Oh man, that is tragic. I knew he was having health concerns but I didn't know it was that bad. I'm glad he was able to be part of this E3, if only in puppet form.
Good Lord this is tragic. I didn't even realize the man had been ill at all.
So many of my greatest gaming experiences are directly a result of decisions made by Mr. Iwata. He'll be sorely missed...
You know, we don't have to talk in that formal way. Iwata was like a member of the family around here. You guys all know how horrible this is for me because it's just as horrible for you.
This sucks. The dude was only 55, for goodness sake!
Wow. Totally unexpected, even with the health concerns over the last year or so. It hasn't sunk in yet, and I don't think it will until the next Nintendo Direct...
You could tell how much he cared about the games Nintendo put out. Sure, he was dedicated to the business aspect of the company, but he also seemed to love games. Where so many directors of other game companies see the games as secondary concern to the business, you could tell Iwata had a passion for the craft.
Tragic. The man while not as obviously big to my gaming life as Miyamoto the fact that his work made EarthBound (arguably my favorite game ever) a reality after falling into development hell makes him important.
Iwata has such an impressive library of games that he's worked on too. The man helped save Earthbound along with HAL labs! Without him, Pokemon Gold and Silver wouldn't have had Kanto! He coded the battle programming for Pokemon Stadium in a week! Other highlights include:
Kirby's Adventure Kirby's Dream Course Super Smash Bros Kirby 64 Super Smash Bros Melee Animal Crossing Super Mario Sunshine Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Metroid Prime The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Wario Ware Inc Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga Pikmin 2 Mario Kart DS Nintendogs The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Mother 3 NEW Super Mario Bros Wii Sports Super Mario Galaxy Mario Kart Wii Punch Out!!! Kirby's Return to Dreamland Super Mario 3D Land Xenoblade Chronicles Nintendo Land Fire Emblem: Awakening
Here's a page with a full list of game's he's worked on. Iwata had such an impressive career and he helped to bring joy to millions of people around the world. A lot of us wouldn't be exactly who we are today if it weren't for some of these games. I certainly know they made my life much more enjoyable.
That's fine but I don't feel like this is the place for stuff like that. It should be more about Iwata as a person who affected peoples' lives.
For instance, remember when Nintendo had those few lacking years? Iwata cut his salary by half. To me that's a show of character you don't often hear about from CEOs.