Satoru Iwata
- “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.”
- —Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata (December 6, 1959 - July 11, 2015) (岩田聡) is the fourth president of Nintendo, and the first Nintendo president not related to the previous presidents by blood or marriage. He has done a lot of work with the GameCube and is responsible for its success. He was also the executive producer of many games and a previous employee of HAL Laboratory. In April 2013, he replaced Tatsumi Kimishima as CEO of Nintendo of America.[1]
He makes cameos in a number of Nintendo games, but the most notable appearances were in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, where he appeared on Wario's TV, and in WarioWare: Smooth Moves, where he (under the name Shop Manager Iwata) was the owner of a video game store and sold 18-Volt a Game & Watch for 9-Volt.
Satoru Iwata died on July 11, 2015 due to health complications with bile duct cancer. He left a legacy behind that has a long-lasting impact on the history of Nintendo.
Gallery
-
Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto together, holding their Wii Remotes.
-
Satoru's cameo in WarioWare: Smooth Moves.
-
Satoru Iwata (left) along with Shigeru Miyamoto (right) running away from Bowser in the promotional trailer of the Nintendo 3DS at E3 2010.
-
Satoru Iwata holding the prototype of the Wii U GamePad.