This is a sad news for Nintendo. President and CEO Satoru Iwata has died.
Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto will take over as Representative and Senior Directors, according to the Notification of Death and Personnel Change of a Representative Director (President) sent to Financial Accounting Standards Federation, Monday.
Iwata's cause of death, as indicated in the notification, was bile duct growth. He passed away at 55, Saturday.
The company discussed the former President's condition following a bile duct surgery — whether it was open or laparoscopic wasn't disclosed — that kept him from attending the E3 Expo in 2014.
Despite the health issues, he did his best to participate in the Nintendo shareholders' meeting on June 26, as per the report of Wired.
He joined Nintendo in June 2000, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi, and was appointed as Director. In May 2002, he was appointed as President and Representative Director and in June 2013, he became the CEO of Nintendo of America Inc.
Iwata, who used to work for HAL Laboartory as a programmer, co-created the classic games Kirby's Dream Land series, Samash Brothers Melee and Earthound, according to Tech Crunch. He was also the man behind the launch of Nintendo DS and Wii consoles.
He was considered as a hands-on leader. His implausible programming skills were contemplated as not so common for an executive.
Nintendo had four presidents since it was founded in 1889. Yes, Iwata was the fourth and the only president who did not descend from the founding family of Yamauchi.
Nintendo is currently on a "transitional" phase. The company is now trying to recover from death of their young, passionate and smart leader.
Iwata, who got a degree in computer science from Tokyo Institute of Technology, was born in Sapporo, Japan on Dec. 6, 1959. At an early age, he already expressed interest in creating video games.
"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer," he said in his keynote speech during the 2005 Game Developers Conference.
"But in my heart, I am a gamer," he added.
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