Above: A rainbow appearing over Nintendo headquarters in Japan the day of Iwata-san's passing. Below: An artist's tribute to Iwata with Nintendo icon Mario waving goodbye to the CEO. The Game Awards 2015 was broadcast last night and the highlight of the entire show had to be Nintendo's CEO, Reggie Fils-Aime, paying tribute to late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Touching, heartfelt, and the most genuine human emotion to come out of the awards show. It brought me back to the short piece I wrote about Iwata-san this past summer, available in its entirety below:
I came out of work late last night to sadly read the tragic news of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's passing. Iwata-san, to those unfamiliar, was the "anti-CEO." While he wore business suits to meetings and answered often inane questions from shareholders, year after year, that's where the similarities end.
Beloved by gamers and game developers the world over, this was a man who started out as a simple game programmer, became a genius at his craft, advanced through the ranks to become the leader of a multinational, multi-billion dollar brand at a young age...and yet still wouldn't hesitate to jump back into game development to help teams meet deadlines, cut his pay in half so that his workers wouldn't be subjected to layoffs during the company's hardships, or simply put on a goofy hat and laugh throughout interviews...actions far removed from any leader of a powerful company. In fact, Game Center CX, a popular television program in Japan that subjects the host, Chief Arino, to playing incredibly difficult games, had a surprise visit from Iwata-san. Just in the first few minutes Iwata's humor and genuineness shine through, but watching the entirety of the interview shows a man deeply invested in the industry he holds dear and how much of a true gamer he really was.
I came out of work late last night to sadly read the tragic news of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's passing. Iwata-san, to those unfamiliar, was the "anti-CEO." While he wore business suits to meetings and answered often inane questions from shareholders, year after year, that's where the similarities end.
Beloved by gamers and game developers the world over, this was a man who started out as a simple game programmer, became a genius at his craft, advanced through the ranks to become the leader of a multinational, multi-billion dollar brand at a young age...and yet still wouldn't hesitate to jump back into game development to help teams meet deadlines, cut his pay in half so that his workers wouldn't be subjected to layoffs during the company's hardships, or simply put on a goofy hat and laugh throughout interviews...actions far removed from any leader of a powerful company. In fact, Game Center CX, a popular television program in Japan that subjects the host, Chief Arino, to playing incredibly difficult games, had a surprise visit from Iwata-san. Just in the first few minutes Iwata's humor and genuineness shine through, but watching the entirety of the interview shows a man deeply invested in the industry he holds dear and how much of a true gamer he really was.
He became a fan favorite, having countless memes made of him and encouraging it by repeating or even coming up with other silly antics because of his pleasantly playful demeanor. Iwata-san believed in open communication, and although I never personally knew him, you "felt" like he understood ("please understand" memes incoming) gaming because he lived and breathed it. Hearing his interviews and his brilliant "Iwata Asks" series made you feel like he genuinely cared about the craft, it's workers, and the feelings these games would ultimately bring to gamers. When you hear CEOs, presidents, and other leaders of large companies talk about their industry, it's typically about the bottom line, about numbers, all with a general disregard for the people behind them. With Iwata-san, it always seemed the opposite, despite him having to run a monumental company. His only goal was "to bring smiles to people's day" with videogames, and that "videogames should be one thing: fun. Fun for everyone."
Accessible, kindhearted, a desire to push the company headstrong into making people happy, when all others would essentially tell him "that's not how a business should be run." With Iwata-san, he made being kind, friendly, and the desire to make people happy, the cool thing to do. What an incredibly sad day.
And yet his vision, kindness, and inclusiveness will endure.
Accessible, kindhearted, a desire to push the company headstrong into making people happy, when all others would essentially tell him "that's not how a business should be run." With Iwata-san, he made being kind, friendly, and the desire to make people happy, the cool thing to do. What an incredibly sad day.
And yet his vision, kindness, and inclusiveness will endure.
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