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75-550: The concept behind the Laser Clay Shooting System came from Hiroshi Yamauchi , while Gunpei Yokoi was behind the development of the system. It was released in deserted bowling alleys in Japan in 1973; upon release, it was a commercial success, but the success of the system quickly evaporated as a result of the 1973 oil crisis and the ensuing recession in Japan, which left Nintendo ¥5 billion in debt and on

150-567: A 10% share in Nintendo. He was the 12th richest man in Japan due to his shares in Nintendo since its success with the Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. He donated the majority of the 7.5 billion yen to build a new cancer treatment center in Kyoto. In 2006, he founded Shigureden , a museum of poetry in Kyoto. In 1950, Yamauchi's wife Michiko gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Yōko. During

225-461: A Japanese investor who would keep the club in Seattle. Yamauchi offered to buy the franchise, even though he had never been to a baseball game. Although the owner accepted the offer, then MLB commissioner Fay Vincent and the league's ownership committee were strongly opposed to the idea of a non-North American owner and did not approve the deal. However, following the strong support and sentiments of

300-442: A Mariners game in his lifetime. On 19 September 2013, aged 85, Yamauchi died at a hospital following complications of pneumonia . Nintendo released a statement stating that its staff members were mourning the loss of their former president. Sonny Chiba Shinichi Chiba ( Japanese : 千葉 真一 , Hepburn : Chiba Shin'ichi , born Sadaho Maeda ; 23 January 1939 – 19 August 2021) , known internationally as Sonny Chiba ,

375-567: A button near their feet. High scores would earn players tokens which could be exchanged for prizes. Cheaper models of Mini Laser Clay featured single players who would shoot targets, projected by a 16mm film, at an arcade cabinet with a revolver . The idea for the Laser Clay Shooting System Game started in 1971, when Hiroshi Yamauchi read a newspaper article about shooting (also referred to as "Ball Trap") competitions. He then asked his assistant Gunpei Yokoi about

450-406: A digital laser clay shooting system was developed by SLR Games, also a UK manufacturer. The Laser Clay Shooting System was a shooting simulation that were present in many former bowling alleys in Japan. In the simulation, players fire their laser rifles at moving targets produced by an overhead projector. A series of reflections determines whether or not the target was hit by the "laser shot"; when

525-472: A hit is registered, the projector displays a picture of a destroyed target. The Laser Clay Shooting System was redesigned in 1974 and was renamed "Mini Laser Clay". This game would be displayed in arcades as opposed to bowling alleys. Mini Laser Clay consisted of two shooting ranges in which up to four players could play simultaneously. Players would pay ¥100 to shoot ten clay pigeons with two shots per pigeon; players would "pull" each clay pigeon by stepping on

600-542: A major player in the toy market. Yamauchi realized that technological breakthroughs in the electronic industry meant that electronics could be incorporated into entertainment products since the prices were decreasing. Atari and Magnavox were already selling gaming devices for use with television sets. Yamauchi negotiated a license with Magnavox to sell its game console, the Magnavox Odyssey . After hiring several Sharp Electronics employees, Nintendo launched

675-448: A mountainous or forest landscape, and a mechanism that consisted of reflections which detected whether or not the "laser shot" hit the flying target on the projector. Yamauchi was successful in the first few weeks of operation, as his "test locations" were running at capacity. In February 1973, with imminent success of the Laser Clay Shooting System, Yamauchi established a new Nintendo subsidiary, Nintendo Leisure System Co., Ltd., to handle

750-472: A partnership with Rare . Yamauchi had displayed from the beginning a knack at identifying good games even though he had never played them, and he continued to do so alone until at least 1994. A 1995 article in Next Generation reported that Yamauchi, though 68 years old, "remains very much in charge" of Nintendo and called him "The most feared and respected man in the videogame industry". In 1995,

825-463: A result, and Nintendo's future was uncertain. What kept Nintendo (and Yamauchi) going was that they were listed on the stock market, and Nintendo still had to answer to shareholders, some of whom continued their support of the floundering company. In 1974, as Laser Clay had still maintained some popularity in Japan, Yamauchi redesigned the Laser Clay Shooting System into a smaller and cheaper version, and dubbed it "Mini Laser Clay". This redesigned system

