Iwata has passed at 55

[dyne]

http://kotaku.com/nintendos-presiden...way-1717386412

Nintendo has just issued a short statement announcing that president Satoru Iwata has passed away at the age of 55.

The statement reads:

Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.
Iwata was forced to skip last year’s E3 due to his poor health, and shortly afterwards underwent surgery to remove the bile duct growth. A few months later, in the wake of concerns over his health, he said via Twitter “I’m progressing well”.

Iwata first joined Nintendo’s HAL Laboratory in the 1980s, where he worked on games like Balloon Fight and EarthBound. He became a Director of the company in 2000, and in 2002 was appointed as only the fourth President of Nintendo when he succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi.

In his time as President, Iwata oversaw some of the strongest (Wii, DS) and weakest (GameCube, Wii U) periods in Nintendo’s history as a video game company. In recent times, he developed almost cult status as the host of the Nintendo Direct programs.

An immensely popular figure both within the industry and with Nintendo fans, he will be sorely missed. Rest in Peace, Mr. Iwata.

http://www.polygon.com/2015/7/12/894...ata-dies-at-55

Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, has died. He was 55. Nintendo confirmed his passing today in a brief statement.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.

Last year, Iwata did not attend E3 on advice from his doctor not to travel overseas. Later in the month, he underwent surgery to deal with a growth found in his bile duct, which in a note to company shareholders he acknowledged could be difficult to treat.

Satoru Iwata was the fourth president of Nintendo, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi, who had led the company into its modern identity as a titan of video gaming. Iwata had been a programmer for HAL Laboratory, today known for the Kirby and Super Smash Bros. franchises, before taking Nintendo's top job in 2002.

As president of Nintendo, Iwata oversaw the introduction of two of the company's most profound successes — the Nintendo DS line of handhelds, and the Wii, both of which substantially widened the video game market in the preceding decade.

In recent years, however, Iwata clashed with investors and analysts when the launches of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U fell short of the impact of their predecessors. Iwata sternly resisted calls for Nintendo to push its iconic properties into mobile phone gaming or abandon the manufacture of gaming hardware. Notably, he refused to order layoffs when the company's stock price sagged under the sluggish performance of the Wii U.

"I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world," he said at the time.

Iwata was the first president of Nintendo not related to its founding Yamauchi family. He cultivated an approachable personality through company Q&As (called "Iwata Asks") and appearances such as the latter-day Nintendo Direct video series, in which he spoke directly to the millions of video gamers spanning multiple generations who loved his company's characters and games.