Nintendo president Satoru Iwata passes away at 55

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Nintendo president Satoru Iwata passes away at 55

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

Rirse posted:

Wasn't Yamauchi the one who had a grudge against Square after they left to work on the Playstation, to the point he wouldn't let them put anything out on the console until he stepped down?

It was the other way around, I think - Square conspicuously cut themselves out of the picture around the time of the N64 but they eventually came back after they lost a ton of money on initiatives like Spirits Within and their shareholders demanded they reconcile.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:36

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 23:01

Million Ghosts: Aug 11, 2011; spooooooky

Fun irony fact, Yamauchi donated a shitton of money to make a cancer treatment centre.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:37

Neo_Crimson: Aug 15, 2011; "Is that your final dandy?"

This is hitting me as a hard as a family member dying. He was right there, with Miyamoto and Reggie as the faces of the greatest video game company in the world.

With him gone, I seriously wonder where Nintendo is going to go. :smith:

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:38

homeless snail: Mar 14, 2007

Iwata pretty much continued to run Nintendo like Yamauchi did anyway, just with a smile instead.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:40

TARDISman: Oct 28, 2011

loving hell I'm going to be a wreck tomorrow at work.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:40

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

homeless snail posted:

Iwata pretty much continued to run Nintendo like Yamauchi did anyway, just with a smile instead.

There were definite shifts but they're not as pominent as you might think because Yamauchi had basically checked out a few years before he officially stepped down and Iwata's clique was running things in the background.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:43

Color Printer: May 9, 2011; You get used to it. I don't
even see the code. All I see
is Ipecac, Scapular, Polyphemus...

-Fish- posted:

Just realized

Balloon Fight was probably part of the Nintendo World Championship this year just so Iwata could see people loving it one last time

Hoooooly fuuuuuuccckkkkkkkkkk

:smith:

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:45

a.lo: Sep 12, 2009; Can't post for 5 hours!

let us stomp out cancer for good

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:46

homeless snail: Mar 14, 2007

Anime Curator posted:

let us stomp out cancer for good

Today we are one step closer to a world where no one is suffering from cancer.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:48

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

Is this real?

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:50

Crabtree: Oct 17, 2012; ARRRGH! Get that wallet out!
Everybody: Lowtax in a Pickle!
Pickle! Pickle! Pickle! Pickle!; Dinosaur Gum

Please understand that Iwata is only preparing us for the sadness that is the day Miyamoto goes.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:50

homeless snail: Mar 14, 2007

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Is this real?

Yeah, it was real, they deleted it and replaced it with a really bad picture of Iwata.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:51

Rocketlex: Oct 21, 2008; The Manliest Knight
in Caketown

homeless snail posted:

Today we are one step closer to a world where no one is suffering from cancer.

God dammit I needed a joke this dark. Thank you.

I hope whoever does take over as President decides to take the company in a new direction. It's not that the company needs it, but I think getting too hung up on "How Iwata would have done things" could just chain the company down in the long run. It'll be interesting to see where Nintendo goes from here.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:51

Skaw: Aug 5, 2004

Crabtree posted:

Please understand that Iwata is only preparing us for the sadness that is the day Miyamoto goes.

Miyamoto won't die. He knows the infinite 1-up trick.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:52

a.lo: Sep 12, 2009; Can't post for 5 hours!

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Is this real?

miss me yet?

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:52

Suspicious Cook: Oct 9, 2012; Onward to burgers!

Oxxidation posted:

'Cause I still believe in miracles
I swear I've seen a few.
And the time will surely come
When you can see my point of view.
I believe in second chances
And that's why I believe in you.

I'm going to drop the internet-mandated cynicism and be sappy and saccharine tonight because gently caress this night.

I'm wearing this shirt tomorrow:

I hope everyone remembers the importance of Bein' Friends.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:55

Cuntellectual: Aug 6, 2010

Came expecting goatse, left sad and confused.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:56

Rocketlex: Oct 21, 2008; The Manliest Knight
in Caketown

Skaw posted:

Miyamoto won't die. He knows the infinite 1-up trick.

The only Nintendo exec who will never die is Masahiro Sakurai, so long as the portrait that ages for him remains intact.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:56

icantfindaname: Jul 1, 2008

between this guy and satoshi kon i think god has it out for japanese pop culture visionaries and auteurs

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:57

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

icantfindaname posted:

between this guy and satoshi kon i think god has it out for japanese pop culture visionaries and auteurs

beat takeshi will beat death

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:58

Calaveron: Aug 7, 2006

Skaw posted:

Miyamoto won't die. He knows the infinite 1-up trick.

The day Miyamoto dies the entire internet will go dark for hours I can guarantee you that.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 05:58

a.lo: Sep 12, 2009; Can't post for 5 hours!

Calaveron posted:

The day Miyamoto dies the entire internet will go dark for hours I can guarantee you that.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:01

CJacobs: Apr 17, 2011; Reach for the moon!

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

Is this real?

I thought it was but apparently it isn't. The poo poo headline is real but the attached pic was always the Iwata one they used. Polygon changed the headline. The slightly-less-awful headline meant a new url and so the old tweet was deleted because the article title is part of the url on polygon.

