Hideki Sato, often called the daddy of Sega {hardware}, has reportedly died

Hideki Sato, who led the design of Sega’s beloved consoles from the ’80s and ’90s, died on Friday, in keeping with the Japanese gaming website Beep21. He was 77. Sato labored with Sega from 1971 till the early 2000s, however he is finest recognized for his involvement within the improvement of the Sega arcade video games and residential consoles that outlined many late Gen X and early millennial childhoods, beginning with the SG-1000 to the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast.

Sato went on to function Sega’s president from 2001 to 2003. Within the put up saying his demise, Beep21, which interviewed Sato quite a few instances over time, wrote (translated from Japanese), “He was actually an excellent determine who formed Japanese gaming historical past and captivated Sega followers all world wide. The joy and pioneering spirit of that period will stay ceaselessly within the hearts and recollections of numerous followers, for all eternity.” Sato’s passing comes just some months after that of Sega co-founder David Rosen, who died in December at age 95.