Last night, the gaming industry was struck with grim news regarding the president of Nintento. Satoru Iwata passed away. Mr. Iwata is, and will continue to be, one of the most well liked and greatest men in the gaming industry. Without Mr. Iwata games like Kirby and Earthbound may have never existed, a true visionary and genius in charge of one of the greatest companies the world over.
To play a little bit of homage to Mr. Iwata, lets dive a little into who he was. Satoru Iwata was born in Sapporo Japan on December 9th, 1959. From a young age he was fascinated with electronics and computers, even producing his own devices and games while in high school. Once he completed high school me went on to the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he majored in computer sciences. And while he was a student, he worked doing freelance work for HAL laboratories, inc.After graduation, Satoru took a full time job with HAL Laboratories, inc. and became the companies coordinator of software production in 1983. This is where he worked on games like Kirby, and Earthbound. Slowly the company started to veer towards bankruptcy Satoru was promoted to president of HAL Laboratires, inc. to help fix their financial issues.
Although he wasn't employed by Nintendo at the time, Satoru Iwata assisted with the pokemon franchise, he read the code to Pokemon Red and Green, reworked it, and helped with Pokemon Stadium for the N64. As well as creating compression tools for Pokemon Gold and Silver.
In 2000 Satoru Iwata took a position at Nintendo as the head of its corporate planning division, and in 2002 when the president Hiroshi Yamauchi resigned after being president since 1949, he gave the blessing to Satoru Iwata to become the fourth president of Nintendo. At the time of his promotion the company was in a down spin with the GameCube performing poorly. And in 2006 Satoru Iwata thought the gaming industry had become too exclusive and wanted to revitalize the hand held market, and make games that everyone would enjoy.
The loved Nintendo Wii, the Nintendo DS, and the Wii U are all examples of great products brought to us by Satoru Iwata. And in 2015, during some financial struggles, Satoru Iwata stated he would take half of his salary in order to help, and stay competitive with the likes of Sony and Microsoft.
On July 11th, 2015 Satoru Iwata passed away, due to medical complications with a bile duct tumor, and is survived by his wife Kayoka.
The gaming industry will not be the same, the gaming systems he's helped create, and the gaming franchises he's helped pioneer shaped many generations. He helped create a gaming niche for all ages, from children to grand parents. Franchises that are forever loved by children and parents the world over. From Pokemon and Kirby, to Wii Sports and Zelda, a generation of fun and games, may have drawn to a sad and sudden close. Satoru Iwata,
I speak for myself on this but you've helped forge my life down the path I've traveled. From my love of games, to the countless hours spent playing on creations you've aided in creating, I've been inspired by games, I've been forced to be active, get outside, and enjoy life. Your contributions to the gaming industry, as well as my personal life will never be forgotten. You will be missed Satoru Iwata.
It's a shame, but hopefully Nintendo will pull through.
ReplyDelete