R.I.P. Satoru Iwata

On July 11th, 2015, the world of video gaming has lost one of the most influential video gaming figures of all time: Satoru Iwata, the (well now former) Chief Executive Officer... or President, if you prefer, of Nintendo. The news of his death has stunned and shocked me like one of Elec Man's Thunder Beam blasts on me, meaning i wasn't expecting it at all. And i'm sure none of you, who are gamers, were expecting this shocking news. Anyway, i still have that news on my mind and it'll be some time before i recover from this... and i'm sure it'll be some time before you all recover from the news of his death.

In any case, what i'll mostly remember from Satoru Iwata is a couple of things:

1. Whenever i beat a game, i always check the credits of the game in mind and at that point, i always noticed the mention of Executive Producer, to which i speak of his name either out loud or quietly in my mind, meaning Satoru Iwata himself.

2. His Nintendo Direct broadcasts. Whenever i see him, i always noticed his famous bowing and his "Directly" salute to those watching the Nintendo Direct broadcasts, to which he delivers news of upcoming games or downloable content "directly"... *does his Directly sign* to all of us. There are times he also mentions the phrase "please understand", as there might be some delays on certain things for the games in mind. Those were joked often by the online community, but they did left their mark on all of us.

3. His promotional videos on when he promoted the 3DS with Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aime AND when he also promoted Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, as well as the amiibos (what i might consider to be his final creation in my book) with Reggie. Those were quite fun to watch.

Anyway, i plan on drawing my tribute to him very soon and since i'll be on vacation, i will deliver that to you all, and to quote the now late Satoru Iwata himself: Directly to you. It'll mostly involve Shogoku and Elizabeth doing his famous Directly salute to us all, although the pink haired diva herself will obviously have tears in her eyes, since Satoru Iwata meant a lot to her, seeing that she's a gamer, just as much as Elizabeth is also a gamer.

Speaking of being a gamer, Satoru's well known phrase on his business card (figure of speech, by the way) does mention that "On my business card, i'm a corporate president. In my mind, i'm a gaming developper. But in my heart, i'm a gamer." So, next time i either buy a Wii U game or a 3DS game or download one classic game on either consoles, i'll be doing it in his memory.

So, domo arigato, Mr. Iwata, for providing us all of the gaming fun we gamers could ever have in our lives. You'll sadly be missed, good sir.

I'll leave this music in mind for his memory (i'm not sure if that'll fit, but to me, it does):



And next time i see one classic game from his era, i'll be sure to remember his name. Again, thank you, Mr. Satoru Iwata for giving us the games that we love playing. You, sir, are a true innovator of your kind.

May god bless your soul and be welcomed... in the gaming beyond. RIP Satoru Iwata (1959-2015).

And yes, in last night's episode of the DX Divas Show, i left a small memorial mention of his name at the end of it, but that came at the last minute while i was finishing writing it.

-Eric B. (Shnoogums)