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900-469: A small, thin booklet with many tutorials for different card games. The strategy succeeded and the product sold an unprecedented 600,000 units in one year, soon gracing Nintendo with the domination of the Japanese playing card market. With this success, Yamauchi once again changed the company name to Nintendo Company Limited and took the company public and became the chairman. He then decided to travel to

975-399: A stern man with a single-minded focus on his business. Henk Rogers , founder of The Tetris Company , characterized Yamauchi's leadership style as autocratic, stating that "If you ever worked with him and you disagreed with him in a meeting, you were fired. Period. [...] So he was very tough, and when he said something that was the law." He did not play video games; his sole serious hobby was

1050-442: A strike by factory employees who expected him to cave in easily. Instead, he asserted his authority by firing many long-time employees who questioned his authority. He had the company name changed to Nintendo Karuta and established its new headquarters in Kyoto. Yamauchi led Nintendo in a "notoriously imperialistic style". He was the sole judge of potential new products, and only a product that appealed to him and his instincts went on

1125-445: A taxi company called Daiya, a love hotel with rooms rented by the hour (which he reportedly frequented), and individually portioned instant rice. All of these ventures eventually failed and brought the company into the brink of bankruptcy. However, one day, Yamauchi spotted a factory engineer named Gunpei Yokoi playing with a simple extendable claw, something Yokoi made to amuse himself during his break. Yamauchi ordered Yokoi to develop

1200-478: A tribute when he appeared in a key role as Hattori Hanzo , the owner of a sushi restaurant and retired samurai sword craftsman, in director Quentin Tarantino 's bloody revenge epic Kill Bill: Volume I in 2003. Chiba starred in more than 125 films for Toei Studios and has won numerous awards in Japan for his acting. In 1994 Chiba divorced his first wife, actress Yōko Nogiwa . Their daughter Juri Manase

1275-432: Is also an actress. He married Tamami Chiba in 1996, with whom he had a 28-year age difference. They had two sons, Mackenyu Arata ( 新田真剣佑 , Arata Makken'yū ) and Gordon Maeda ( 郷敦 ) , who are both actors. Chiba and Tamami Chiba divorced in 2015. Also in 2015, Weekly Shincho reported that Chiba was romantically involved with a 22-year old female university student. At the time, his divorce with Tamami Chiba

1350-527: The Color TV-Game 6 in Japan, which was followed by several revisions and updates of this series. Yamauchi had Nintendo expand into the United States to take advantage of the growing American arcade market. He hired his son-in-law Minoru Arakawa to head the new American operation. Their Japanese hits such as Radar Scope , Space Fever , and Sheriff did not achieve the same success in

1425-653: The National Sports Festival of Japan while in his third year. He enjoyed watching movies, including Western movies such as Shane and High Noon . Chiba went to the Nippon Sport Science University in 1957. He was a serious candidate for a place in the Japanese Olympic team in his late teens until he was sidelined by a back injury. While he was a university student, he began studying martial arts with

1500-480: The Seattle Mariners baseball team from 1992 until his death. In April 2013, Forbes estimated Yamauchi's net worth at $ 2.1 billion; he was the 13th richest person in Japan and the 491st richest in the world . In 2008, Yamauchi was Japan's wealthiest person with a fortune at that time estimated at $ 7.8 billion. At the time of his death, Yamauchi was the largest shareholder at Nintendo. Yamauchi

1575-632: The Virtual Boy was released but did not sell well. Nevertheless, Yamauchi said at a press conference that he still had faith in it and that the company would continue developing games for it. In the fiscal year ending 31 March 1995, Nintendo achieved revenues of 416 billion yen. In 1996, Nintendo released its new, fully 3D capable console, the Nintendo 64. Around this time Yamauchi publicly stated that he wanted to retire but did not think there were any good candidates to succeed him yet. A year later, he announced that he would retire by 2000, regardless of

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1650-540: The 1981 film Samurai Reincarnation (Makai Tensho) and its theatrical musical version Yagyu Jubei Makai Tensho . He then reprised his role as Jūbei in the second season of Yagyū Abaretabi , this time entitled Yagyū Jūbei Abaretabi , which aired from 1982 to 1983. A few years later he returned to play Jūbei in Iemitsu, Hikoza, and Isshin Tasuke: A National Crisis , a TV movie that aired in 1989. His final appearance as Jūbei

