Satoru Iwata was the embodiment of Nintendo’s spirit, creating fun and innovative games for decades. Iwata spent nearly 20 years at HAL Laboratory, working on games from the NES to Nintendo 64 before gaining a seat at the board of directors. Iwata even helped Super Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai bring the franchise into fruition with the original game. In 2002, Satoru Iwata would succeed the President of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, and earn his blessing.
In Iwata’s tenure as President of Nintendo, he would help revitalize the company with the Nintendo DS and Wii. This success would carry on until the 3DS and Wii U, where Nintendo faced financial troubles in the midst of rocky platform launches. Luckily, Nintendo’s assets where more than enough to carry the company forward, but Iwata had to make some sacrifices of his own. Iwata halved his own salary from 2011 to 2014 to help the company moving forward. He also helped increase job security for Nintendo employees so they wouldn’t have to face troubles in the meantime. During this time, Iwata began a delivery of gaming news that would become popular to this day: the Nintendo Direct.
In 2015, Iwata helped set up the future of Nintendo by partnering with DeNA for a mobile gaming endeavor and kick-started R&D for what would become the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, Iwata was facing a battle for his own health against cancer. On July 11, 2015, Satoru Iwata passed away at the age of 55. Although Iwata is gone, his legacy shines bright in Nintendo today. He set up the future of Nintendo with the Switch and its success was ensured.
Thank you, Satoru Iwata, for everything you’ve achieved for gaming as a whole. Stay tuned at Final Weapon for the latest Japanese gaming news and updates!
