Timeline of Japanese contributions to video games

The folks at GamePro.com pay homage to the major contributions made by Japanese companies to the video game industry with this timeline:

1889 - Nintendo is formed in late September by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards which are used for several popular Japanese games. Over the years the company will transform into one of the most powerful and influential video game companies in the world.

1941 - Gunpei Yokoi is born. His ingenuity in creating a mechanical arm for his own enjoyment while on the job would later inspire Nintendo authoritarian president Hiroshi Yamauchi to extend Nintendo's business beyond that of playing cards. Yokoi would go one to design Metroid and the Game Boy before dying in a car crash in 1997.

1950 - Ken Kutaragi is born. His curiosity for taking apart toys to see how they work led him to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. After seeing his daughter play the Famicom (NES) in the Eighties, he realized the potential of video games. He would go on to become the "Father of the PlayStation," making gaming more ubiquitous than it ever had been before.