Home Gaming Tech Pioneer

Despite his engineering degree, he was initially stuck in an office sales job – until his early fascination with creating games for toys, led to inventions which changed the world of electronic gaming.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

MU was born in Tokyo. His father was a clothing (kimono) merchant who later owned a record store. His mother was a homemaker. 

MU’s parents never directly influenced his eventual career within technology, but MU was indirectly influenced by his parents’ dedication to working hard at their respective jobs outside and inside the family home. 

CHILDHOOD THOUGHTS OF AN ADULT CAREER

As a child, MU showed an interest in technical pursuits. He built his own radio from components purchased for him by a student who was boarding with his family. UM earned ‘pocket’ money carrying bundles of firewood down from the mountains near their home. He earned enough to buy the parts to build his own “pachinko” machine, a game that resembles a fusion of slots and pinball.

EDUCATION

After graduating from high school, MU studied electrical engineering at an institute for technology, with the goal of designing color televisions. 

FIRST ADULT JOB NEVER A BINDING CAREER COMMITMENT

MU’s first adult job following completion of his formal engineering education, was as an office-based salesman for a major electronics manufacturer. 

MAY BE MULTIPLE REASONS FOR A CAREER CHANGE

While working as an electronics salesman, MU was recruited by the head engineer at Nintendo to join the company, then a minor maker of playing cards and other traditional Japanese games, with Nintendo’s ambition to create innovative new toys. UM was inspired by Nintendo’s serious approach to play, but he had another motive for taking the job: his current employer was planning to send him to the U.S. without his wife. 

MU’s creative mind for electronic games became known within Nintendo management. The company’s president asked MU to create an affordable entertainment system that would bring the arcade experience home. The result was a red and white box known as the “Famicon,” short for “family computer.” While other company’s consoles had blocky graphics that stuttered and jerked, the Famicom had smoothly animated characters and backdrops, almost like a cartoon. Its version of Donkey Kong looked just like the one in the arcade. And unlike the other gaming systems that bleeped and blooped, Famicom could play music. 

CHALLENGE – NOT FIRST BELIEVING YOUR INVENTION WOULD SUCCEED

MU admitted later that he doubted his invention would ever succeed because its early version of the system had been riddled with problems: among them, the controllers had square buttons that tended to become stuck. 

But MU had his first inkling of the system’s potential when his son told classmates that his father was the machine’s designer, and children from around the neighborhood asked MU to make house calls to fix their consoles. “There were so many requests that I had the realization ‘This thing is really selling’ “said MU years later. But the system didn’t truly take off until the introduction of Super Mario Brothers with its thrilling gameplay, catchy music, and design – inspired by Japanese animation – “was like gasoline on a fire,” recalled MU. 

MU then created an upgraded and redesigned Famicom for the American market, which sealed the system’s success, transforming Nintendo into a giant, not just of gaming but also of Japanese industry. 

The company then asked MU to design yet another upgrade, which led to his creating what was known in the U.S. as the “Super Nintendo” selling more than 49 million units globally, cementing Nintendo’s reputation as the world’s most influential game company and one of the most successful entertainment businesses of all time. 

FINAL CAREER

Following his retirement from Nintendo, MU joined the faculty of a university, where he was Director of the Center for Game Studies. 

CAREER SATISFACTION

An observer of the console gaming market has noted: “Nintendo succeeded in the U.S. because of the quality of its software, but that software would never have made it into the hearts of gamers without the hardware that MU created. He was a true titan and architect of the global game industry.”

Looking back on his career change, MU said, “I was first just a typical office grunt, but then I ran into toys and that changed my outlook on life.”