Grasping to memorialize a wonderful man who guided a gigantic video game company, programmed like a pro, and held a bunch of bananas.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/editorial/40744/remembering-the-genius-of-satoru-iwata
Even before he became Nintendo's President in 2002, Satoru Iwata was already a legend. He made Balloon Fight. He guided HAL Laboratory to make the Adventures of Lolo, Kirby, and so much more. He helped make EarthBound a reality. He did wonders with early Pokémon games. He, while in a managerial role, rolled up his sleeves and helped with the debug process for Super Smash Bros. Melee. Iwata was, in his own words, a gamer at heart, and that carried throughout his 13 years as Nintendo's President and CEO. We lost a brilliant man, one who brought levity, humor, and fun to an industry that was often overly self-serious. A month ago, he was portrayed as a Jim Henson puppet at E3. And now he's gone.
I wish I met Satoru Iwata, even if to just say "thank you." To say thank you for Kirby, for Balloon Trip, for Smash Bros., for EarthBound, for Lolo. Oddly, my most endearing memory of him is from the first time I ever saw him in person. At my first E3 in 2009, I vividly remember the weird portion of the Nintendo press conference where he talked passionately about the Wii Vitality Sensor. While he spoke, there was this goofy picture of him, stone faced, holding a Wii Remote in one hand and the illusive Vitality Sensor in the other. I immediately snapped a picture of this. I was very tickled by the peculiarity of the entire scene. That's a feeling I often felt with Iwata's later years as Nintendo President. Whether it's the infamous banana picture, his Smash Bros. fight with Reggie Fils-Aime, or that video where he got sucked into a 3DS, there was an amusing peculiarity about his public persona. He had fun. He enjoyed what he did, whether it was hosting a Nintendo Direct or interviewing other developers in the amazing Iwata Asks features. And that's only what we saw. By all accounts, he was a fantastic boss, co-worker, and friend to everyone he worked with. There's a reason we're all so sad right now: he was that wonderful.
I’m frankly still at a loss with this, and I didn’t even know him. My only connection to Iwata was playing his games and covering his company, but because of how personally he treated his games and his company, I feel like I’m losing a friend. All I want to do is curl up with Balloon Fight right now and remember the long-lasting contributions that Satoru Iwata made to a company that has brought me such joy over the course of my entire life.
Thank you, Mr. Iwata. Thank you for everything.
Topic: Remembering the Genius of Satoru Iwata (Read 1625 times)