1725-611: The 1990s. In his fifties, the actor resumed working as a choreographer of martial arts sequences. At the dawn of the 21st century, Chiba was as busy as ever in feature films and also starring in his own series in Japan. Roles in Takashi Miike 's Deadly Outlaw: Rekka and his work with directors Kenta and Kinji Fukasaku in Battle Royale II effectively bridged the gap between modern day and yesteryear cinematic cult legends. Chiba's enduring onscreen career received

1800-503: The 2003 direct-to-DVD series follow-up Shin Kage no Gundan (New Shadow Warriors). Chiba was even busier in the 1980s, doing dozens of movies as well as making forays into television, and with roles in such high-profile adventures as the popular Hong Kong comic-based movie The Storm Riders (1998), starring alongside Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok . His fame in Japan remained unabated into

1875-543: The Famicom). Yamauchi was so confident with the Famicom that he promised an electronics company one million unit orders within two years. The Famicom easily reached that goal. After selling several million units, Yamauchi realized the importance of the software that ran on the game systems and made sure the system was easy to program. Yamauchi believed that technicians did not create excellent games, but artists did. The Famicom

1950-486: The GameCube as a machine designed exclusively to be a video game console, opting not to include media playback. This emphasis towards "performance only" and the creation of hardware that would allow developers to "easily create games" is what Yamauchi believed would set the GameCube apart from its competitors. Yamauchi also wanted the machine to be the least expensive of its kind, in his belief that people "do not play with

2025-551: The Neptune Men and the first Kinji Fukasaku film, Drifting Detective: Tragedy in the Red Valley , which marked the beginning of a long series of collaborations for the two. Over the next decade, he was cast primarily in crime thrillers. By 1970, Chiba had started his own training school for aspiring martial arts film actors and stunt performers known as JAC (Japan Action Club)  [ ja ] , in order to develop

2100-680: The Super Famicom was released in Japan. It was released a year later in North America and in 1992 in Europe, in both regions as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The Super Famicom was sold out within three days in Japan and had gamers camping for days outside shops in hope of getting the next shipment. Nintendo showed major expansion during this period with new plants, R&D facilities and

2175-560: The U.S. to visit the United States Playing Card Company , the world's biggest manufacturer of playing cards. Upon arriving in Cincinnati, Yamauchi was disappointed to see a small-scale office and factory. This led to the realization that card manufacturing was an extremely limited venture. Upon his return to Japan, Yamauchi decided to diversify the company. Some of the new areas he ventured into included

2250-511: The United States, so in 1981 Yamauchi turned to designer Shigeru Miyamoto 's pet project, Donkey Kong , which became a smash hit. Yamauchi infused Nintendo with a unique industrial development process. He instituted three separate research and development units, which competed with one another and aimed for innovation. This system fostered a high degree of both unusual and successful gadgets. Gunpei Yokoi , who headed R&D1, created

2325-798: The age of 82. He had not received double or triple vaccination, according to his agency. His body was cremated on 20 August after the private funeral. Christian Slater 's character Clarence Worley in True Romance is a fan of Chiba. In a pivotal early scene he watches a Sonny Chiba triple feature. The writer of True Romance , Quentin Tarantino , worked with Chiba ten years later in Kill Bill: Volume I , where Chiba portrayed Katana master maker Hattori Hanzō, in an episode that combined comical interaction with his assistant, played by Kenji Ohba , with sombre references to traditional, Japanese sword making . A modified version of

Laser Clay Shooting System - Misplaced Pages Continue

2400-412: The company out of its financial situation. The laser shooting idea was subsequently taken up by other manufacturers. The principle of a laser gun, which fires beams of light at a reflective target, inspired pigeon clay shooting simulators, where the pigeon clays are replaced with reflective flying disks. The product of this type was an analogue system developed by UK company Lasersport. In the early 2020s,

2475-507: The extendable claw into a proper product. The product was named the Ultra Hand and was an instant hit. It was then that Yamauchi decided to move Nintendo's focus into toy making. With an already established distribution system into department stores for its playing cards, the transition was a natural one for Nintendo. Yamauchi created a new department called Games and Setup, manned initially by only Yokoi and another employee who looked after

