Unfortunate news from Nintendo this evening as we’ve just been informed that the CEO of the company, the much loved Satoru Iwata, has sadly passed away far too soon at age 55. Complications following a bile duct growth were the unfortunate cause of Mr. Iwata’s sad passing. Fans of Nintendo worldwide have expressed massive regret, as Iwata had a massive cult following for over a decade at the helm of Nintendo.
Nintendo’s recent successes, were all laid before the feet of Iwata – the company’s greatest achievements, such as the Wii and the Nintendo DS, were all supervised by the industry giant. Alongside colleague Nintendo America CEO Reggie Fils Aime, Iwata represented the much adored public face of Nintendo, a company that has always represented a friendly open face in the gaming world.
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Known for bringing the previously secretive internal workings of Nintendo closer to the fans, Iwata was the smiling symbol of a family oriented, friendly Nintendo who emerged from the post-1990’s console wars as a more down to earth and fun-centric alternative to the bickering next gen conflicts between Microsoft and Sony.
Iwata joined Nintendo in the year 2000, as a programmer who made some absolutely crucial contributions to the N64 and Gameboy era titles Nintendo brought out during their time as one of the main current gen console developers. Most famed was Iwata for his solo programming of the battle program for Pokemon stadium for the N64, which he accomplished in just a week.
On top of the marathon programming of Stadium, Iwata famously laid down one of the most crucial aspects to the Pokemon series for Gameboy, one that would define the titles for years to come – using his own smarts and wherewithal, Iwata managed to single handedly re-compress the program for Pokemon Gold and Silver so that there was enough space in the cartridge to contain the older Kanto as well as the new Johto region. This backwards compatibility and re-exploring of areas from previous games was made possible for the first time thanks to Iwata.
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Nintendo is and will always be the strong, amazing corporation that it has been since Mr. Iwata joined the company. Unforgettable games, the best multiplayer family experiences and pioneering touch and motion controls. These are just some of the things that Iwata presided over since his promotion to CEO in 2002. He will be sorely missed, and Nintendo will today mourn the passing of the greatest and best figurehead their company has ever had.
Satoru Iwata – RIP. May you shine on forever in our hearts, like a golden power star.
Via: BBC News
Source: Nintendo