Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata passes away

[JoshuaHem]

Satoru Iwata is a familiar name to most gamers. He was the president and CEO of Nintendo, captaining the company since 2002. Under his guidance, Nintendo captured the casual market of gamers with the Wii system and saw a low point with the release of the Wii U. Mr. Iwata has long been one of the public faces of the company, delivering Nintendo's numerous "Nintendo Direct" digital events and videos. Unfortunately, Mr. Iwata was unable to attend this year's E3 due to medical complications. Today, more tragic news have been announced. Mr. Satoru Iwata, aged 55, passed away on July 11, 2015.

Mr. Iwata is as well known and respected as other Nintendo giants like Reggie Fils-Aime and Shigeru Miyamoto. The loss of Mr. Iwata comes as a surprise for many, as the severity of his health issues were not widely known. Nintendo remains a name deeply entrenched in the childhoods and memories of an entire generation. Even before his work as the head of Nintendo, Mr. Iwata worked as a freelance programmer for HAL Laboratory, the developer behind classics such as Mother (known as Earthbound in the West), Kirby, and Super Smash Bros. Under Mr. Iwata, Nintendo was busy refocusing its efforts in the home, hinting at a new gaming platform known as the "NX," as well as engaging in partnerships to bring their titles to the mobile arena.

His death comes at a time of change at Nintendo. The company faces numerous challenges in a rapidly changing industry, an industry many might say they've been slow to adapt to. However, Nintendo's greatest challenge may be carrying on without Mr. Iwata, or perhaps keeping him in their hearts.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/61329-nintendo-president-ceo-satoru-iwata-passes-away.html

 

[robb213]

Apparently he was having problems with a "bile duct growth" or so says Ars Technica via Nintendo.

A shame he died young though, especially since there's the potential for a new milestone in Nintendo's near future.

 

[InFamousD]

O wow. Sad to hear, hard to believe.... I remember writing into Nintendo in the 6th grade for a school project and they sent me a letter he signed, a Zelda poster and all kinds of cool stuff about Nintendo. I also remember hours after school with friend playing N64...but most of all I remember staying up late to watch my older brother play Zelda on OG Nintendo, my favorite was watching him lay Link to the Past. Then as he got older and left playing games, he would sometimes watch me play Ocarina of Time...
Under Satoru Iwata
Nintendo changed the game first with bringing 4 x multiplayer on N64....bringing the Wii controller, even if the Wii U didn’t meet expectations Iwata wasn’t afraid innovate and challenge a now saturated market. Nintendo has always been different with the core concept of bring family/friends together in the living room to Game together. Nintendo DS was bigger success/seller then the Wii, it only made sense to incorporate it to Wii U...I believe on the next console, Nintendo’s core concept around this idea Iwata captained will evolve console gaming again. His ideas were original...more importantly successful adaptions over time Remember SNES Super Gameboy? Remember tethering Gameboy Advance to the GameCube or when the Wave Bird Controller came out?
Notice the successful evolution he championed into today? He had the precognition ability to recognize the path of innovation for Nintendo future, but furthermore he was a CEO who would address public criticism, admit mistakes and openly apologize to consumers without a press release, having someone else issue a statement or give a BS excuse like Sony, Microsoft, Steam and many other Gaming Companies do. In addition he didn’t lock down systems like Microsoft and Sony have done and still do, when modders came through with homebrew. Iwatas value with innovation was intangible, even when it hurt their pockets (he even gave himself a pay cut to keep people on staff, and continue work) Because of all this I have bought 3 Wii’s a Wii U, many licensed games and accessories modded my Wii /w homebrew to load classic games and watch downloads via WiiMC, and will continue to buy from Nintendo for my kids.
Nintendo has given me so many hours of fun with friends and family under Satoru Iwata...I just hope he mentored the next President of Nintendo with his framework, so his vision of Nintendo will continue for the best and better.
He will be greatly missed. Sending a prayer out tonight for his family, close friends, and to him in thanks for all of the above. RIP.
- Dave

 

[darkzelda]

Really a sad new...

 

[cmbjive]

Apparently he was having problems with a "bile duct growth" or so says Ars Technica via Nintendo.

A shame he died young though, especially since there's the potential for a new milestone in Nintendo's near future.

"Bile duct growth" is a nice way of saying that he had cancer. RIP, Iwata-san.