The business of videogames isn’t especially interesting at first glance. But when you realize that many, many of the leading businessmen in the industry are completely bonkers, it’s hard not to pay attention. Forbes brought one of my own personal heroes back into the limelight last Wednesday when they announced that Hiroshi Yamauchi is now the richest man in Japan! Yamauchi is the former president of Nintendo and was single handedly responsible for turning the former playing card manufacturer into the gaming juggernaut they are today. But ol’ uncle Hiroshi was even better known for saying batshit crazy things in public. Here’s a classic:
"If the (Nintendo) DS succeeds, we will rise to heaven, but if it fails we will sink to hell."
And now he’s the Scrooge McDuck of Nippon. For a guy who said, “(People who play RPGs are) depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games,” I think he may owe some Pokemon players an apology.
Thanks to Gamasutra for bringing us the news.