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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

 

[GaaraPrime]

WHAT THE....WHAT.

Rest in Peace dude. Rest in Peace.

 

[Bladexdsl]

so is mmoto going to take over now?

 

[Deleted User]

You had to be "that guy", didn't you?

Well he's kinda right (albeit he was rude executing his opinion), as sad as Iwata's death is, hopefully the next in line will straighten Nintendo out. Here's to hoping the NX is a straight forward console with specs on par with the competitors and no shitty gimmicks.

That being said, rest in peace Satoru Iwata 55 years is too young.

 

[Deleted_171835]

It's pretty classless to talk about Iwata's death being a positive for the company especially this soon after it happened.

But on a more related note, from Brawl In the Family

 

[Squirps]

I don't want to understand. ):

RIP an amazing CEO/President, game developer, and innovator.

 

[WhiteMaze]

Oh wow...

May his soul find peace beyond this world..



..

 

[Fishaman P]

I wasn't expecting anything like this whatsoever. I didn't even know he was in bad health.
Sad to see such a legend go.

 

[Arkansaw]

what's a good streetpass messsage to put? I'm thinking of: goodbye, Iwata

 

[Nismax]

Has anyone read Max Console's stupid ass story on this? What a stupid pathetic website that has turned into.

 

[breaktemp]

Wow...very shocking news indeed.

* time to do some research on this *

 

[pastaconsumer]

Iwata gave us many memories, that kids and adults around the world will never forget. He has touched many generations, and will continue to touch future generations to come. I think Iwata is in a better place now, and my condolences go out to all who are affected by his loss.
Rest in Peace Satoru Iwata. May you never be forgotten.

 

[Vengenceonu]

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.

Excuse my humorless joke in light of the situation but what you wrote was Well said. Both Xbox, Sony and several game devs acknowledged his passing with grace. That shows how much of an impact he had.

 

[cammelspit]

RIP Mr. Iwata. Ur antics on those nintendo directs always made me chuckle a bit.

A somber day for nintendo, it's fans and userbase. I just hope whoever gets the reins of nintendo can do what he did when the Wii was hot stuff. Sometimes a new guide for a large company like nintendo can be a good thing but I just wan't expecting this.

 

[loco365]

Has anyone read Max Console's stupid ass story on this? What a stupid pathetic website that has turned into.

Just read it and holy fuck how disrespectful.

For those unaware:

Fans around the world, are turning off their 3DS handhelds and Wii U consoles for a moment of silence.

Nintendo quickly posts a short announcement on their investor's website, with full press release due out by tomorrow.

Nintendo has announced that its president and CEO, Satoru Iwata, died on Saturday. He was 55, and the cause of death was stated as a bile duct growth. Iwata took some time off for health reasons last year and had had surgery to remove a tumor, returning later in the year.

Iwata took over as president from longtime boss Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002, and led the company to huge success with the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles. He formerly worked as a programmer at Nintendo subsidiary HAL, contributing to games like EarthBound, Balloon Fight, and the Kirby series.

Aside from his executive role, Iwata was a very well-known figure to Nintendo followers from his appearances in the company's Nintendo Direct broadcasts and his "Iwata Asks" series of interviews with developers. With the Wii U failing to perform on the level of its successor, Iwata recently announced new initiatives for the company including a move into mobile gaming and a mysterious "Quality of Life" program.

We tried to get a statement from Mario, but he is totally heartbroken over the matter and will not be stomping on mushrooms for very long time now.

As for Nintendo this could be their breaking point, when the same thing happen to Sega, everything got changed very quickly including the final nail placed into Dreamcast's coffin along with the burial of their CEO, hopefully the same thing does not happen with sad 'N'.

In the meantime, people are showing their respect on Twitter by using the hashtag #ThankYouIwata and we suggest you do the same also, plus love to hear your comments here on MaxConsole about your best Iwata moment!

 

[Lucifer666]

God I'm so upset, I feel ill

also sorry to be brash but fuck absolutely EVERYONE who's said anything along the lines of "maybe Nintendo will improve/take a new direction"

Seriously thats not how you respond to someone dying, regardless of whether or not it's true. It's bloody rude.

 

[ComeTurismO]

I literally was not expecting this. This man is responsible for many awesome releases in the Nintendo World. This world, a family, and a company lost a true legend. He will be missed for his genorosity, his personality, and for what was coming ahead and what came before.

R.I.P

 

[Veho]

We have another thread discussing what effect Iwata's death and the new management will have on Nintendo, so please take all the related speculation there:

https://gbatemp.net/threads/how-will-iwatas-death-affect-nintendo.392686/


This thread should be to pay our respects to Mr Iwata. Please take everything else to the other thread.

 

[Lucifer666]

the drawings and tributes to him on miiverse have brought me to tears. it's official, I'm fucking crying.

 

[Disco]

Very sad...
R.I.P. Iwata

 

[codezer0]

Okay, I will admit that I had my differences with Iwata, from the POV of a gamer with respect to a company CEO... but that's a *expletive* way to go.

Irritating that he passes away but neither Kaz or Ken from Sony are showing any such signs. And at this rate, Bobby Kotick will be activision CEO into his 100s.