President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata dies at 55
It was a little over a year ago that we learned that Nintendo’s President, Satoru Iwata had a form of stomach cancer that effected his bile duct. In June of 2014, he missed a Shareholder meeting, having undergone surgery to have the growth removed. Iwata continued to appear in Nintendo Direct videos, even appearing briefly as a Jim Henson puppet in Nintendo’s E3 Media Briefing just last month.
Today, Nintendo has put out a press release: Satoru Iwata has died. Apparently, his surgery was unsuccessful, and the growth in his bile duct has claimed his life. Senior Managing Directors Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will act in his stead, presumably until a new President of the company can be officially appointed.
At only 55 years old, Satoru Iwata had a busy and productive life. Early in his career, he did freelance work for HAL Laboratories — the company most well-known for Nintendo’s Kirby series. Iwata was smart, and kind hearted. Shigesato Itoi recalled one scenario, where HAL was brought on to work on the Super Nintendo RPG, Earthbound. The game was suffering from a troubled development cycle, and was in danger of being canceled outright. Iwata said to Itoi: “I can help you if you would like but there are two ways to proceed. If we used what you have now and fix it, it will take 2 years. If we can start fresh, it’ll take half a year.“
Iwata said this because he knew that, beyond anything else, making sure the development team was comfortable was the most important thing. Even if the path to “Fixing” the game was the longer, more difficult one, preserving the culture at Shigesato’s “Creatures, Inc.” was the key to making sure the game retained its personality. In the end, Itoi ended up having Iwata re-write all of Earthbound‘s code in just six months.
All told, in his time working as a programmer, Iwata was credited in over 33 games, including Balloon Fight, NES Open Tournament Golf, Most Kirby games, including Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby’s Dream Course, Kirby Star Stacker, and Kirby’s Dreamland 3, Pokémon, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Legends of him swooping in and accomplishing the impossible, just like he did with Earthbound, are many.
In 2002, Satoru Iwata was officially promoted to President of Nintendo, succeeding its former President, Hiroshi Yamauchi. During his tenure, he was responsible for hiring Reggie Fils-Aimé, considered to be a breath of fresh air for the company with his “kicking ass and taking names” approach. The pair brought about enacting Nintendo’s “Blue Ocean” strategy — rather than compete directly with market rivals, the idea is that you find “uncontested waters” (the blue ocean) and exclusively dominate that space. This strategy worked out very well for Nintendo, and under Iwata’s direction we saw the launch of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS, two of the company’s most profitable pieces of hardware.
Iwata will be sorely missed. More recently, he, along with Reggie Fils-Aimé and Shigeru Miyamoto, had become quite a character in the company’s “Nintendo Direct” broadcasts. Iwata was known for his trademark hand gesture while delivering news “directly to you,” and it wasn’t long before other members of Nintendo’s staff began riffing on this concept in their own ways. Even as Iwata begun making fewer and fewer appearances in Nintendo Direct videos, his presence was still strongly felt.
Iwata was a titan of the industry; he truly believed in gaming as an entertainment medium that all people could enjoy, regardless of gender, nationality or age. He once said, “Video games are meant to be just one thing: Fun. Fun for everyone.”
Our hopes and wishes go out to all of those effected by his death.
Rest In Peace Satoru Iwata, You Will Be Missed
I just…I can’t even form coherent words right now. We just lost the most brillian man in all of Japan today. I’m absolutely heartbroken.
I’m glad that there was no mention of the possible relationship between SEGA and Nintendo in this article. Maybe another time…
Rest in peace, Iwata. You were a great president.
What.
Dark humor I guess?
This fandom is… strange, Ryan. Very strange.
Can you guys just…
You know for ONE fucking Nintendo related article just put that bullshit aside?
Someone fucking DIED and you just have to make a quip about something you may not approve of.
For fuck sake have some respect for the dead.
Just going to say this.
I understand if you don’t approve of certain things Iwata and/or Nintendo did as of late. No one’s perfect though. And now is not the time to dwell on that again. SEGA doesn’t even have anything to do with this. It’s about a man and his 30+ year gaming legacy.
You guys took my comment the wrong way. 🙁
I’m just as interested in the relationship between SEGA and Nintendo as much as the next guy. I was delighted to read that this article dealt with Iwata and Nintendo only, instead of opting to say something like, “What does the future hold for SEGA in regards to partnerships now that the current president is gone?,” or something like that.
I don’t know if you guys were lashing out on me, but I did not mean it like that. I’m glad the article was written the way it was. And I’m feeling just as down as you guys too. But everything will be okay in the end. I’m sure Iwata is doing well in the world above us. 🙂
Oh no. Fudge, I feel like I’ve been gut punched by a sixteen-wheeler truck going 99 on 66.
