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Satoru Iwata Has Passed Away

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cyberheater

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What terrible news to hear.

RIP Satoru. 55 years old. Way too young to die. :(
 

Crayolan

Member
I wish I was an artist and had some wonderfully touching picture to share. I never even knew the man, so I only have a story about how he impacted me.

When I was 9 years old, I was sent to a summer camp where I was bullied relentlessly. I remember being pinned down as several other kids, many older, would beat me. I never told anyone. All I had to look forward to was the copy of Kirby's Dream Land from HAL Laboratories that my mother had mailed me to play on my Nintendo GameBoy.

Most kids anticipated the daytime activities. Not me though. I anticipated the night, when I could turn on a little lamp and play Kirby, squinting my eyes to see the green-and-black images.

I always appreciated a challenging game, but Iwata's idea for Kirby, that anyone should be able to defeat it, was soothing for me at the time. It was just what I needed in that moment, and that game gave me something to look forward to. I don't know, but it might have saved my life. Maybe that's always why I held Nintendo, their games, and even Iwata's tenure up to a higher standard.

I'm still a Nintendo gamer all these years later, and I don't forget what Kirby's Dream Land did for me. It's amazing how creators will never know how they touched us. And then they're gone.

This is really touching. Can't agree enough with the bolded.
 

SegaShack

Member
My mother passed away from cancer 2 years ago (she was 67). She had her ups and downs on the 2 weeks she was at the hospital, but I still remember a few days before, on a Saturday how ..alive she was. A friend of her and even 2 friends of mine came to visit that day, talked to her and left because of how well she looked. Her doctor came by and was really happy to see her progress.

Then on Sunday, when I returned from work to stay at the hospital she was with an oxygen mask, eyes closed and in pain.

She passed a few days later (Thursday). Those friends that visited that Saturday were speechless when I told them. Couldn't believe me, since she was so well that day.


******

All this around Iwata reminded me of that a bit. My mom was the person that got me into Nintendo, Mario, Zelda and even her last (christmas) gift were a Mario and Luigi figurines, even when I was 30 years old back then.

On one of the last Directs Iwata wad on, I noticed his weight loss and also reminded me of that. My mom was always talking about how she was losing weight, even when I kept telling her she was a beautiful as always. I actually didn't noticed it, until later when I was seeing some old pictures. Love is blind, some say. :p

It is really sad. Iwata was part of Nintendo and my childhood in that way. My mom got me Kirby because she liked the character in the cover and Kirby was made by him.

I'm so sorry about your mother. Very touching story. Just shows how quickly things can change and how vulnerable we are.
 

T'Zariah

Banned
Cool little personal story in one of Yahoo's comment sections. Sorry if this has already been posted, the thread is really big.

1436768652737.jpg

Fuck me.

Goddammit.
 

mcw

Member
Satoru Iwata believed that the main thing a game needed to be was fun. He was willing to take risks, try wildly new things. He wanted to protect the people who worked for him from the unrealistic expectations of an international market, and keep them focused on building something original.

Part of the reason why this one is hitting us so hard is because we know, on some level, that we'll never see someone like this again. It's all downhill from here.

Best wishes to his family and friends; I don't doubt he had many of them.
 
From what people have said here and elsewhere, seems like it can just reverse on you extremely quickly.

He may have thought he was on the mend when it all went bad.

That´s what i like to believe as well.
Iwata was always a man that had a plan. He always had a clear vision of how he would develop Nintendo in the next 5-10 years so i have no doubt he made his preparations... but no one expected such a sudden developement.
 
I'm finally back on desktop, and I'd like to express my condolences. Could anyone add the banner to my avatar, preferably around the neck like a sort of tie? If not, don't worry about it. Thanks.
 

Spenny

Member
From what people have said here and elsewhere, seems like it can just reverse on you extremely quickly.

He may have thought he was on the mend when it all went bad.

He could have died from complications due to cancer and not from the cancer itself. One of my relatives died from a pulmonary embolism two years after cancer treatment and they still attributed the death to the cancer even though he was cancer free. Something similar could have happened since people who have seen him recently said he seemed to be doing well. Either way, fuck cancer.
 
Cool little personal story in one of Yahoo's comment sections. Sorry if this has already been posted, the thread is really big.

1436768652737.jpg

Iwata is one special and beautiful soul. I'm deeply saddened that he had to endure the constant criticisms that seemed to reach its peak during E3. I don't know if I believe in an afterlife, but right now, I wish there were one just so that I know Iwata realizes how much impact he made on people.
 

Tripon

Member
ふつうではない日、ふつうではない心境ですが、ふつうに出社し、ふつうに開発に打ち込んでいます。それが岩田さんのためでもありますしね。なすべきことをします。
https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/620431033142358016
 
This is probably the most impactful death in the VG industry so far. Crazy.
Unfortunately, he is only going to be the first of many we will live through over the coming decades. Hard to believe the legends from our childhoods are getting to that point where disease and old age might begin to steal them away.
 

DarkShanks

Neo Member
God damn...this can't be happening. Such a cheerful man with all his Nintendo Directs and the various changes he made to Nintendo to make it seem less of a corporation. Rest in Peace.
 
In seeking to make a bit cleaner version of a tribute NeoGAF logo, and in respect of the amazing painting by phileep, I put this together:

IN0b.png


Changed the GAF colors to something reminiscent of HAL Laboratory's logo.

Individual images:

JN0b.png

KN0b.png


They're the same dimensions as the current pride logo.

These are great, well done.
 

chiimisu

Member
I just don't know what to say. I didn't even think Iwasa-san's passing may have such a impact on me :( I've been such a wreck for the last couple of hours.
It was so great seeing him in Nintendo Directs, even if they didn't have any "bombs". Still, seeing him being so positive and passionate about things Nintendo do was really refreshing in today's highly commercial game industry. I rarely missed any Directs, and I think this had much to do with Iwata-san's personality. It was always like long-awaited meeting with good friend. Directs were whole lot of fun thanks to him.
One of my favourite Iwata moments was that Game Center CX segment about Balloon Fight. It was the time I truly understood how sincere he was and it helped me to understand what's most important in human being for me. I actually dreamt of working in game industry someday, coming to E3, getting Iwata's autograph and saying thanks to him from the bottom of my heart for all the inspiration. But now he's gone... So suddenly. It was expected, but still, death never comes at the right time.
I think the best thing we can do to honor him now is to follow our dreams, to have the same passion about what we do and to be good people as a whole. And the last but not the least - to look after the health.
It may seem corny and it probably is. But that's how I feel as for now. *sob*
 
Unfortunately, he is only going to be the first of many we will live through over the coming decades. Hard to believe the legends from our childhoods are getting to that point where disease and old age might begin to steal them away.

Yeah, this is a harsh truth, and one I honestly don't want to think about, really.

A lot of the people whose names we have next to the words "genius" in gaming magazines will one day not be here.
 
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