Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has passed away.

rowe

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Nintendo President/CEO Satoru Iwata has passed away.

I'm posting this here because it's a big thing for gaming in general.

"Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth", reads a statement from the publisher.

Iwata-san had spent the last couple of years battling the growth discovered on his bile duct, which resulted in his absence at last year's E3.


Iwata began working at Nintendo in the 1980s as a programmer, working at the HAL Laboratory. Much of the success of Kirby can be attributed to Iwata, who created the eponymous Dream Land in Kirby's debut on the Game Boy in 1992. He became a director of the company in 2000, and was appointed President of Nintendo in May 2002. Iwata oversaw the launch of the GameCube, the Nintendo DS, 3DS, Wii and Wii U.

The Accomplishments of Nintendo's Satoru Iwata

During his tenure, Iwata placed a great deal of focus on accessibility and open communication with his fans. His role as the host of the "Iwata Asks" series of game developer interviews pulled back the curtain on the notoriously secretive company, and he was admired for his friendly and irreverent attitude.

Iwata-san was with Nintendo through some of its best times - the Wii boom back in the mid 2000s - and the roughest - the tough launch of its successor.

Thank you Iwata-san.

link: IGN

How sad. A man with 30+ years in the industry, who had his own unique vision about it. :worried: He definitely made his mark in gaming and entertainment.

Kudos to you, sir.
 
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I don't have that degree of emotional connection with Nintendo as a lot of people, and there have been many occasions of late when Nintendo have made questionable business decisions that have rightfully landed them in the wee quagmire they are now in.

But, this was a man who, despite being a corporate suit, exuded a pure brand of passion for what his company was making, and who did not shy away from just having honest-to-goodness fun, if recent Nintendo E3 presences have demonstrated. A far cry from the corporate suits of today with their designer clothes on stage, dully blurting out painfully rehearsed lines from an autocue, and spewing only the usual buzzwords of "visceral", "most ambitious yet" and "exhilarating".
 
Further developments, involving Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario.

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has released a statement following the death of his longtime friend and colleague Satoru Iwata.

In a statement issued to IGN, Miyamoto said: "I am surprised at this sudden news and overcome with sadness.

"The entire development team at Nintendo will remain committed to our development policy which Mr. Iwata and we have been constructing together and to yield the development results which Mr. Iwata would appreciate."

While there's no news on who will become the president of Nintendo following Iwata's death, Miyamoto is already being considered a front-runner. In the interim, he and Genyo Takeda will run the company.

Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata also released a statement, which reads: "It is difficult to put into words the sadness we feel at this time. Mr. Iwata was a strong leader, a unique figure in the gaming industry and an important part of Nintendo's history. He was a visionary in every sense of the word and we will miss him dearly.

"Just as Mr. Iwata challenged us to always push forward, we will ensure his legacy lives on through our ongoing work to always surprise and delight our fans. At this time our thoughts are with his family."
 
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