Derwyn Hill
5/8/19
COMD 1112 D110
My Designer: Satoru Iwata
What exactly is a hero, what does it mean to be a hero, can anyone be a hero or can only a select few be given the title hero. Well in my opinion anyone has the potential to be a hero and it doesn’t take much either you don’t have to save a life or stop a crime you just have to mean something to someone and depending on your actions they’ll consider you a hero. They’re are many people in my my life but only a select few stand out and earn the title of heroes, and the person I chose to write about is Satoru Iwata. Satoru Iwata was a Japanese video game programmer and businessman who served as the fourth president and chief executive officer of Nintendo.
He is widely regarded as a major contributor in broadening the appeal of video games to a wider audience by focusing on novel and entertaining games rather than top-of-the-line hardware. Sadly in June of 2015 Satoru Iwata passed away due to cancer. During his life Mr. Iwata accomplished many great things and set Nintendo’s standard for gaming. Mr. Iwata got his start as a programmer and video game developer. He later became a Nintendo affiliate at HAL Laboratories. During his time there, he restored the company from near bankruptcy and worked on several notable video game properties, including “Earthbound” and the “Kirby” and “Super Smash Bros.” series. Iwata moved to Nintendo as director in 2000, in 2002 he was named president and In 2013 Iwata became Nintendo’s CEO.
If it wasn’t for Mr. Iwata one of my favorite video game series “Super Smash Bros.” wouldn’t even exist and for that I thank him. Mr. Iwata was always a friendly outgoing guy he never hesitated to accept a interview and was always looking for ways to reach out to people, he even had a video series called “Iwata Asks” where he sat down with various game developers who develop for Nintendo and asks them about their challenges, inspirations, and over process when it came to making their game. Even though Mr. Iwata’s main role in the company was more business oriented he was still a gamer at heart. At a conference that Nintendo held in 2005 at the E3 games expo which is held every June Mr. Iwata got on stage pulled out his business card and said “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.” and it is statement right here that showed me just how much he loved and respected video games and inspired me to be the same way.
Throughout his life Mr. Iwata has proven himself to be an industry icon and a gaming legend. It was during the time that Iwata was President and CEO that Nintendo started a brand new generation of Nintendo handles that has proven to to be very successful, the Nintendo DS line has gone on to see many upgrades and is still going strong to this day it is also under Iwata that the Nintendo Wii was released one of the most recognizable gaming consoles in history which sold over 100 million units. Iwata set a name for Nintendo during his time as President and CEO establishing brand new generations of Nintendo hardware that would go on to be successful for years to come.
It was actually during his time as President and CEO where I decide that I wanted to be a game developer/designer. Sadly all good things must come to an end as I stated earlier Mr. Iwata had passed from cancer in June of 2015 but before his death he didn’t let cancer stop even from his hospital weeks before death he was still working making sure things were in order and that the company would be in good hands even after his death. Mr. Iwata’s dedication to the company, his job and to gaming is why he’s an inspiration to me and why he’s my hero.
Link to original with sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xn7q4pD28OkuuuaLlNZ36KiYns-iPlQNiNs2HvNM10Q/edit?usp=sharing
