For those who keep up with gaming news, you might have heard that Nintendo’s President and CEO, Satoru Iwata, passed away recently from bile duct cancer at the age of 55. Though it’s always sad to see famous people you like pass away, this one hit me harder than others, mainly because Iwata-san worked on games I love and had also become one of the key faces of Nintendo.
“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.”
Iwata-san was not your typical CEO. First, he was actually a game developer at HAL Laboratory and worked on EarthBound and games in the Super Smash Bros, Kirby, and Pokemon series. A few of those games might not have been released without his programming help. After he became Nintendo’s CEO, he pushed for the release of the DS and Wii, both of which were very successful and followed his goal of making games appeal to a wider audience. He also hosted Nintendo Direct to bring news to fans and willingly cut his salary in half when Nintendo suffered a loss in profits.
“Above all, video games are meant to be just one thing: fun. Fun for everyone.”
Iwata-san was someone who was not afraid to be quirky and silly, and that is one of the things I love about Nintendo. I know many people consider Nintendo’s E3 presence this year to be the worst of the lot, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Compared to the other big E3 shows, it was funny, light hearted, and just brought a smile to my face.
Nintendo is actually why I started gaming. It began when I was young, and my cousins brought over their NES to my grandparents’ house. I was hooked and wanted one so bad. Tetris! Battle Toads! Double Dragon! Contra! Super Mario! So many great memories! My parents bought my brother and I one shortly after, and my gaming hobby just grew from there.
Nintendo remembers what gaming used to be like. I do love that online gaming is possible now because it lets me play with friends out of state and even out of the country. However, it wasn’t always like that. Some of my fondest memories were playing games with my brother and cousins in the same room and when my friends would come over after school to play video games together.
Nintendo still strives to bring games like this and to create this experience. Recently my brother visited from out of town, so my husband and I invited him and my parents over for dinner. Afterwards, we played on the Wii U together and the room was filled with laughter as we messed around in Nintendo World. Before that, I really didn’t remember the last time my whole family was in a room together over a video game, and it felt great.
Our Wii and Wii U collection
Nintendo lets me share my love of gaming with non-gamers. Growing up, my mom had a negative view of video games. She limited the amount of time we could play and always viewed it as a distraction to our studies. Even after I graduated college and was on my own, my mom was still concerned about the amount of time I spent on video games. (Both my dad and I would remind her that it doesn’t matter because I don’t have school work to do anymore.)
One year, I decided to buy her a Nintendo DS Lite. When she opened the gift, she laughed, thinking it was a joke. Then we taught her how to play games like Brain Age 2 and Crosswords DS, and she was addicted! She ended up loving her DS so much, that we bought her more games and then later upgraded her to the Nintendo 3DS. I was able to bring someone into my world of video games, someone who previously didn’t like them. This was possible because Nintendo still cares about casual gamers, while also trying to please veteran ones. My mom had her set of DS games she liked, and I had my own separate set.
Our DS and 3DS collection
When I was young, I was limited by what my parents were willing to buy me, which was about one console per generation. Thus, I stuck with Nintendo because I loved their franchises. During the Wii/360/PS3 generation, I branched out because I was financially independent. I built a gaming PC and bought all 3 consoles.
Though PC gaming is my current favorite, I can’t let go of Nintendo. The creativity of their consoles always pique my interest, and their consoles are the only place I can continue the franchises that I grew up with and love. It saddens me that they lost such a key figure, one that loved to be in front of Nintendo fans and was truly passionate about games and making them more accessible.
Thank you for everything you’ve done, Iwata-san.
Nintendo World NYC set up a memorial for him. I visited it yesterday and left a condolence message. It’s kind of sad how our hero is probably unknown to most gamers, because I certainly didn’t know his name until his death, and how happy he was being the silent one behind the scenes.
What I love about this guy is that he cares more about people than himself. A lot of people complain about Nintendo’s casual market – I’ve gotten made fun of for playing Nintendo games simply because people assume it’s all casual “games” like Wii Sports. Others complain that Nintendo is so exclusive and not available to bootleg on PC. But Iwata didn’t think that mattered, he wanted to create a product only available through Nintendo so that his company would move forward. He supported casual games because he lamented on the number of people who think hardcore games are too much to handle and thus don’t play video games.
He thought of video games as a pastime rather than business. That’s why he cut his own salary instead of firing employees when the company slumped. I really wonder how Nintendo will do without him, but they’ve kinda gotten by without him in the past couple of years due to his illness, haven’t they?
I hope Nintendo’s mentality doesn’t change even now that he’s gone. I’ll forever be a Nintendo fangirl at heart even if I love some of the Playstation and Xbox games I’ve been playing.
