I am beyond heartbroken to hear about the passing of my friend Satoru Iwata. He was a gamer, a developer and a champion for our medium. RIP
I first met Satoru Iwata at TGS in 2005 when I interviewed him for G4. He spoke in Japanese and showed off the Nintendo Wii controller.
So at the end of the interview, after the cameras were off, he turned to me and started speaking in English.
"Geoff, I really liked out interview. I can tell you are a gamer so I wanted to show you something." He turned the controller sideways.
He held it like an NES controller with D-pad and the A B buttons. He smiled, I think to hint at Virtual Console. I'll always remember that.
I felt a great connection with him then, he wanted gamers to know that Nintendo would always think of us. He was such an honorable man.
His smile said so much. He was and is one of us. He loved game, and wanted to make the world a better place with them. And he did.
I just thought about how one of the last things he probably watched was the Nintendo World Championship.
He got to watch Balloon Fight played in front of thousands of people who loved the games he's made. He got to see the crowd react to hearing about Mother 1 coming to the VC. His last interaction with the worldwide community of gamers was watching all of us collectively celebrate nintendo games, most of which he had a direct hand in making possible. For anyone who followed along the bulk of the stream, it was a pretty magical time made even more wonderful with the knowledge that he got to enjoy it right along beside us. We spent those precious few last moments with him and watching and didn't even know it.
I'm so glad they'll be bringing it back next year. I'll watch it again with the memory of his life in mind.
Yeah...its strange. I dont think i've ever felt...melancholy over any other well known figure death in my lifetime, but this is different. I didnt personally know him outside of conferences, interviews, and directs, but it still feels like someone I knew.
This is probably the most impactful death in the VG industry so far. Crazy.
Unfortunately, he is only going to be the first of many we will live through over the coming decades. Hard to believe the legends from our childhoods are getting to that point where disease and old age might begin to steal them away.
Hiroshi Yamauchi as well.
It's really going to rip me up when each of my idols pass one by one. That is life, I suppose. It's inevitable but not at all pleasant to think about.
We would also like to send our condolences to Mr. Iwatas family, friends and colleagues.
Personally, Ill always think of Satoru Iwata as a man who always seemed to care first and foremost about other people having fun and being happy. A man who, despite being the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, wasnt afraid to joke around and do silly things such as stare at a bunch of bananas in Nintendo Directs or turn himself and his fellow executives into Muppets for their E3 presentation. He seemed like the type of person that would be happy if everyone regardless of age believed In Santa Claus and losing someone like that wont just make Nintendo, but in fact the whole world a bit less bright and a bit more boring.
Oh, and on-stage at E3 2005 this CEO wasnt afraid to joke around and say something like this:
My name is Iwata. Im about making games and Im about playing games. Last night, I played Super Smash Bros. Thats my game. I kicked some you know what and I took his name. His name was Reggie. As Nintendo president, Im also all about asking questions. So Reggie, I have a question for you. Whos your daddy?
Yep, Reggies daddy and Nintendos will be deeply missed.
I'd really appreciate if some kind soul could add a ribbon to my avatar.
I think, in the internet age, it's not all that weird.
You see someone enough, you read their words, think about their thought processes and plans
It sounds silly, and more than a little dorky, but I think a one-way attachment is totally reasonable.
Individual images:
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They're the same dimensions as the current pride logo.
In seeking to make a bit cleaner version of a tribute NeoGAF logo, and in respect of the amazing painting by phileep, I put this together:
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Changed the GAF colors to something reminiscent of HAL Laboratory's logo.
Individual images:
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They're the same dimensions as the current pride logo.
I've been holding it together pretty well, but man, this one's a real gut punch. It was clear the man had a saintly kindness and genuinity about him that's one in a million in the kind of position he occupied. For god's sake, he won over Yamauchi's steely heart.Cool little personal story in one of Yahoo's comment sections. Source pic from 4chan. Sorry if this has already been posted here, the thread is really big.
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I think, in the internet age, it's not all that weird.
You see someone enough, you read their words, think about their thought processes and plans
It sounds silly, and more than a little dorky, but I think a one-way attachment is totally reasonable.
This work?could someone avatar this and add the mario font ribbon to it?
The last Iwata Asks he did was... Fire Emblem Fates:
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/fire-emblem-fates/0/0