The hardware wizard behind the Wii is retiring from Nintendo
Along with today’s earnings report, Nintendo announced the impending retirement of one of its most important and longest serving employees: Genyo Takeda. His current position is representative director and “Technology Fellow” alongside “Creative Fellow” Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario and Zelda; both assumed their roles when Tatsumi Kimishima took over as CEO following Satoru Iwata’s unexpected death.
Although he wasn’t particularly high-profile, Takeda’s ranking alongside Miyamoto should give some idea as to his historical importance to Nintendo. Hired by the company in 1972, he was involved in software development for decades, most famously directing the arcade and NES boxing title Punch-Out!!. He also designed what could be…
