Thanks, I used to work for Gamers' Republic magazine back then. I had a falling out with the editor in chief, who now heads Play Magazine. I'm more on the fringes now, but I still have my feelers out there in the industry, and have some great contacts. I don't mind sharing some of these stories, I think they're a great part of gaming history, and lore.
I remember going to the N64's US debut at the biltmore in los angeles, and low and behold, who should sit in front of me, but Mr.Shigeru Miyamoto! When he got to his chair, my mates and I stood up and just had to give the man his props. I mean we, the entire audience (press), were there doing our jobs that wouldn't have otherwise existed if the man didn't single handedly revive the american gaming market here in the US back in '84. Mr. Yamauchi should by no means be overlooked, I mean if he sold out to Atari like it was planned, we would have never gotten the NES, but the Atari 3600!!
You can read a REAL INTERESTING office memo between Atari executives regarding the Nintendo hardware acquisition here:
http://www.atari7800.com/html/documents_nes7800.htm
That is a VERY JUICY read :)