​

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

 

[AboodXD]

RIP Iwata. ;_;

 

[Densetsu]

Wish they could be more specific than "bile duct growth." I'm trying to understand exactly how/why it killed him.

*cue Mario game over music*

 

[loco365]

I AM CRYING AGAIN FUCK

This one got me.

 

[Osha]

Wish they could be more specific than "bile duct growth." I'm trying to understand exactly how/why it killed him.

*cue Mario game over music*

It's cancer.

 

[JaapDaniels]

Rest in peace Satoru Iwata.

 

[SonicRax]

Iwata's death broke me. Seeing all the beautiful tributes and homages to him broke me even more. But we should all be thankful that we got to live in the same lifetime as such a talented, wonderful, charismatic human being. Rest in peace Iwata-san.

Wish they could be more specific than "bile duct growth." I'm trying to understand exactly how/why it killed him.

It's a type of cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. Affects the bile ducts. Also seems to be a very rare occurrence.

 

[Walker D]

The bananas in the GBATemp logo was a nice touch ...Thank you Temp Staff for that cool tribute

 

[Atlas_Noire]

"True gamers don't die, they respawn."
I came across this old article awhile ago.
http://kotaku.com/5825872/nintendo-president-takes-blame-for-3ds-getting-50-percent-pay-cut

 

[Riff89]

But seriously, Bile Duct Growth? What the fuck is that even? I didn't even know he was sick...

Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE to all our users... NO "Please Understand" Jokes right now.

Yeah it by the sounds of it that growth was probably cancerous.

 

[StriderVM]

IMO the best Iwata interview:



RIP President. T.T

Yeah, it is bile duct cancer. But Iwata said he has already operated a few months ago. But with his sudden passing either he has lied (To keep confidence in Nintendo) or something happened after the operation and he has gone into septic shock.

Even cancer doesn't kill that fast, it's either a huge complication or it was in a very late stage and he just lied about it to keep confidence in the company.

 

[Chelsea_Fantasy]

Thank you for all the fun you give us all these years.
Rest in Peace, Iwata-san

 

[TheLoneWolfGamer]

RIP man. I just hate this.

 

[RustInPeace]

This video helped make the passing even sadder for me, as well as celebrating the positive aspects he's brought to gaming.



Pokemon Stadium was a childhood favorite of mine, I didn't know he single-handedly created the battle system there, taking only 1 week to do it. I also didn't know about him being part of Hal Laboratory, who developed the first 2 SSB games.