SATURO IWATA - Nintendo president and CEO Dies at 55 - End of a Legacy

BY AMIT BARAN ROY   |   Saturo iwata, a Japanese game programmer and businessman who was currently the president and CEO of Nintendo, has passed away at the age of 55. Nintendo confirmed his death in a brief statement.

Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct growth.

He was diagnosed with a tumor in the bile duct in June, 2014 which was successfully removed. He couldn’t attend E3, 2014 on advice of his doctors. But the tumor suddenly resurfaced in late June 2015 leading to complications and finally the death of the legend on July 11 at the age of 55.

Saturo Iwata was the fourth president of Nintendo, after Hiroshi Yamauchi who led the company at the apex of video gaming. He worked as a programmer in HAL Laboratory and he is known today for his contribution to notable titles of ‘Earthbound’ and ‘Kirby Series’ as well as he also assisted the Pokemon and Super Smash Bros series. Under Iwata’s leadership, Nintendo developed the Nintendo DS and Wii video game consoles which led to a great financial boon for the company.

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.

The funeral service went on for two days which was attended by over 2600 people on first day followed by 1500 people on 2nd day at Kyoto, Japan. People were seen carrying Nintendo 3Ds’es to pay homage to the legend.

At the funeral service, the company’s senior managing director and current co representative director, Genyo Takedo, delivered a memorial speech and pledged to continue Iwata’s legacy henceforth.

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