Signalling the end of an era, Nintendo has announced that representative director and technology fellow Genyo Takeda will retire.
Takeda, who will be remembered for having a long and illustrious history at the company, will retire on June 29th after the 77th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
Soon after he joined Nintendo in 1972, Takeda became known for his work in Nintendo’s Integrated Research Division (IRD). With his team, Takeda had helped to develop the battery back-up memory used in NES cartridges, and is credited with inventing the Analog controller for the Nintendo 64, and played a lead role in developing Wii.
While his career has been largely attributed to Nintendo’s hardware, his team was also the creative force behind the popular Punch-Out!! and StarTropics series.
He had once famously compared the console industry to the automobile industry in an interview with the Design Council, explaining that not all cars were built to compete at the highest level and that there was a lucrative market for fuel-efficient, family-friendly alternatives.
“If automobiles can be used as a metaphor, our industry has always been trying to compete over horsepower, while not all cars are made to compete in Formula 1 races,” Takeda explained. “Not every car follows the same evolutionary course. Some are trying to make faster cars, others are gathering public attention around the world with their hybrid engines.”
That thought process had largely driven the concept behind Wii, and in how Nintendo continue to stride in a different direction to their competitors, as seen with Nintendo Switch.
Ko Shiota, who is currently an executive officer and general manager of platform technology development division, will replace Takeda on the Board of Directors, subject to approval next month.
