It is a gloomy day for the video game industry as Alan Stone, the co-founder of Nintendo America, has just passed away at the age of 71. The game industry veteran died due to cancer.

Stone, along with his partner Ron Judy, formed the company "Far East Video" back in 1979 to aid Nintendo in bringing its coin-operated arcade systems back into the United States. The efforts of these two men played a significant role in bringing the Japanese video game sector into US shores.

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Skipping forward to 1981, Stone became the co-founder and vice-president when Nintendo opened its American subsidiary. The company's first noteworthy success was the release of "Donkey Kong" as the title was able to sell over 60,000 units in the US alone.

Stone stayed with Nintendo America until 1994 as he soon transferred to Sega Entertainment as the company's CEO and president. After which, he would move around the video game industry as a board member or executive of different companies, which include Platinum Studios, Raging River Corp., and Gplay.

Even though Sega and Nintendo were known to be passionate contenders in the video game industry at that time, Stone was still known for his excellent problem-solving skills. A tribute to Stone can be seen from the Arcade sector publication, Intergame.

In the post, it featured the statement of Michael Green, from UDC UK, in which he said, "It was with great sadness that I read that Alan Stone, one of my oldest and best friends has died."

"He had bravely fought that terrible disease, yet throughout all maintained his dignity and humor," Green said. "We became friends when he was running Nintendoland we became the UK distributor."

Green continued by stating the accomplishments of Stone in the video game industry and how he faced challenges with magnificence. Video game online publishing Game Rant also pays homage to the video game industry veteran in a post.