2550-462: The family moved to Kimitsu , Chiba Prefecture. After Chiba went to junior high school in Kimitsu, the physical education teacher advised him to do artistic gymnastics . He also was passionate about track and field sports, baseball , and volleyball . He participated in those four sports championships of Chiba Prefecture . In high school, Chiba dedicated himself to artistic gymnastics and won

2625-514: The film Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken ( 激突! 殺人拳 ) in the United States in 1974, they retitled it The Street Fighter and billed its star as Sonny Chiba. Later, Chiba modified the name to "JJ Sonny Chiba", wherein the initials stood for "Justice Japan". After appearing in the taiga drama Fūrin Kazan in November 2007, he announced the retirement of the stage name "Shinichi Chiba"; henceforth he

2700-562: The finances and was situated in a warehouse in Kyoto for the purpose of research and development. Gunpei Yokoi was solely assigned to develop new products. Yokoi utilized his degree in engineering by developing what is now known as electric toys such as the Love Tester and a light gun using solar cells for targets. These electric toys were quite a novelty in the 1960s when most other toys were simple in origin, such as toy blocks or dolls. Eventually, Nintendo succeeded in establishing itself as

2775-399: The first game of its kind, was released. Alongside Wild Gunman , Nintendo designed an adult version of the game titled Fascination ; instead of cowboys, the game featured a Swedish woman in an evening dress who would dance around on the projection. Then, when the women struck a pose, players would shoot off key parts of her clothing until she was completely nude. The game was never released to

2850-597: The first portable LCD video game featuring a microprocessor called the Game & Watch . Although the Game & Watch was successful, Yamauchi wanted something that was cheap enough that most could buy it yet unique enough so that it would dominate the market for as long as possible. On July 15, 1983, Nintendo launched its new home video game console, the Nintendo Family Computer (more commonly abbreviated as

2925-419: The fourth, fifth and sixth highest electro-mechanical games (EM games), respectively (below Namco 's F-1 , TOGO 's Mogura Taiji and Sega's Group Skill Diga ). The following year, Shooting Trainer and Laser Clay were the sixth and seventh highest-grossing arcade EM games of 1977 , respectively, and among the year's top three shooters (below Namco's Shoot Away ). In North America, Wild Gunman

3000-463: The game machine itself. They play with the software, and they are forced to purchase a game machine in order to use the software. Therefore the price of the machine should be as cheap as possible." Nintendo hence priced the GameCube significantly less expensively than its rivals in the market, although the console's games were priced identically to those designed for the competing systems. On 24 May 2002, Yamauchi stepped down as president of Nintendo and

3075-648: The general public. While the Mini Laser Clay system started slow, Nintendo eventually garnered sufficient sales, and they continued to sell the system to more arcades. In 1976, Shooting Trainer was released on this system, attracting many international players; this was followed by New Shooting Trainer in 1978. Other games released for the Mini Laser Clay system included Sky Hawk (1976), Battle Shark (1977), and Test Driver (1977). Wild Gunman and Shooting Trainer were distributed in North America by Sega in 1976. Some sources say that Duck Hunt (1976)

Laser Clay Shooting System - Misplaced Pages Continue

3150-489: The job of president. He had to leave his law degree at Waseda University to do so. Yamauchi would only accept the position if he were the only family member working at Nintendo. Reluctantly, Yamauchi's grandfather agreed, and died shortly thereafter in 1949. Under the agreement, his older cousin had to be fired. Due to his young age and total lack of management experience, most employees did not take Yamauchi seriously and resented him. Soon after taking over, he had to deal with

3225-405: The lack of a good successor, and in particular wanted to end his career with the launch of the 64DD . In 1999, Yamauchi and Nintendo announced their intentions to work on a new system with an IBM Gekko processor and Matsushita DVD technology codenamed Dolphin. This system was named GameCube. Yamauchi talked at E3 about the impact that the release of Xbox would have on the GameCube. Yamauchi touted

3300-566: The level of martial arts techniques and sequences used in Japanese film and television. Today the organization is known as Japan Action Enterprise (JAE). He starred in Karate Kiba ( Bodyguard Kiba ) in 1973, which was his first martial arts movie. Chiba's breakthrough international hit was The Street Fighter (1974) which was brought to Western audiences (dubbed in English) by New Line Cinema . The film and its sequels established him as

