After an historic 45 years with Nintendo, Genyo Takeda is stepping down from his role as Representative Director and Technology Fellow. Reported by Eurogamer, Takeda-san’s retirement was announced today during Nintendo’s Board of Directors meeting.
Takeda-san started his career at Nintendo in 1972 after being recruited by would-be Game Boy designer Gunpei Yokoi and worked on some of Nintendo’s earliest video game projects, including EVR Race and Nintendo’s 1973 Laser Clay Shooting System. Thus, Takeda-san holds the distinction of being considered Nintendo’s first game designer.
Takeda-san has been credited with overseeing each Nintendo home console release, and has made various important hardware contributions, including the invention of the N64’s analog stick. Takeda-san has also been credited with creating the battery backup save system in the original Legend of Zelda, and has worked on such Nintendo titles as Punchout!!, StarTropics, and Pilotwings 64.
After the 2015 death of Satoru Iwata, Takeda-san joined Shigeru Miyamoto in becoming an acting leader in the company, with the title of “Fellow,” under the leadership of President Tatsumi Kimishima. Takeda-san also spoke at Iwata-san’s funeral, promising to continue the late president’s work at Nintendo.
Takeda-san’s role will be taken over by Ko Shiota, lead hardware designer for both the Wii and Wii U.
What do you think of Takeda-san’s retirement? We certainly owe him greatly for having such a monumental role in some of gaming’s best hardware and games, and we wish him all the best in the future.
