#nesquote

[hyruleinterviews]

Uemura on how the Famicom project began, 2020.

Source: Kotaku

https://www.hyruleinterviews.com/30041fe961fd8085aeacfef3f065f84e

PEOPLE:

Masayuki Uemura, age 77. Lead Designer of the Famicom, head of Nintendo R&D2.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, age 92. President of Nintendo from 1949-2002.

QUOTE: Q: How did the Famicom project come about?

Uemura: It started with a phone call in 1981. President Yamauchi told me to make a video game system, one that could play games on cartridges. He always liked to call me after he’d had a few drinks, so I didn’t think much of it. I just said, “Sure thing, boss,” and hung up. It wasn’t until the next morning when he came up to me, sober, and said, “That thing we talked about—you’re on it?” that it hit me: He was serious.

[hyruleinterviews]

Uemura on analyzing rival consoles during Famicom development, 2020.

Source: Kotaku

https://kotaku.com/the-designer-of-the-nes-dishes-the-dirt-on-nintendos-ea-1844296906

PEOPLE:

Masayuki Uemura, age 77. Lead Designer of the Famicom, head of Nintendo R&D2.

QUOTE: Q: [How did you analyze rivals’ game consoles, like the Atari 2600 and the Magnavox 2, while developing the Famicom]?

Uemura: I had a semiconductor manufacturer dissolve the plastic covering on the chips to expose the wiring underneath. I took pictures, blew them up, and looked at the circuitry to understand it.

I had some experience with arcade games, and right away I knew that none of what I was looking at would be any help in designing a new home system. They simply didn’t have expressive enough graphics. They had a monopoly on patents for them, circuit structures and features such as scrolling. And they were simply old-fashioned. That’s why I couldn’t use anything from them.

[hyruleinterviews]

Uemura on how he and Yamauchi chose the design for the Famicom, 2020.

Source: Kotaku

https://www.hyruleinterviews.com/30041fe961fd8085aeacfef3f065f84e

PEOPLE:

Masayuki Uemura, age 77. Engineer at Nintendo from 1971 to 2004. Creator of the Famicom.

Hiroshi Yamauchi. President of Nintendo from 1949 to 2002.

QUOTE: Uemura: The colors [of the Famicom] were based on a scarf Yamauchi liked. True story.

There was also a product from a company called DX Antenna, a set-top TV antenna, that used the color scheme. I recall riding with Yamauchi on the Hanshin expressway outside of Osaka and seeing a billboard for it, and Yamauchi saying, “That’s it! Those are our colors!” Just like the scarf. We’d struggled with the color scheme. We knew what the shape would be, but couldn’t figure out what colors to make it. Then the DX Antenna’s colors decided it. So while it ended up looking very toy-like, that wasn’t the intent. The idea was making it stand out.