Nintendo Loses Creator of NES and SNES

Masayuki Uemura, chief architect of the NES and SNES, has died at the age of 78.

Masayuki Uemura joined Nintendo in 1972 after working for Sharp Corporation (Hayakawa Electric). He helped the famed Gunpei Yokoi design solar cells for several toys, including the Famicom Light Gun, before becoming director of research and development for Nintendo 2, where he would design the NES and SNES, long known as the “Uemura series”, as well as production of various games for the NES and Satellaview (football, baseball, golf, ice climbing). He was also the author of the Color TV-Game, the Japanese giant’s first home console.

「ファミコン」生みの親・上村雅之さん死去 78歳https://t.co/RNJtTqwk5z

#上村雅之

December 9, 2021

Masayuki Uemura retired in 2004. He left Nintendo, but retained a seat on the board of directors to direct the heads of research and engineering. Before his death on December 6, he was a professor at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto for several years.

Behind the scenes of the creation of NES in video