Wow. I can't believe this. This is one of those rare moments I actually started to feel tears being shed.
This is LITERALLY one of those "Didn't think will ACTUALLY happen, but it did" moments. I'm...I'm shocked. At only 55 years of age he time on this Earth has come and gone. To see my Twitter blowing up about this, saying how Iwata meant more than just the President of Nintendo and more like one of your family members...I can agree. This is a real blow to many fans, Nintendo and the general gaming market alike. For real this legitimately came out of left field.
This is not just a dark day for Nintendo. Nonono...his is a dark day for the entire video game industry & its history. I honestly never seen someone of his position put in so much time and effort; so much blood, sweat and tears into turning a company around. To me that showed just how much Iwata cared about this industry and the company he worked for. To think his story is one that many in the industry couldn't achieve. From a programmer at HAL Laboratories to CEO and President. Years of hard work he gave to The Nig N. He was even willing to cut his pay in half because this is how much he cared about the company. He sacrificed hours & hours to make Nintendo as best as he could to the point of illness. Despite that you can still feel his influence throughout the Nintendo Directs he couldn't be apart of, the events he couldn't make it too (which makes this year's E3 even sadder in hindsight). He does leave a brilliant legacy, one not many can get.. Iwata was..no IS a PILLAR to modern-day Nintendo, and it came crashing down. He had a passion for this business that not many can replicate.
I hope personally very next Nintendo Direct shouldn't be about the upcoming titles or whatever. Rather it should be for him; his legacy to the company he gave his heart and soul for. I do wonder without him how Nintendo would have functioned to this day. I hope Nintendo World does something to remember Iwata's passing.
I really feel bad for Masahiro Sakurai; those two were close when they were part of HAL; and today they lost one brilliant mind.
I hope for those on here, play whatever Nintendo console you own. This may sound cheesy but I don't care; play those games for him, because that's what he would love to hear; people around the world playing the games he wants the public to enjoy. In fact; he helped create on the best games I ever played. Pokemon Gold and Silver. In fact, many of us here have to thank Iwata for that game specifially; he was THE driving force behind putting the entire Kanto region in the games and give us much more to explore post-Elite Four. His ideas helped propel why I love this franchise so much, so I want to personally say thank you.
On a closing note, I do want to say he left us with Super Mario Maker; so we can create our own levels and make our inner game designer dreams come true, like Iwata did. So with that...I'll leave this:
Satoru Iwata: A Corporate President on the outside, a Game Developer on the mind, but a pure Gamer in his heart. We Finally Understood. Thank You for what you gave to us, not just as Nintendo fans, but to video games as a whole. RIP.