3375-543: The maintenance and orders of the system. He then continued to buy out more former bowling alleys and fitted them with Laser Clay Shooting Systems, and the subsidiary had many pre-orders for them. As a result, the factories dedicated to building these systems were running at capacity around the clock in order to meet public demand. Advertising for the Laser Clay Shooting System featured Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba . However, in October, OPEC dramatically raised

3450-411: The market for anything which was associated with gambling, including hanafuda , was limited. Yamauchi's first "hit" came when he made a licensing agreement with Walt Disney in 1959 for his plastic playing cards. Nintendo targeted its playing cards as a tool for party games that the whole family could enjoy. Disney's tie-in was made towards that end. Nintendo's Disney playing card was also accompanied by

3525-415: The market. He was the first to introduce the plastic Western playing card into the Japanese market. Western playing cards were still a novelty in Japan and the public associated them with Western-styled gambling games such as poker and bridge. Most gambling activities were technically illegal by default with only the few legally sanctioned exceptions of horse racing, pachinko , and lottery . Therefore,

3600-449: The next few years, Michiko had several miscarriages and was often ill. In 1957, she gave birth to another daughter, Fujiko and, shortly after, a son named Katsuhito. Michiko Inaba died on 29 July 2012, aged 82. Yamauchi's daughter Yōko married Minoru Arakawa , who would later go on to establish the Nintendo of America. When Yamauchi's father, Shikanojō, returned years later to see his son, Yamauchi refused to speak to him. When Yamauchi

3675-697: The opening scroll to the English-language version of 1973 movie Karate Kiba (English title: The Bodyguard ) was used in the script of Quentin Tarantino 's 1994 movie Pulp Fiction . Tarantino's script changed the Ezekiel 25:17 speech, swapping out "I am Chiba the Bodyguard" for "my name is the Lord". The character Takayuki Chiba from the shōnen manga series Kengan Ashura is based on Chiba and Hiroyuki Sanada . Chiba held black belts in

3750-448: The people of Seattle and press the commissioner formally approved the deal, under the condition that Yamauchi had less than 50% of the vote. After the purchase Yamauchi signed his rights over to Nintendo of America, who would oversee the team on his behalf, such as with Howard Lincoln , who served as team CEO beginning in 1999. In 2000, the club made its first profit of $ 2.6 million since its acquisition by Yamauchi. Yamauchi never attended

3825-544: The possibility of using their current product, the "Opto-Electronic Gun SP", for shooting simulations. Days after Yamauchi's request, Yokoi asked Yamauchi to buy him a rifle for the purposes of designing an "electronic Ball Trap simulation" by using the rifle as a prototype. Assisting in the development were Masayuki Uemura and Genyo Takeda . The project was approved in 1971 and was dubbed the "Laser Clay Shooting System". Yamauchi wanted to see shooting simulations developed in deserted bowling alleys in Japan; bowling in Japan

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3900-691: The price in oil, which would eventually trigger the 1973 oil crisis . As a result, the Japanese economy, which imported over 98% of their requirements for oil, was forced to scale back on all unnecessary amenities in anticipation of an imminent recession. As a result, Nintendo received cancellation requests of the Laser Clay Shooting System from its clients, and, in less than a year, nearly all of its orders were cancelled. Having invested billions of Yen in their product, Nintendo's profits were cut in half, and they found themselves ¥5 billion (or $ 64 million) in debt, in which Yamauchi would spend 7 years paying off. Yamauchi would cancel his "electronic Ball Trap" project as

3975-565: The reigning Japanese martial arts actor in international cinema for the next two decades. It was New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye who gave Chiba the English name "Sonny", which Chiba would adopt as his own (mostly for non-Japanese projects) from that point on. Chiba's subsequent projects included such pictures as The Bullet Train (1975), Karate Warriors (1976), Doberman Cop (1977), Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977), and The Assassin (1977). He also occasionally returned to

4050-519: The renowned Kyokushin Karate master Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama (whom he later portrayed in a trilogy of films), which led to a first-degree black belt on 15 October 1965, later receiving a fourth-degree on 20 January 1984. Sometime around 1960, he was discovered in a talent search (called "New Face") by the Toei film studio, and he began his screen career soon after. The CEO of Toei at the time gave him