🙁 :'( My condolences go out to his family and the other great people at Nintendo. And to think I was one of the people who was severely disappointed with the e3 Digital Event this year. I feel guilty. If I’d known it was his last…
And this goes to show you why Nintendo is so well respected.
Had it been some other head from another company, we wouldn’t be giving a shit. That’s what it means to be respected in the industry because you don’t treat your customers like shit.
Sigh, why couldn’t it have been Randy Pitchford? Easiest trade in the world.
“Why couldn’t it have been Randy Pitchford?”
Fuck off. This post/Iwata’s death is not a platform for fans like yourself to start wishing death upon others just because they made games you don’t approve of for some silly fan war.
I was in the 3rd stage of grief: Bargaining.
I’m in denial. He can’t be dead, man! He just can’t be! 🙁
RIP Iwata:(
Damn, Iwata was definitely a fun guy to see on the screen and I loved his interactions with Reiji and in the Nintendo Directs. He’s one of those people I wish I could have met in my lifetime, and I’m going to miss him. Don’t even know how they’ll do Nintendo Directs anymore since he was the one that added the charm.
Iwata has really opened us up to a lot of things, especially with me being an avid Pokemon fan and him literally making Gold and Silver possible. His most memorable phrase was “please understand”
I guess now, I finally understand.
I think my post got eaten, Ryan
I’ve fished out all the comments from Spam.
Of course, all of us are on standby now to bring you any important developments (succession plan, what this means for the Sega partnership, etc.)
-T
Ah okay, great. I’ve been hearing a lot that Shigeru and some guy named Genyo Takeda will be temporarily sharing responsibilities but I don’t know where the source is.
The source is Nintendo’s own press release.
Mr. Iwata I want you to understand that I’ll MISS YOU…… Thanks to you I had the opportunity to play some amazing games that I will never forget….. Because of you many of your games created unforgettable gaming experiences…. Iwata….. We will Miss you 🙁
RIP Satoru Iwata :*(
This is really sad. I feel exactly the same as when Micheal Jackson passed, that even though I never met him, he touched my life and brought me joy in innumerable ways. There will never be another like him. You will be sorely missed, good sir.
My favorite thing to say, whenever someone passes, is that God needed them for something. He needed Micheal for a sick party He was throwing, guess He needs Iwata to make Him some awesome games. Heh.
Unfortunately, time ever marches on. I hope Nintendo don’t stop initiatives like Nintendo Direct and Iwata Asks (which will probably be renamed to something boring like “Nintendo Asks”), painful as they may be without his presence.
Words do you no justice, rest in peace Satoru Iwata. You were a good man.
… … … 🙁
Heartbreaking. I’m still having a hard time believing this. RIP Saturo Iwata… you will be greatly missed. Thanks for all the memories, we’ll never forget you.
The awful part about this is he died thinking he disappointed so many people. This E3 so many people showed hate towards Nintendo and the last thing he said publicly was an apology. He suffered for 2 years with this, let him rest in peace. Great man.
& @Iggz
I really wish people wouldn’t do that. You don’t need to feel sorry that you were disappointed or underwhelmed with Nintendo’s E3 Direct. In many ways it was not a good showing, they even outwardly admitted to holding somethings back intentionally and that it was a miscalculation on their part. You don’t need to apologize for how you as fans/customers/critics felt about their show. That was business, this is “personal”. You can not like that showing and still be mournful of his passing.
Thanks bro, or girl. The fact that this man came out and apologized for Nintendo’s poor performance at e3 this year while the other people there were too bigoted to eat their own words shows that we lost a great man who walked this Earth. I hope there is someone at Nintendo with as much integrity, honesty, and goodwill as Satoru Iwata.
I did NOT see this coming. Cancer is something that those who did not live close to a cancer patient just cannot understand how it works. THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM IT. I learnt this the hard way, from my dear grandpa. I’m deeply saddened by Iwata’s loss. He sure was a brilliant man and I just hope that he can rest in peace now.
R.I.P Good sir.
I’m gonna miss seeing you in Nintendo Directs
Yet another unfortunate celebrity death this year. It’s such a shame to have lost another man who has brought much joy into so many gamers everywhere.
Rest in Peace Iwata-san. May your legacy forever inspire many gamers, developers, and fans.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!! NINTENDO IS DOOMED! NINTENDO IS DEAD!
…For real?
My post got eaten D: It was a reply to my first comment thread.
We missed you. Rest in peace.
We miss you. Rest in peace.