It's a sad day for Nintendo fans and gamers in general today, as we learn the news that Satoru Iwata, CEO of Nintendo America and a director at the Japanese game maker since 2000, has passed away from a bile duct growth. He was just 55 years old.
Iwata had been at the company in one way or another for decades, having worked on games like Kirby and Balloon Fight as part of HAL Laboratories, a Nintendo subsidiary, before becoming part of the main firm and being given a directorship in 2000. From there he oversaw the development and sale of some of the company's best selling hardware, like the Nintendo DS and Wii consoles.
When fortunes turned south and the Wii U failed to make the impact that it was hoped it would, Iwata led other executives in taking substantial pay cuts to show their commiseration and to stand in stark contrast with Western tech giants which tend to trim the fat from the bottom, rather than the top.
Moving forward Senior managing directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda will take over the management roles that Iwata filled, with plans to find his replacement at a suitable time.
Image source: Wikimedia