4125-413: The science fiction genre, in movies such as Message from Space (1978). He also began to star on some jidaigeki such as Shogun's Samurai (1978), The Fall of Ako Castle (1978), G.I. Samurai (1979), Shadow Warriors (1980), and Samurai Reincarnation (1981). He was not only actor in but also stunt coordinator for G.I. Samurai , Burning Brave (1981), and Shogun's Shadow (1989). He

4200-558: The stage name "Shinichi Chiba". His acting career began on television, starring in two tokusatsu superhero shows, first replacing Susumu Wajima as the main character Kōtarō Ran/ Seven Color Mask in Seven Color Mask ( Nana-iro kamen ) in the second half of the series and then starring as Gorō Narumi/Messenger of Allah in Messenger of Allah ( Allah no Shisha ). He starred in the 1961 science fiction movie Invasion of

4275-496: The strategy board game Go , though Masayuki Uemura , the primary engineer of the original NES, has stated that he also enjoyed hanafuda and would play cards with Nintendo employees at parties. He was ranked a seventh Dan at Go, roughly equivalent to chessmaster . Although another source mentions him as being ranked a sixth Dan. In 1992, the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball were up for sale and United States Senator Slade Gorton asked Nintendo of America to find

4350-411: The verge of bankruptcy. In 1974, Yamauchi, in an attempt to revive Nintendo, released a smaller, cheaper version of the Laser Clay Shooting System, titled "Mini Laser Clay". Deployed mostly in arcades , players shoot moving targets, provided by a 16mm film projector, at an arcade cabinet . This system featured several games and achieved significant success for Nintendo throughout the 1970s, which helped

4425-523: Was a 1960s fad which was replaced by karaoke by the end of that decade. The first Laser Clay Shooting System was unveiled to the public in early 1973, despite technical setbacks which were fixed in extremis on the same day it was unveiled. Nintendo proceeded to buy out deserted bowling alleys in various strategic locations, in which they were fitted with the simulation system. Costing between ¥4 and ¥4.5 million to install, each system included overhead projectors which displayed airborne targets behind

4500-468: Was a Japanese actor and martial artist . Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later to an international audience. Born in Fukuoka , Chiba played a variety of sports in high school, including baseball and volleyball. He also practiced gymnastics and participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan in his third year. When he

4575-493: Was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo , joining the company on 25 April 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being succeeded by Satoru Iwata . During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a hanafuda card-making company that had been active solely in Japan into a multibillion-dollar video game publisher and global conglomerate. He was the great-grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi , Nintendo's first president and founder. Hiroshi Yamauchi owned

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4650-507: Was a university student, he learned martial arts, earning a black belt in Kyokushin Karate in 1965 and later receiving a fourth degree in 1984. Chiba's career began in the 1960s, when he starred in two tokusatsu superhero shows. In his first role, he replaced Susumu Wajima as the main character Kōtarō Ran/Seven Color Mask in Seven Color Mask ( Nana-iro Kamen ) in the second half of the series. However, his breakthrough role

4725-516: Was billed "JJ Sonny Chiba" as an actor and Rindō Wachinaga ( 和千永 倫道 , Wachinaga Rindō ) as a film director. Chiba was born in Fukuoka , the third of five children. His father was a pilot for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service ; his mother, originally from Kumamoto Prefecture , had competed in track and field in her youth. When he was four years old, his father was transferred to Kisarazu, Chiba , and

4800-532: Was born in Kyoto to father Shikanojo Inaba and mother Kimi. His father abandoned them both when he was five years old, and his mother was unable to cope as a single parent so she gave him up to her parents. With his grandfather being a business owner, this adoption aligned his future inheritance of what would become Nintendo. He was sent to a preparatory school in Kyoto at age twelve. He planned to study law or engineering, but World War II disrupted his studies. Since he

4875-488: Was close to 30, his half-sister contacted him and informed him that Shikanojō had died of a stroke. At the funeral, he met his father's wife and their four daughters whom he never knew existed. He began feeling sorry that he had not taken the opportunity to reconcile with his father when he was still alive. The death of his father changed Yamauchi, and he grieved for months and cried freely. From then on he made regular visits to his father's grave. Yamauchi has been described as