Although I cannot stand Nintendo 64 or the Wii consoles, I have to give it Nintendo kudos to bringing video games to a wider audience and for making gaming be a fun pastime. Like you, I have fond memories of playing games with my friends on the Nintendo consoles. Nintendo always made consoles that are meant for party gaming, so it’s good for get togethers (even though I’m a solitary game). Nintendo was a part of my early gaming days, so I’ll always think of them fondly, even if I’m more a PlayStation fan XD
It is a shame that Iwata Satoru passed away so soon 🙁 I do hope Nintendo doesn’t change much with his passing!
I have always loved Nintendo, and will continue loving it. My very first game console was Nintendo, and then Game-boy (the original). My father actually bought me those games. I went on Facebook one day and saw all the posts about Iwata san’s passing. I couldn’t believe it. I was in shock.
Though, I think my favorite games are still Mario Bros. and Zelda. I don’t think I’ve tried anything else except the Karate Kid (which my older sister and I fought over, lol). I still have it (it’s currently living at my dad’s house right now). Though, I have my PS2 and my Super NES with me (so I guess it’s okay). I wrote a poem in tune to American Pie about Iwata’s passing. I hope you enjoy it?
I enjoyed reading your poem!
Aahh, just a heads up though – Satoru Iwata wasn’t Nintendo’s founder, and he didn’t create the first Nintendo console. (Games like Mario and Zelda were created by Shigeru Miyamoto.) Iwata-san was originally a game developer at HAL and didn’t join Nintendo until 2000. Nintendo was founded by the Yamauchi family, and Iwata-san was the 4th CEO of Nintendo but the first one that is not related to the Yamauchis.
It’s still thanks to Iwata-san that several games were able to be released, and he did pull Nintendo out of the slump from the Gamecube era 🙂 He did amazing work for and at Nintendo, but he didn’t create the company.
Whoa, what a stunning collection you’ve got there! I’m not atotal gamer but I could totally relate to his games being one of my fondest memories during childhood. It was a blast. Such a sad fate that he was gone too soon 🙁
The only consoles I’ve had are from Nintendo as well. I have so many fond memories of the days where we’d play Mario Kart in primary school and just sit together in an empty classroom, focused on our DS’s. I love the fact that you’ve introduced your mom to Nintendo, too! <3 Rest in peace, Iwata-san, thank you!
It was really sad to hear of Satoru Iwata’s passing. I’ve only even owned Nintendo games consoles so I can relate to this post. I remember my brothers getting a 64 and I thought it was the best thing ever. I think it’s in the attic of my parents house and I’d love to get it down for a play sometime. Rocket: Robot on wheel was my favourite game. The GameCube is my favourite Nintendo console.
The world suffered a great loss with Iwata’s passing. He made a huge impact to the world where people are entertained and are joined together through gaming. He’s a genius through his innovations and power. I applaud him for taking a cut in salary to help save the people who work for him. That is who a true leader should be, it’s never about the profit but what is made out of the company’s action.. If that makes sense.
I remembered my first gaming platform was the NES too! I always tried finishing Super Mario Bros except I could never get pass that third level!!! It’s awesome how Nintendo expanded to other regions besides the home console. I saw the Wii as something awesome because of the motion detectors and it makes you get up to work out a bit.
I’m hopeful that his legacy will continue and Nintendo will still remain as one of the top 3 consoles 🙂
55 is way too young to pass. 🙁
One of my early childhood memories is my family playing Super Mario together. Video games in general get a bad rep, but I really believe that it can bring the family together. It became more common when the Wii came out and even elderlies could play games, just have fun and spend time with their family and friends. All because of Nintendo. 🙂
I’ve always loved Nintendo and I was saddened to hear the news of Satoru Iwata’s passing. I’m not a big gamer, but I do love playing on my DS and my Wii. I remember playing Super Mario when I was younger. This has made so nostalgic – there’s actually a bar near me where you can play SNES, so I feel like going there now. Nintendo seems to bring all generations together. Itawa is amazing like that.
I was so sad when I heard the news of his passing. I literally just wanted to cry and cry and drown the whole world, but I straightened up and realized that he and Nintendo as a whole means a lot to me. To be honest, I didn’t grow up with Nintendo, I had a Sega Genesis and then a Playstation and blah blah after that.
So, I discovered Nintendo on my own and at a much later age, but I appreciate their influence and their status in the video game industry.
R.I.P Iwata and may Nintendo continue on.
Rest In Peace Mr.Iwata, I remember my share of Childhood gaming playing Super Mario and now my son is also a big fan. He passed on too early but he will forever be remembered that’s for sure 🙂
P.S how have you been? Been quite a while so here I am just stopping by to say Hey! <3
I was so upset when I read the news. I feel I know more about Nintendo than the other major gaming companies, because I think Nintendo develop and deliver in a much more personal way. Nintendo Direct will never be the same. I listened to the latest Zelda Informer podcast while I was in gym and learnt so much about him, and was amazed at what a talented and dedicated man he was. I was particularly impressed with the work he did with Game Freak on Pokemon Gold, compressing their code so they could fit Johto and Kanto into one game! He has left behind an amazing legacy, but I will sincerely miss him. This was a really touching post to read.