Genyo Takeda, the gaming legend retires
Genyo Takeda of Nintendo, one of the most creative minds in the gaming industry, has decided to retire after 45 long years of service. His retirement, scheduled for June 29th after the 77th AGM, was announced rather unceremoniously along with the financial results of Nintendo. Chances are he's the one behind the games you loved when you were young. Here's nostalgia for you.
The first among the inspired lot
In 1975 he designed the now iconic horse-racing arcade game called EVR Race, which was the first commercial video game by the firm. It is for this reason another legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, the brains behind Mario and Donkey Kong and erstwhile CEO Satoru Iwata, creator of Kirby's Dream Land, conferred him the prestigious title of "Nintendo's first game designer."
The genius behind The Legend of Zelda
It was Takeda who made it possible to save a game in The Legend of Zelda, one of the most successful games of Nintendo whose new revamped version has also been well received. Compared to the old password systems, which came with the games like Mega Man and Metroid, Takeda enabled the battery saving capability which was a boon for the gaming community.
Like the old analog controllers? Thank him
During Takeda's tenure in Integrated Research Division (IRD), he invented the analog sticks to be used with the controllers of the N64 console. His designed analog sticks, being more responsive and sturdy, took gaming to the next "big" level and it's still in use today. One of the most iconic things about gaming came in courtesy to the innovative mind of this legend.
The designer of Wii and Wii U
The first step towards Switch, Wii and Wii U were also taken with the help of Takeda. Before Switch, Wii was the most successful console by Nintendo and more than 100 million units of it were sold worldwide, though Wii U doused expectations. The unconventional motion controls which Wii had, were later integrated into Nintendo Switch.
Give a shout out if you remember Punch Out!!
He was a part of the research and development team called R&D3, which came out with Punch-Out!! It was one with humble beginnings but later evolved into Nintendo Entertainment System's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, which was a massive success. The Punch Out!! Stand-up cabinet was the first from the Nintendo stable that used dual screens, a feature that later resurfaced with Nintendo DS handheld version.
Nintendo stops production of NES Classic Edition
Nintendo has officially declared the end of production for its NES Classic Edition in Europe. It had earlier done the same in the US and Japan market. Most early gamers started off with this timeless "classic" and it's really disheartening to know that the firm will not make it any more, despite of it still being popular in the niche gaming communities.
