PaigeFTW: Thank you, Iwata-san
BY PAIGE TAKEYA
Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata died July 11 of complications from a bile duct tumor. His recent medical issues were no secret — he even updated his Mii to reflect his weight loss — but his passing still caught the gaming community by surprise.
He was a programmer, a leader and a visionary like no other. What the world will look like without him is difficult to imagine.
The original release of Pokemon Gold and Silver in 1999 was supposed to feature only the new Johto region. But Iwata figured out a way to compress the game’s files enough to squeeze in the Kanto area from the original Pokemon Red and Blue, helping to create what remains, to this day, one of the best games in the series.
His “Iwata Asks” series of Nintendo developer interviews were all insightful, detailed and meme-spawning (laughs). He brought developers out from behind the slick veneer of marketing. Just last month, I read the Fire Emblem Fates edition (the final one, as it turns out), where Iwata got Intelligent Systems to reveal that Fire Emblem Awakening was supposed to be the last game in the series — until the game’s unexpected popularity revived the storied franchise.
And, of course, Iwata presided over the most iconic gaming company in the world for 13 years. He was the one who pushed for the development of the Nintendo DS and Wii — both of which were wild successes (who doesn’t have one or the other?) and revolutionized gaming anew for the 21st century.
It’s not clear where Nintendo will go from here. Iwata, after all, was the one who pushed Nintendo out of the high-spec console race to take risks with diversification via motion controls and dual screens; he was the one who pushed for gaming to open its doors to a wider audience.
Will the company continue to do the same without him?
Will the industry?
