Yesterday, it was reported that President and CEO of Nintendo Satoru Iwata passed away. Iwata had missed last year's E3 due to surgery for removal of a bile duct growth and two nights ago he had passed away at the age of fifty-five due to the same bile duct growth. Iwata became president of the game industry giant back in 2002 succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi. I am most familiar with his appearances at the Electronic Entertain Expo conferences and the Nintendo Directs. Though I didn't know him personally, I am certainly aware of his impact on the company and the game industry as a whole. Iwata created the vision behind the successful Wii and DS hardware, saved Earthbound from cancellation, was the decision maker to put Kanto in Pokemon Gold and Silver, co-created the Kirby series, and was the one who made certain that Super Smash Bros. Melee shipped on time.
Now with his passing, there has been a lot of speculation on who will fill the presidential role of the company. Places such as the Wall Street Journal have said that Shigeru Miyamoto and Takeda are rumored to be approached to succeed Iwata. Whoever the next CEO and president might be will have some large shoes to fill.
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