Rest in Peace Satoru Iwata…
As many of you have heard. Nintendo reported on Sunday that it’s president Satoru Iwata has passed away due to a bile duct tumor.
Tragic as this news is, Satoru Iwata has accomplished such amazing things in the video game world. 13 years at the helm of Nintendo has proved that. Along with all the other incredible advancements we see today. His life will be remembered by millions of people of all different demographics.
Instead of talking about this tragedy. Lets look back and remember all the incredible things Iwata has brought to households, hearts and minds the world over.
As a president of an extremely large company, Satoru iwata held a very different vision. He is quoted as saying “On my business card I am an executive, in my mind I am a game developer, and in my heart I am a gamer.” Considering former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi hadn’t even played a Nintendo game before This was pretty good for gamers the world over. Satoru iwata brought the world the Nintendo DS along with the Wii and slid Nintendo into a a money printing machine. Because the consoles and the games they played were fun, they could be enjoyed by people of all demographics.
Nintendo wasn’t the beginning of Iwata’s career. He started out in game development at HAL Laboratories. The company responsible for the immensely popular Kirby franchise. Working on free lance work and creating popular games such as Earthbound and balloon fight. In 1993, he succeeded as president of HAL which was struggling desperately at the time, and turned things around for them. By 1995, Satoru Iwata helped bring about Creatures inc who were responsible for the Pokemon franchise. By 1999, Iwata was assisting the development of Pokemon Gold and Silver, as well as working on Pokemon Stadium and others.
By the year 2000, Iwata took a job at Nintendo as manager of its corporate planning division. in just two years, then president Hiroshi Yamauchi was planning to retire, and passed the reins of the company down to Satoru Iwata. Nintendo was starting to slip at that time, just as HAL was. That only strengthened his resolve to save the company and in 2006 saw Nintendo stock nearly double over any recent years with he release of the insanely popular DS and Wii systems. In 2009, Iwata volunteered to slash his salary in half to keep Nintendo afloat and strengthen its coffers to help in the console war between Microsoft and Sony platforms.
It’s very possible there wouldn’t even be a Nintendo today without the help and leadership of Satoru Iwata. A President who understood video games, fun, the industry as a whole, and the gamers.
Rest in Peace Satoru Iwata. You will be fondly remembered.
For all the funny moments like this one.
and all the great times like this one.
You’ll never be forgotten. Satoru Iwata leaves a legacy behind like no other.
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