Forums > Game Talk > Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, passes away at 55

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Adzuken (836) on 7/13/2015 12:32 AM · Permalink · Report

It has been announced that Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata, has passed away. Iwata had been acting as Nintendo's president since 2002, when the previous president, Hiroshi Yamauchi retired. It's always sad to see such an influential figure in the industry pass on.

In an industry that seems to be run by people who are only in it for the money, Iwata always came across like he genuinely loved video games. He got his start on the frontlines of the industry, programming for HAL Laboratory on games like Balloon Fight and Earthbound. Legend has it, his programming magic was responsible for fitting the Kanto region into Pokemon Gold and Silver.

He was an interesting guy, and he was probably the reason why Nintendo is such an interesting company. He'll be missed.

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Harmony♡ (21851) on 7/13/2015 2:52 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

He was a man who truly cared about games, and the people who made and played them. When Nintendo was losing money due to the Wii U's poor sales, he cut his own salary so that nobody else in the company would have to face cuts or layoffs. And he didn't become president of Nintendo for nothing - he was the first president of the company to not be related by blood to the founder, and was promoted to the position for the skills he'd shown over the years working on such classic games as EarthBound.

He's going to be missed, both as a buisinessman and as a person who brought joy into the hearts of the millions of people who have played Nintendo games.