''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.''
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/40735/satoru-iwata-1959-2015
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has passed away at the age of 55.
Nintendo Company Limited announced the passing in a release on their investor website (PDF link). The cause of death is a bile duct growth, which Iwata took an extended leave of absence from his duties in 2014 to attempt to resolve.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Iwata family and to the Nintendo family in this difficult time. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
UPDATE 9:45pm ET: The Financial Times is reporting that the president's position will not be filled for now, and Nintendo will be placed under the caretaker leadership of Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda.
Now I will never understand. :(
But seriously, this is upsetting and shocking. Never would have figured his health issues were terminal. Damn.
this... I read this and my face went pale. particularly because my father suffers from bile duct issues among other things. that's what forced him into early retirement, was that parts of his liver and a bit of tissue around his bile duct has calcified. he has to essentially take a bunch of steroids for the rest of his life because of it.
Satoru Iwata's contributions to video games as a whole shall not be forgotten. although there's stupidly no credits in the game, I'm pretty sure that Revenge of the Gator Pinball on the Gameboy's physics model and sound effects borrow heavily from Rollerball on NES, which Iwata programmed himself. Revenge of the Gator was my first Game Boy game I ever owned.
I never post here anymore but I'm pretty sure my avatar is his beautiful face creating sunshine for children all over the world to enjoy. Hopefully the next president hates smartphone games as much as I do.Perfect!
https://youtu.be/aPwCcQFMzZE (https://youtu.be/aPwCcQFMzZE)He just rolls with it like it like any other game. He understood what it was about and why such a game exists. He doesn't make fun of it and see the usefulness and the new technologies it created. Most other people wouldn't show up or do it so they can flip it off. Not Iwata, who is legit pleasantly surprised by some of it.
Here is one of my favourite Iwata videos, he awkwardly sits down to discuss waifus with a developer of Love Plus. Smile on his face the entire time, probably realising how surreal his life was as a CEO of the world's greatest long standing game company.