Farewell Satoru Iwata

Today gamers across the world are mourning a great loss.
Sadly the CEO of Nintendo Satoru Iwata has passed away on July 15th at the tragic age of 55 due developing a tumour in his bile duct. He was unfortunately absent from E3 due to his condition worsening and its a shame that anyone should die so early.

I am not normally the type to mourn celebrities or post about their deaths but I really respect Mr. Iwata. Many company CEO's and people high up in the ranks of gaming companies, are often said to be disconnected from their audience, too focused on the marketing and profitability of things.

Flag at half mast at the Kyoto Nintendo HQ

One of his more famous quotes is as follows...

"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer."
- Satoru Iwata

Which is pretty damn beautiful in my opinion. He began doing programing work for HAL while in school before later joining Nintendo to work as the companies co-ordinator of software production. Some of his earlier projects included Balloon Fight, Earthbound and Kirby but he also helped do programming on the Pokemon series as well as also dabbling in the production of other fan favourites such as Mario, Zelda and Wario World.

After the release of the GameCube, Nintendo began to struggle against their rivals, however under his guide the company released the Wii and DS to critical acclaim and wide world appeal, Nintendo's stock price DOUBLED under his lead yet he never really lost touch with what was important...

"Video games are meant to be just one thing. Fun. Fun for everyone!"
- Satoru Iwata

Sure many people bash the Nintendo franchise for being a 'kiddy market' or making 'family friendly' games, but they also made some fantastic games for the more hardcore gamers out there too. Creating instantly recognisable characters that are loved by all ages worldwide, without all the edge angst that saturates games these days. He had a friendly charming character that incorporated the best parts of business with his programming and gaming background.

Despite only recently being announced, the internet has been flooded with tributes and I would like to share some of my favourites with you below.

R.I.P Sawato Iwata.