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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

 

[Naridar]

I'm sorry to say this, but bile duct cancer is mostly detected in 3rd or 4th stadium and thus is ineligible for surgery. He was lucky but even when removed seemingly completely, this type of cancer has a 5-year survival rate of roughly 25% or worse. If there's a recurrence, it means basically no hope of recovery.

 

[raulpica]

He had the boldness of doing what everyone else marked as madness with the DS and the Wii and they were both smashing successes.

R.I.P. Iwata-san. You will be sorely missed.

 

[XDel]

He lived a full life!

 

[kehkou]

The industry will never be the same again.
RIP Iwata-san (near horizontal bow)

 

[keven3477]

Rest in peace Iwata. You have helped Nintendo prosper. You will be missed.

 

[MajinCubyan]

I cried when my brother told me.

 

[DJPlace]

this one's for you.

 

[HaloEffect17]

I have had, and will continue, to have many great moments with Nintendo. Iwata has truly played a major part in crafting not only a renowned video game business, but memories that will forever lie in the hearts of gamers for years to come.

 

[AsPika2219]

RIP.... The best creator of Pokemon, Donkey Kong etc....

 

[_Mary_]

sayonara iwata san ..

 

[G0R3Z]

Just Noticed the Bananas replacing the logo. Those feels.

 

[B-Blue]

Well if that isnt the goddam saddest thing ive seen all week. Fucking hell.

are you hugging your screen right now?

 

[Drak0rex]

WHERE WERE YOU?

 

[T-hug]

RIP Iwata, may you and Yamauchi play 200cc Rainbow Road together

 

[Lycan911]

RIP Iwata, may you and Yamauchi play 200cc Rainbow Road together

I think he heard you.

Official Nintendo facebook page just posted a picture of a rainbow above Nintendo headquarters.

https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo/p...9240841493711/870104976407290/?type=1&theater

EDIT:

I AM CRYING AGAIN FUCK

 

[Osha]

I AM CRYING AGAIN FUCK

Oh wow. I didn't cry before for the previous pieces of art posted everywhere online, but this one hit me really hard.

 

[StriderVM]

I started researching info on him after he became President / CEO, and he is basically a damn good programmer and organizer kind of guy, to the point he was chosen as the next sucessor to Nintendo rather than another Yamauchi. I'm gutted for this news as I honestly see him as one of those CEO's that actually cared about the consumer rather than the shareholders.

And to clarify some misunderstandings as seen in this thread. He didn't really "create" a lot of Nintendo characters or game series, but he made the framework of some of the earlier NES / Famicom titles and helped some of Nintendo's games turn into the most non broken, bug free and spit shined games available, especially on this decade.

Ninja Edit : His contributions to Nintendo is something like :

"Mr. Yamauchi, can you help us compress the data? Pokemon Silver/Gold is occupying too much data and we really shouldn't go beyond 2MB to save on costs."

"Sure. Let me take a crack at it."

"Holy crap, you compression engine saved so much data I think we can add Johto in the game!"

or

"Mr. Iwata, you had helped program Pokemon, can you help us port the battle engine to the N64?"

"Sure. Let me take a look."

"Umm, sir, you basically did all of it. And in less than a week too."

 

[TripleSMoon]

I didn't cry at first either, but all the art and impassioned reactions from people really hit me hard. The feels are real, guys. :'(

 

[storm75x]

Too fast.

 

[iamKHEEMchi]

I was really saddened because of this news. There's a saying in our country that the ones with a good heart always goes first because they are more suitable in heaven rather here in earth. May he rest in peace.