Satoru Iwata (The President and CEO of Nintendo) has passed away on Saturday. The cause of death was due to a growth in his bile duct; he was only 55 years old.
Even though many of us have never met Mr. Iwata, from watching the quarterly Nintendo Directs and his presentations at E3 each year, we still felt like we knew him personally. I've always had the impression of him being a fun, decent, humble human being. And after spending a good portion of today reading through the various comments from Nintendo executives, game developers and video game fans across the gaming sphere. It was no surprise to see that the outpouring of love and support backed my impressions up.
We all had a great time watching Nintendo's E3 shows over the years. The memories are plentiful. Iwata was always in good spirits and it's really something special to have had a CEO so involved directly with his company. Always visibly excited and wanting everyone around him to just have a fun time. To enjoy themselves. Nintendo's E3 show this year was a prime example of it.
There's so much that's already been said but I'll post my personal favorite quote of his here:
"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." he said that at a conference for game developers back in 2005.
Our prayers are with his family.
Thank you Iwata, for the memories you've helped create. The video game industry truly lost someone special. You'll be sorely missed by all of us.
