constantine, John. Rise to Heaven: Five Years of Nintendo DS. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 27 May 2014.

## External links

* IGN's report on Yamauchi's leaving of the board of directors
* N-Sider.com's article on The Mind Behind the Empire
* IGN's summary of the Hiroshi Yamauchi interview at Nikkei Business Daily
* ClassicGaming.com - Hiroshi Yamauchi Retires From Nintendo
* Hiroshi Yamauchi On Nintendo's Future from 1UP on FindArticles.com
* Biography of Hiroshi Yamauchi at Nintendo Land
* Forbes Faces: Hiroshi Yamauchi
* Parody: Miyamoto vs Yamauchi