Nintendo's Genyo Takeda is retiring in June

@emgesp: Yeah I really didn't like it either. :/

It felt cheap and brittle... but good riddance? I think you're being a little harsh.

And on Miyamoto, I know Star Fox Zero was a bummer but then you remember Pikmin 3 and that games was the bees-knees. :)

@jumpaction: Wikipedia says Gunpei Yokoi was "general manager" of Super Metroid so whatever that means. I always hate giving credit to just one person for games like that though. There are always a lot of unsung heroes. It takes a lot of people to make a game in most cases.

@mark1974: That's very true. :)

There's no 'I' in team. ;)

I'm glad you liked Pikmin 3, but what he did to Star Fox Zero is almost unforgivable. I waited so long for a proper sequel and he just had to ruin it with those weird controls.

Its a worse feeling than what Metroid fans felt when Nintendo announced that stupid Metroid Spin off game for the 3DS.

OK, but people did not bring up the joystick vs thumbstick debate until you chimed in. It was simply about analog sticks in general.

@emgesp: Yes, Star Fox Zero was a shame but he also acted as general producer for Pikmin 3, Super Mario Maker, Super Mario 3D World and many more good stuff this generation.

Some of the work that Genyo Takeda has done:

Laser Clay Shooting System (1973) - Nintendo's first arcade game.

Wild Gunman (1974) - The first game with cutscenes, FMV, live-action video, and QTEs.

Sheriff (1979) - The first run & gun shooter, with dual-stick controls. He created its arcade hardware and software. Its cut-scenes and damsel-in-distress theme provided a blueprint for Donkey Kong.

Punch-Out (1983) - The first video game with large colourful sprite graphics, over-the-shoulder view, and rechargable health meter. He created its arcade hardware and software.

NES enhancement MMC chips (1980s) - His MMC technology made enhancement chips possible on the NES, extending its lifespan significantly, with most of the NES library depending on them. The SNES also used similar enhancement chip technology.

Zelda cartridge save backup (1987) - This made saving possible on consoles, with this technology being used by most cartridge-based consoles, from the NES to the N64.

N64 analog thumbstick (1995) - While not the first analog thumbstick (see XE1-AP above), it was the N64 analog thumbstick that directly inspired the creation of Sony's DualShock controller series.

Wii (2006) - Introduced functional motion-sensitive controls to homes for the first time.

man, now I'll never get a new pilot wings :(

Punch-Out was good.

1. I'm pretty sure the Wiimote and wii sports sold the Wii. Cry all you want about "gimmicks." 100 million sold is money in the bank. No one cares that you think it was a gimmick.

2. N64 was the first home console with an analog stick. (Not the same as a joystick mind you.) And yes it is an analog stick as we know it today. Just not as refined of course.

Takeda made some truly great contributions to Nintendo (and the industry as a whole) and has earned his retirement. Hopefully he enjoys his final years in happiness, as he deserves it.

I can't say I'm not greeting this news with a large sense of relief, however. Many of the old guard in the higher echelons of this company who were big in the 80s-90s are LONG past due for retirement. Stagnant, arrogant, and overly strict thinking and adherence to outdated, heavily ingrained corporate dogma and policies that, while successful many years ago, do nothing now but act opposite to evolving into a more in-touch, grounded, passionate, and progressive company. Nintendo 100% feels like a business run by old, stubborn, unambitious, out-of-touch Japanese businessmen who are set in their ways from decades past while also demonstrating a large degree of complacency and arrogance enabled from that past. I've always felt Nintendo is largely a victim of its own legacy and desperately needs an infusion of much younger, ambitious, and aggressive blood in the top seats who feel like they need to fight for a place in the industry instead of assuming it assured simply because of their past. It's the removal/retirement of those who helped Nintendo become so revered that I believe would do them the greatest benefit. Get rid of the hubristic baggage and mentalities that linger in the blood of those who hold a large role in Nintendo's incredible past accomplishments, because if anything, Nintendo largely feels like a company operating on inflated pride and antiquated practices with nothing to prove. Considering it's been run for so long by those who already have proven themselves many times over who have much to be proud over, that's not surprising in the least.

Shitty as it may sound, I can only come to welcome this departure as well as the rest of the top brass. Clean that house out and bring back the company that defined itself as a household name, because today's Nintendo certainly isn't it.

So say the Switch's sales figures...

@sayyy-gaa: please. All the rabid fans are buying the switch right now. That's not going to last when Zelda stops carrying it.

@666BumbleBee666: nothing wrong w Wii or the N64

1. If noone cared than noone would have responded.

2. N64's was a control stick not an analog stick.

There is plenty wrong with both.

Preach Brother.