We’ll Miss You, Satoru Iwata. Nintendo Won’t Be the Same Without You.

The idea of a Nintendo without president and CEO Satoru Iwata at this point is … well, bananas. But the company reported over the weekend that the man behind its return to greatness had passed away.

Iwata, a former HAL Laboratory employee, succeeded Nintendo’s Hiroshi Yamauchi to become president of the company in 2002, just after the 2001 launch of the GameCube. Since those troubled times when Nintendo uncharacteristically trailed the competition, he’s ushered in the era of the Wii, by far the best-selling console of its generation, and Nintendo DS, Nintendo’s unstoppable portable gaming powerhouse that’s stood up to an insanely competitive mobile gaming market.

On top of overseeing those huge accomplishments, undoubtedly turning Nintendo back from its brief losing streak, he was also a great game developer: He’s one of two developers, the other being Masahiro Sakurai, who were responsible for creating the Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros. in their spare time. With Smash being my favorite—and in my opinion, the best—Nintendo series, and his other contributions with work on Earthbound and Kirby games, I can’t imagine where I’d be as a gamer without Satoru Iwata.

And I’m not alone. Iwata had become—through his work as well as his personality as it showed through during Nintendo presentations, Iwata Asks, and interviews—a pillar of the game development community and gamer community alike, and today, that entire community is mourning:

And yes, actual flags at Nintendo are being flown at half mast:

On my way to The Mary Sue offices this morning, I passed this statue outside of The Church of St. Francis of Assisi as I do every morning. Today, along with the spare change usually stuffed into its outstretched hand, someone had placed a bunch of bright yellow bananas next to it. Gone, but never forgotten, Mr. Iwata.

—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—

Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

twitter Link to www.projectmgame.com