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Satoru Iwata - 1959 - 2015

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Doctor Oak

Staff member
Overlord
iwata-wave.jpg

We woke up to the news this morning that Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, has unfortunately passed away during the weekend. Losing a battle with a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer that he has been struggling with for over a year.

Iwata’s contribution to the video game industry is practically immeasurable. Even before he was running the most recognisable and most cherished video game company in the world, he was a leading developer on the ground floor of some of Nintendo’s biggest hits and possessed a rare natural ability that would have made him one of the greatest forces in the industry whether or not he was in the top chair.

Born in Sapporo, Japan in 1959, Iwata’s very first game was a baseball game he programmed onto a pocket calculator at school, demonstrating early on the uncanny ability at programming and problem solving that would be seen throughout his career at Nintendo.

From there, he entered the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1978, where while he studied engineering and early computer science, his real learning experience came from the forming of a group of like-minded friends hanging out in a computer retail store and wondering how they could get those computers to play games. That group moved to an apartment in Tokyo’s Akihabara district - now a notorious gadget haven in Japan - and began designing their own games. In 1980, that group became the company known as HAL LAboratory, a reference to the computer in the movie 2001: Space Odyssey. By this point a recurring theme of obsession with computers, technology and, most importantly, gaming in Iwata’s life was now the beginnings of a career.

Upon graduating, Iwata took his place as the 5th ever staff member at HAL Labs and remarked once about how he fulfilled many roles: “I was a programmer. And an engineer. And a designer. And I marketed our games. I also ordered food. And I helped clean up. And, it was all great fun.”

His relationship with Nintendo began when HAL Labs learned of a rumour that Nintendo, coming off the back of the incredible success of Donkey Kong at the arcades, were planning on releasing a home video game console and HAL threw everything at trying to get a meeting with Nintendo. They succeeded, but initially were hired to help fix the development of NES Pinball - a game that had gone very awry in development. Iwata remarked that the experience taught them “that even artists must know the business side of game development. After all, if a game never comes to market, there is very little chance of it making any money.” and undoubtedly gave Iwata his first real experience of the business side of the video game industry that he would eventually come to master.

With Nintendo very satisfied with HAL’s work, they were given the opportunity to bring their own game ideas to life. Eventually working with Mashahiro Sakurai to create Kirby and Shigesato Itoi to create the Mother/Earthbound series, among other big hits such as Pokemon Stadium and Super Smash Bros.. Later on, when Mother 2/Earthbound found itself in threat of cancellation due to serious issues in its development, Iwata came aboard and led a complete rewrite of the entire project, saving the game from almost certainly never being released.

This wasn’t the only time he was an invaluable part in developing gaming history, either. He twice made major contributions to the development of the Pokemon series. Once, in porting the original Pokemon Red/Green battle system to the N64 for Pokemon Stadium, by himself over the course of a week without any reference notes from the original developers. Another in jumping in to GameFreak’s Pokemon Gold and Silver project to massively optimise the way the game’s assets were stored and being directly responsible for it being possible to include the Kanto region in the game alongside Johto.

In 2000, after nearly 20 years in the industry, Iwata departed HAL Labs and joined Nintendo full time. His obvious natural talent brought favourable eyes upon him from, then President, Hiroshi Yamauchi and after just two years he was announced as Yamauchi’s successor. The first President of the hundred-year-old company to not be a member of the Yamauchi family.

Iwata’s situation as President then, however, is not dissimilar to the one he was facing in the now. The Gamecube had been a source of some fantastic games, but was ultimately a failure in the marketplace. The Gameboy had never been more successful, with the Pokemon series being a massive part of that success, but that success left the market quite saturated and with very little room for further growth. Iwata not only had the herculean task of steering Nintendo out from the formidable Yamauchi era, but from its weakest point since it entered the video game industry.

It can’t be at all discounted, then, that Iwata took a radical and risky approach in pushing Nintendo down the path of releasing, first, the dual-screened Nintendo DS and then, next, the under-powered but highly accessible Nintendo Wii. In what he later called a drive to expand the audience that plays video games, Iwata led Nintendo into its greatest ever success. While the DS and Wii were underpowered compared to the Playstation Portable or the Xbox 360 and PS3, what they were was accessible to a wider audience. Many of the people that owned a Nintendo DS or Nintendo Wii ended up being people that had never played video games before - with the drive of games like Brain Training, Wii Sports and Wii Fit appealing to audiences never before seriously marketed to by the industry.

The impact of this on the industry was huge and will ultimately be Iwata’s greatest legacy. Not only was the marketplace significantly expanded to beyond the, then average, demographic of teenage/young adult males, but the way we play games was so seriously questioned following the disruptive hardware of the DS and Wii that we now have an absolute explosion in innovation, including the Kinect, PS Move, Project Morpheus, Oculus Rift, Hololens and even the touch screens on your phone, tablets and PCs.

Despite being at the top, however, Iwata never lost sight of the fact that he was both a developer and a gamer at heart. Even one of his very first actions as Nintendo President was to assign himself to a development team on a game. He led interviews with the development teams at Nintendo in a series of Iwata Asks features on Nintendo’s website - not only giving fans an unprecedented insight on the development of Nintendo’s biggest games and hardware, but giving those developers a voice they might not otherwise have gotten. He was also a leading force in the creation of the Nintendo Direct format, directly presenting the latest information and game reveals to their biggest fans with a level of character and charm that only Nintendo, and specifically Iwata’s Nintendo could have managed.