CJacobs fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Jul 13, 2015

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:01

homeless snail: Mar 14, 2007

Real hurthling! posted:

beat takeshi will beat death

Thanks to the souls he collected of those that failed Takeshi's Challenge.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:01

Blackheart: Mar 22, 2013

Rocketlex posted:

The only Nintendo exec who will never die is Masahiro Sakurai, so long as the portrait that ages for him remains intact.

No kidding there's this very old picture with photos of young Iwata, Miyamoto and Sakurai with a Kirby drawing by each. Sakurai doesn't look a year older now.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:04

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

With his dying breath, Gackt will will them all back into existence.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:05

fits: Jan 1, 2008; Love Always,
The Captain

Commander Keenan posted:

Twitter's blowing up. This one got me.

made it a gif

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:05

MykonosFan: Sep 9, 2012; Hows my homies training
going? Whaa? Hey! What
are you doing Ronald?

Never thought I'd be hit so hard by the loss of a CEO, but under Iwata Nintendo had a perfect PR thing going on with this likable, silly bunch of people who loved their games. I don't mean to infantiilize him or anything, but that playful and open attitude Nintendo has exuded the past few years is such a refreshing thing to look to with the rest of the industry as it is. As a kid, Sonic and the Dreamcast was my introduction to gaming, but as the DC died I jumped ship to GameCube for Melee. My primary experience with Nintendo basically began under his leadership...of course, Pokemon Silver was a huge title for me a little before that, and what do you know, thanks to him, that game went above and beyond and alongside Melee cemented my love for video games. It sounds so stupid to type that out, but through this dumb hobby I've met incredible people I can share it with, and those people have opened up wonderful experiences and opportunities for me.

I can only hope that the successor continues Iwata's vision, even if it's not the most financially successful vision. Pouring some glasses tonight and playing some of his games.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:07

Nonsense: Jan 26, 2007

Anime Curator posted:

let us stomp out cancer for good

This is a good thing to take care of this century if possible, please.

I will miss Iwata's fun attitude toward the business side of gaming, and reminding everybody this is all silly poo poo. Things won't be the same, he'd want us to be optimistic though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zTsvPRwKZg

Nonsense fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Jul 13, 2015

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:07

Tiler Kiwi: Feb 26, 2011

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:09

Motto: Aug 3, 2013

fits posted:

made it a gif

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:11

limaCAT: Dec 22, 2007; il pistone e male; Slippery Tilde

Endorph posted:

Eh, I think Gunpei Yokoi would also qualify. He died before internet reactions could really be a thing, but he was absolutely as important as Iwata.

I was moved by Dany Bunten's death too having basically played MULE, Heart of Africa and Seven Cities of Gold for months.

Motto posted:

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:13

japtor: Oct 28, 2005

Rocketlex posted:

God dammit I needed a joke this dark. Thank you.

I hope whoever does take over as President decides to take the company in a new direction. It's not that the company needs it, but I think getting too hung up on "How Iwata would have done things" could just chain the company down in the long run. It'll be interesting to see where Nintendo goes from here.

From investor interviews for the last I dunno, 2-3 years(?), it seemed like they were in the middle of changing things up (and of course the recent one with DeNA was pretty major), and the stuff he said seemed reasonable enough. Granted it was also vague enough to leave things open to interpretation, but it wasn't them being stuck in the mud. Anyway my fear is that the next president fucks things up one way or another, either going with the plan and not necessarily understanding it fully, or just coming up with some bad shortsighted plan. Or being successful financially but losing what makes Nintendo Nintendo, i.e. becoming like any other boring dev.

Rocketlex posted:

The only Nintendo exec who will never die is Masahiro Sakurai, so long as the portrait that ages for him remains intact.

If you look at his pictures through time he's more like Benjamin Button...not that I saw the movie but he dies as a baby or something I assume.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:25

Violet_Sky: Dec 5, 2011; Fun Shoe

Jesus Christ, I didn't know he was sick. gently caress cancer forever. :smith:

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:27

The 7th Guest: Dec 17, 2003

Rocketlex posted:

God dammit I needed a joke this dark. Thank you.

I hope whoever does take over as President decides to take the company in a new direction. It's not that the company needs it, but I think getting too hung up on "How Iwata would have done things" could just chain the company down in the long run. It'll be interesting to see where Nintendo goes from here.

I think they'll stay the course because Iwata made three of the biggest decisions for Nintendo long term which was (a) opening the company's IPs up for licensing out to third party partners, (b) launching the amiibo line which is practically saving the corporation right now, (c) creating a mobile game partnership but continuing to develop dedicated gaming hardware and software.

Those three things alone are already a new direction for Nintendo, the only 'new' direction they could go from here would be to retreat back into their shell and stay insular.

They're not going to become a more Western or AAA-style or mobile-only corp ever because they're a super conservative japanese company and when in doubt stay the course even if everything's on fire.

The 7th Guest fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Jul 13, 2015

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:30

a.lo: Sep 12, 2009; Can't post for 5 hours!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDD5JHRVPPM

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:33

Motto: Aug 3, 2013

Anime Curator posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDD5JHRVPPM

It just now hit me how much I'm going to miss listening to this guy speak, either onstage or in Nintendo Directs.

He's been the face of the company for about as long as I've bothered keeping up with gaming news and conferences, the idea of him not being around anymore is just bizarre to me, it doesn't make sense.

# ? Jul 13, 2015 06:39