Words for Iwata

It means a lot to say that the President of one of the biggest games companies on the planet has passed, and yet it means something entirely more to say that Satoru Iwata specifically has passed. It’s not simply that Iwata was a man who kept the wheels of Nintendo turning for the creatives under him, as important a job as that in itself was, but rather Iwata was also a key part of the company’s creative voice in a way that few to no other big studio CEOs are. In the industry the number of hands on a AAA game frequently means that it’s very difficult for individual creative minds to shine through and executives often seem highly detached from the process of actually making games, yet despite that Iwata himself felt deeply ingrained into who Nintendo is and what Nintendo makes. One of the reasons he was such a loveable person was that he had the charm, light-heartedness, and earnest drive to bring fun to all people that is embodied in the way that Nintendo does video games. He was both a monumental symbol of and a great contributor to the experiences Nintendo have created these past few decades and I’ve not seen anyone who met him say he was anything less than a kind and respectful man in person. The line of influence is clear, and for many Iwata was as much a part of Nintendo as Miyamoto was.

In the wake of his death many people have been recounting stories of the amazing things he did for Nintendo: Fitting an entire second continent into Pokémon Gold and Silver versions, rewriting enormous reems of the code for Earthbound, reconstructing all of the Pokémon battle rules for Pokémon Stadium in a week without reference documents. These are stories that should have been a bigger part of gaming’s cultural consciousness all along, but at least they’re out there now, and these tales reveal part of why Iwata was such a great President. He was forged in the fire of actually creating these games. He knew what it was like to work on them with his own two hands and he obviously had a passion for the games as works of entertainment themselves. In his words "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". I earnestly believe that he cared about the games, the people who played them, and the people who made them above all else. You can see the care for his own company and employees in the famous 50% pay cut he imposed on himself or in his dedication to refraining from laying off employees, even in an industry where this has been a rampantly common practise of late. I believe at his core Iwata was a good person and the games industry could do with many more like him.

One of the tragedies in the death of a person like Iwata is that they are truly unique and that means there is no replacing them. We’ve lost the only Satoru Iwata there is or will ever will be. In a strange way however, it feels okay, because Iwata’s time in the games industry was obviously far from wasted, and he brought so much joy and happiness to people I find it hard not to look back on him with joy and happiness myself. Thank you Satoru Iwata, for all the hours of fun you brought us.