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In a shocking turn of events, President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, has just passed away. Story and info is currently developing.

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.

Satoru Iwata initially began as a programmer, having begun at HAL Laboratories, developing titles such as Kirby and Earthbound. After becoming acquainted with then-director of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, he was offered a position in 2000 at Nintendo and succeeded Yamauchi as the president of Nintendo.

Throughout Mr. Iwata's tenure at Nintendo, he spearheaded many different and unique gaming experiences for fans all over the world to reach - mainly, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii console. Mr. Iwata also garnered much praise for his down-to-earth appearances in the Nintendo Direct announcements and through a series of interviews called Iwata Asks, in which a round table is conducted with developers to talk and look more closely at Nintendo titles.

Lately, Mr. Iwata has seen his share of struggles with the Nintendo Wii U, but looked forward to a brightening horizon with the Nintendo NX and the DeNA platform. It's truly saddening to think that he won't get to witness this dream coming to fruition. He will, however, be remembered for his contributions and for making gaming accessible to a worldwide audience.

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

SOURCE

 

[Arras]

RIP A part of a webcomic that seemed fitting:

Spoiler

 

[RustInPeace]

I don't know the man other than by name and title, not knowing what he brought in his tenure as president. Nevertheless, associated with Nintendo, any loss of people in that company does affect me in some way. Very sad, rest in peace.

 

[ploggy]

Damn shame, He'll be missed. RIP mate, RIP..

 

[WiiUBricker]

I'm at work and am literally crying right now. Wtf?

 

[evening]

Dammit
R.I.P. Iwata-san.

 

[Vengenceonu]

Now is the time for OUYA to attack!

 

[The Catboy]

To think he was going through that, yet still working hard for Nintendo.
May he rest in peace.

 

[Hells Malice]

That's very sad, 55 is entirely too young. Rest in Peace.

 

[TJHeartnote]

The King of the Mushroom Kingdom is dead... Long live the King!

 

[Epultia]

Maybe now they will make better consoles...

 

[gamefan5]

Well that just got me in the feels.
Rest in peace, Mr.Satoru Iwata.

 

[Gaiaknight]

this is one of the saddest days in gaming history he will be missed

 

[Ryukouki]

Well I've been at work all weekend. This is not the thing to come back to and read. Terrible, as I was hoping I'd get the opportunity to run into him at an E3 in future or something. Seems like a genuinely down to earth man and I'll respect him for the stuff he's done in the past. Terrible shame that he passed so suddenly and so soon, best wishes to his family.

 

[Ryufushichou]

This is a very sad day for gaming indeed,

R.I.P Iwata-san, you will be missed.

 

[LightyKD]

Now is the time for OUYA to attack!

No my friend, no it's not. Iwata gave me my favorite system of all time (Wii). To this day I still promote Wii gaming and just gave a console to a new friend this morning. The man created a way for more people, especially the elderly and women to play games. He helped to make gaming more accessible to people who would have never considered gaming as a viable form of entertainment. Say what you will about casual gamers, at least Iwata wanted to expand the gaming industry. That alone earns him a fucking place in gaming history.

 

[KingVamp]

R.I.P Iwata. I agree, it was too soon. I thought he would recover.

 

[Bladexdsl]

wow we been joking about iwata has to go for nintendo to re-live again for months...and it happened

 

[Arkansaw]

terrible news... so many great releases he would miss this year

 

[VashTS]

i loaded up splatoon (my son just got it for his 4th birthday) and got this news. my first reaction was a heartfelt NOOOOO FUCKIN WAY THIS CAN'T BE TRUE.

rip good sir, you did us fanboys well and I'm sure you were a good man. my condolences to his family and friends.

 

[HtheB]

It was just an example. I find it ridiculous that people would think Nintendo would take out their own members.

You never know.... Gunpei and Iwata were not related to its founding Yamauchi family.

Don't forget that we do live in such a corrupt world.

I don't want to believe in this theory though, but it really gives me all kinds of question marks on me...