4950-498: Was executive producer and director for Yellow Fangs (1990) and also directed and starred in Oyaji (2007). Chiba portrayed Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi multiple times, first in the 1978 film Shogun's Samurai and in its TV series remake The Yagyu Conspiracy , which aired from 1978 to 1979. He then appeared as Jūbei in the TV series Yagyū Abaretabi , which aired from 1980 to 1981 and in

5025-518: Was in 2 direct-to-DVD films entitled Sarutobi Sasuke and the Army of Darkness 3: Wind Chapter and Sarutobi Sasuke and the Army of Darkness 4: Fire Chapter in 2005. Other notable Japanese television roles for Chiba were the ninja leaders Hattori Hanzō III , Tsuge Shinpachi, Tarao Hanzō, and Hattori Hanzō XV across multiple seasons of the Shadow Warriors TV series and Hattori Hanzō I in

5100-542: Was in the 1974 film The Street Fighter . Before retiring, Chiba had also appeared in a number of English language American films, including Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift (2006). Chiba died of COVID-19 complications at the hospital in Tokyo on 19 August 2021, at the age of 82. Born Sadaho Maeda ( 前田 禎穂 , Maeda Sadaho ) , he used the stage name "Chiba Shinichi" throughout his professional career. When New Line Cinema released

5175-467: Was in the process of being finalized. His younger brother, Jirō Yabuki (also known as Jiro Chiba), was also an actor. In early August 2021, Chiba contracted COVID-19 (due to the highly contagious Delta variant ). Initially, he was treated at home, but was hospitalized a few days later on 8 August when he developed pneumonia . He died at the hospital in Kisarazu , Chiba , on 19 August 2021, at

5250-435: Was intended for arcades. Yamauchi pitched to professionals: "With such a machine in your arcade venue, you will undoubtedly draw the attention of the whole neighbourhood". Since orders from arcades were low, Nintendo needed cheaper methods to make the product. As a result, Yokoi came up with the idea of using 16mm projectors and video; this allowed the system to be sold in the form of arcade cabinets . In 1974, Wild Gunman ,

5325-495: Was one of the most popular arcade machines at the AMOA 1976 show. The following year, Shooting Trainer was the 17th highest-grossing arcade game of 1977 in the United States, according to Play Meter , and the third highest electro-mechanical game on the list (below Namco's F-1 and Allied Leisure 's Daytona 500 ). Hiroshi Yamauchi Hiroshi Yamauchi ( 山内溥 , Yamauchi Hiroshi , 7 November 1927 – 19 September 2013)

5400-424: Was part of the Laser Clay Shooting System, while others say that it was part of the "Nintendo Beam Gun Series" – a separate project to bring shooting simulations into the home. According to Gizmodo , it was part of a revamping of the Laser Clay Shooting System. In Japan, several Laser Clay games were among the highest-grossing arcade games of 1976 in Japan, with Sky Hawk , Mini Laser Clay and Wild Gunman being

5475-506: Was released in the United States as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in October 1985. Yamauchi, with no engineering or video game background, was the only one deciding which games were to be released. To help spring creativity, he created three research and development groups and allowed them to compete against each other. This caused the designers to work harder to try to get their games approved. In 1990,

5550-511: Was succeeded by the head of Nintendo's Corporate Planning Division, Satoru Iwata . Yamauchi subsequently became the chairman of Nintendo's board of directors. He left the board on 29 June 2005, due to his age, and because he believed that he was leaving the company in good hands. Yamauchi also refused to accept his retirement pension, which was reported to be around $ 9 to $ 14 million, believing that Nintendo could put it to better use. He remained Nintendo's largest shareholder, and as of 2008 retained

5625-456: Was too young to fight, he was put to work in a military factory. Once the war ended in 1945, Yamauchi went to Waseda University to study law. He married Michiko Inaba. With the absence of Yamauchi's father, his grandparents met to arrange the marriage. In 1948, Yamauchi's grandfather and president of Nintendo, Sekiryo Kaneda , suffered a stroke. As he had no other immediate successor, he asked Yamauchi to come immediately to Nintendo to assume

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