Nintendo President Satoru Iwata passes away, aged 55
 

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

The statement reads:
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 (his paycuts and with Nintendo fans, he will be sorely missed. Rest in Peace, Mr. Iwata.

Kotaku


RIP Mr. Iwata :(

:(

The last thing I wanted to see when I got off of work last night :(

Oh :sad:

He always seemed quite fun in interviews and conferences, very informal and down to earth.