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Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo visionary, dies at 85

Yamauchi oversaw the launch of Nintendo's first-ever games console, the Color TV Game 6, and was in charge for all of the company's most famous gaming triumphs.

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Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi
Hiroshi Yamauchi (left) led Nintendo as it became a powerhouse in video games. He's seen here with Kyocera's Kazuo Inamori in a file photo from 1998. AFP/Getty Images

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the man credited with turning Nintendo into the video game giant it is today, has died aged 85, the BBC reports.

Yamauchi, born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1927, oversaw the launch of Nintendo's first-ever games console, the Color TV Game 6. From arcade cabinets to the NES to the SNES, the Game Boy and N64, Yamauchi was in charge for all of Nintendo's most famous gaming triumphs, over a period that saw Nintendo become a dominant force in gaming.

He stepped down as president in 2002, a year after the Nintendo Gamecube went on sale, remaining as chairman of the board of directors until 2005.

Read more of "Nintendo gaming visionary Hiroshi Yamauchi dies aged 85" at Crave UK.