![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Masaya Nakamura, president of Namco, playing a game of Pac-Man. He was known for testing the company’s games himself.
Bettmann; thumbnail, The Asahi Shimbun, via Getty Images, 1992
Masaya Nakamura
Died on January 22, 2017 at age 91
Mr. Nakamura made a business of amusement, starting with wooden horses and culminating with the creation of the company that developed Pac-Man, one of the most successful video games ever.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.