Entertainment

R.I.P. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata

A programmer and gamer who rejuvenated a sleeping giant.

by Larry Taylor

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, has died at the age of 55 after suffering from cancer. Iwata was more than a faceless suit in charge of a billion-dollar gaming company. He was a fan, a gamer himself, who made sure to keep his finger on the pulse of those who admired his product.

Iwata was the first president of Nintendo who wasn’t a member of the Yamauchi Family. The company had just three presidents before Iwata’s run, in a history that stretches back to 1889, when Nintendo was founded as a playing-card company. Iwata’s forte was gaming. He emerged from the programming field to take Nintendo’s reins in 2002, revitalizing a video game giant that was getting its ass kicked by PlayStation and X-Box. On his watch, the company launched the Nintendo DS and the Wii, a one-two punch that set up Nintendo for more than a decade.

Iwata was, by all accounts, also a good dude. Always attuned to gamers, always evolving with fan tastes, Iwata made transparency the company’s modi operandi. He produced Iwata Asks, a glimpse inside the programming side of Nintendo, and he was active on Twitter to the end. He even took his fatal cancer diagnosis with aplomb, changing his Twitter avatar to a gaunt, cartoonish version of himself.

Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto is mourning Iwata’s death by flying its flag at half-mast. Iwata was a game-changing gamer who just so happened to have the foresight and intelligence to run one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The industry will never be the same.

Related Tags
Sci-Fi, Superheroes, and Smart Takes
Stay ahead of the fandom with sharp insights on shows, movies, and universes that actually matter. Daily nerdery included.
By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy