Nintendo President Satoru Iwata

It's really sad to have read that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has died at an early age of 55 years old.

As someone who has been a lifetime Nintendo fanboy, it's really difficult to describe what I am feeling after have read this news. I have never met Satoru Iwata myself but I have watched countless streams and videos of him on the Internet as I obsessed over Nintendo throughout my lifetime. Unlike many other companies' leaders, Mr. Iwata displayed his genuine love for video games and his company in every video I watched. Every single time I watched Satoru Iwata, I wished I was him and saw him as a role model; it's extremely rare for me to feel that way.

''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." -Satoru Iwata

I have no doubt that Nintendo's unusual success without high specification consoles was highly influenced by Satoru Iwata's passion for video games. Under his term at Nintendo, he led immense success with the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii; both platforms that were doubted and ridiculed from the initial announcement of the products.

It wasn't about having as many pixels or polygons on the screen for Nintendo; it was about entertaining their users with experiences unlike its competitors. Just look at some of the games that became widely popular and were distinctive in the video game industry when released, Brain Games and Wii Sports come to mind immediately. Nintendo continued to entertain gamers with its most beloved series, including Super Mario, Mario Kart/Party/Tennis, Pokemon, and Zelda, by adding various elements to them.

It's been really comforting that Nintendo hasn't given up its values in an industry that has been dominated by performance specifications.

Thank you Satoru Iwata for everything that you have done.