All of us at Siliconera would like to wish Satoru Iwata a posthumous Happy Birthday. Iwata was a video game programmer, businessman, and visionary. He was the fourth president of Nintendo, Co. Ltd. Born on December 6, 1959, he would have been 61 years old today.
Satoru Iwata was fascinated with programming from a young age. After purchasing the first programmable calculator, the HP-65, he began developing his own games in the mid-70s in high school. Iwata later studied at the Tokyo Institute of Technology while simultaneously working at HAL Laboratory as a part-time programmer. After graduating and joining the small team at HAL as a full-timer, he helped create a relationship with Nintendo to create games for the Famicom/NES.
Known as a programming wonder, Iwata personally made the impossible possible with many programming tricks, notably on games like Open Tournament Golf and Pokemon Gold and Silver. His enthusiasm for business and bettering himself led him to climb the ranks at HAL, and eventually switch companies to Nintendo where he also climbed the ranks to eventual CEO status. Famously, one of Iwata’s first actions as president of Nintendo was to meet directly with the company’s 40 department heads and 150 other employees.
This writer would like to share with you one of his favorite moments of Satoru Iwata on stage.
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.
Iwata revitalized Nintendo’s image and ushered in its most financially successful period in video games with the Nintendo DS and Wii. And during years with difficult net sales in 2011 and 2014, Iwata voluntarily halved his salary to ensure job security for Nintendo employees, preventing lay-offs.
Iwata even oversaw the development of the Nintendo Switch in the final months of his life. Given the system’s outstanding performance over the past four years, it’s a shame Iwata couldn’t see how successful his last project turned out to be. Satoru Iwata passed away at the age of 55 on July 11, 2015.
In commemoration of Satoru Iwata’s birthday, everyone here at Siliconera wishes the Iwata family well.
