Satoru Iwata

Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata at GDC 2011
Born		December 6, 1959
		Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Died		July 11, 2015 (age 55)
		Kyoto, Japan
Education		Computer Science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology
Occupation		President and CEO of Nintendo (2002–2015)
Spouse		Kayoko Iwata

Satoru Iwata (岩田 聡), formerly the President and CEO of Nintendo, was a game programmer. He expressed interest in video games early on, and later majored in computer science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Iwata joined HAL Laboratory in 1980 while attending the university. During his early years at HAL Laboratory, he worked as a programmer and closely collaborated with Nintendo. Notable titles he contributed to at this time include EarthBound and the Kirby series. Following downturn and near-bankruptcy of the company, Iwata became the president of HAL Laboratory in 1993 at the insistence of Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's president, and brought the company to financial stability. In the following years, he assisted in the development of the Pokémon series and even assisted Masahiro Sakurai in making the prototype for Super Smash Bros. Iwata joined Nintendo as the head of its corporate-planning division in 2000.

In June 2014, a tumor in his bile duct was discovered during a routine physical exam. It was successfully removed and Iwata returned to work in October of that year. However, the issue resurfaced in 2015, and Iwata died at the age of 55 from its complications on July 11.

In Super Smash Bros.

Iwata has played key rolls in advertising and announcing various Super Smash Bros. titles. At E3 2005, Iwata offhandedly announced Super Smash Bros. Brawl while the game was not in development or even planned. Iwata approached Sakurai the next day and asked him to direct the next Smash game. In the trailer for the Mii Fighters, Iwata is seen battling against Reggie Fils-Aimé.