In recent years, sadly, Nintendo has struggled to meet the demands of an ever-increasingly complex digital landscape. Their Kyoto-based board of directors, reportedly, being a massive Snorlax in the path towards Nintendo being able to adapt quickly enough to manage both the threat of Sony and Microsoft’s gaming consoles as well as the ever expanding market of gaming on mobile. As President, Iwata certainly bore the responsibility for much of this directly on his shoulders and perhaps the greatest tragedy in his sudden passing is that he will never get to lead Nintendo into that light at the end of the tunnel that he never once wavered in insisting was within reach.

The man was an undoubted genius, with an indescribable amount of natural talent and great character. He will be sorely missed.

iwata.jpg
 

Burgundy

Formerly SuperSableye24
Rest in Peace, Satoru Iwata. You were a great man and I greatly respect you and your achievements. You were responsible for a lot of my childhood memories, and it's a shame to see you go at such a young age. I hope his family stays strong after this tragedy.
 
R.I.P Satoru Iwata. He was a great man who made kids happy and was a nice guy that made kids love Nintendo.What is nintendo going to do without and made me So many childhood memories.

A beautiful article to celebrate a truly great man. R.I.P. Satoru Iwata :(

Thank You Satoru Iwata for all of the childhood memories
 
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Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
Very thoughtful article, @Doctor Oak. Thank you for writing/sharing it.

I've felt thoroughly saddened over this news for the majority of today and yesterday evening. Not only does his death sadden me in general, but the loss to his friends, family, Nintendo, and the gaming community as a whole runs deep. It's well known that many of his colleagues within Nintendo were also close friends of his, and that alone breaks my heart. He had so much left to offer and so many visions for the future of the company. I would have liked him to at least see the release of the NX and the impact it'll inevitably have if it is a unique device.

Now one for the memories: Iwata being awesome.


Rest in peace, Mr. Iwata. You'll definitely be missed.
 
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Mr. Iwata, let me say you'll forever be in all of our hearts. This tragedy is one of the most saddening, you were one of the best technological visionaries of all time and I feel as though your accomplishments made my entire childhood as happy as it was. The memories of playing super mario, smash bros, pokemon, and other popular games from nintendo. Thank you for all you have done, you truly have steered Nintendo in the right direction and changed the gaming industry as we know it...

Rest in Peace, Satoru Iwata
 
This has deeply saddened me, and I can't even imagine what his family and friends are going through.
He was a great man, and brought joy to many people around the world who played his games, including me. Not a day goes by when I don't remember playing Super Mario, which basically got me into gaming.
So sad, just so, so sad :'(
Rest in Peace Mr.Iwata. Rest in Peace
 
I can't believe he's gone now, a man who worked on Earthbound, and the popular Pokémon series.. This man was one of the greatest and if he didn't work at Nintendo, things would be different today for Nintendo almost completely. Rest in peace, may us all remember his work and moments in the past and present, and if cancer wasn't inside him, he would of lived on to help new titles for Nintendo for many more years. Thank you.
 

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
I found out last night before I went to bed and honestly, I cant stop crying ;; he's truly an amazing man and the world is definitely going to miss him. The internet has exploded with tributes to him in many different forms and that just goes to show how much of an impact he's had on us.

Rest in peace, good sir. And thanks for everything.
 
Many people were devastated when the news was announced, even if many people didn't know him on a personal level. It's amazing that Iwata was able to leave that impression on us. We all were crushed. Nintendo Directs won't be the same without him him and his voice. We love you Satoru Iwata.
 

YueliaBreeze

Formerly Midnight Midna, MoonSnow
I saw this news on twitter on the 13th it was all over my TL and i didn't wanna believe it but i had to Iwata was gone but he will be for gotten cause he will always live on as a proud gamer in our hearts even though i may of known the man he was always welcome in our family of nintendo Nerds but he died so young at the age of 55 we will never for get him and when he said Reggie who is you're daddy but he is in our hearts just like how my grandmother is in my heart as well i may know some of this will make no sence at all but at least i have tried to make a heart warm post about Iwata and we all loved him so lets smile and always never for him and stuff cause Iwata would want us to move on and be happy souls as we are. People at Pokecharms you all should have a hug >w< i'm wiilling to hug all mods here as well as other people if you all need a shoulder to cry on note to self im always here :3333 but as well for others lets all be happy and never for get what he has done for gamers alike RIP Iwata-San.
 
Satoru Iwata is a true genius, he brought out so many great games. Iwata deserves to be treated with tremendous amounts of love and respect, its a shame people think he's horrible. May Satoru Iwata rest in peace knowing we will all miss him.
 
... Satoru Iwata was a great man. His passing will have an everlasting affect on Nintendo, gamers, and the industry itself. He was truly a master of the craft, with very few being able to boast programming and designs skills that were remotely on par with his. To many, he is a hero. This is not an empty title. For many, myself included, he embodied the very dream that they pursued... He lived that dream. A member of humanity's greatest individuals has left our Earth. May he find peace in his eternal sleep. Rest in Peace, Mr. Iwata.
 
So sad the he is gone if he would have a button of restart of trying again but theres no way to it again he was the most great man he was the greatest man that he make many games everyone of the all world will miss him who knowed him and even some players meet him too. every player in this world will be forever in our hearts forever and ever And even my mode to say will be our dreams forver and ever never forget him he was the one who make the most cool games of the world.he will watching us in the sky, he will see us playing games that he create :blush:;_;Will miss him.

Satoru Iwata R.I.P will always remember you.:(;_;
 

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
I herd that on the news, do u no if there will new presitent?
Nintendo's board will elect one eventually, yes. Right now, though, the company's being run in the interim by Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda (who was in charge of their hardware division), so they're pretty much set for as long as they need to be.
 
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