Now that Satoru Iwata (RIP) has passed away, what do you think will change at Nintendo?

[Asriel]

Nintendo have obviously been preparing for the future in the last 18 months. Research and development has been integrated, efforts to branch out into non-gaming markets are being researched, a smartphone partnership (with DeNA) is in place and the first smartphone games are in development, a better loyalty scheme and improvements to online infrastrcture are underway, amiibo has been launched, wider licensing of IP is underway, and NX--a cross-hardware device anchored around the Nintendo Network as the platform--is being revealed next year, with software development underway.

Iwata has, in conjunction with the rest of the board at Nintendo (including new board members promoted in the face of retirements 15 months ago), spent the last 18 months preparing Nintendo for the future. Iwata continued working despite being terminally ill. His legacy, in the shape of Nintendo Directs, a company unafraid to poke fun at itself and take control of its relationship with its fans, the Iwata Asks, will live on.

Despite ridiculous amounts of pressure and a 20 year low in sales, Iwata stood firm to Nintendo's commitment to fun, to quality software and a mixture of the familiar and the radical. Iwata might be seen as symbolic of Nintendo's "establishment", but at one point he was a 19 year old student who, with five others, started HAL Laboratory. Splatoon is perhaps the best example of the company Iwata allowed Nintendo to be. New talent emerging from within, reclaiming the gritty, dark, hyperviolent terrain of the shooter and birthing something entirely new, yet entirely Nintendo, while doing so.

I find this a little in bad taste. Yes, it's natural to speculate, but I expect we'll see far more of this and far more of "Nintendo will be much better now Iwata is dead" coming along, which I think is wrong. Iwata dedicated his life to the company. He could have parted the company when the troubles hit, with a healthy pension, but he stuck it out and dedicated what remained of his life to turning things around. Even when he became ill, Iwata stuck with Nintendo, working on the DeNA partnership, NX, and chairing shareholder meetings when possible, even keeping up with Nintendo Directs, the Digital Event and Iwata Asks.

You ask if Nintendo will be better off after the premature death of a CEO, who, when he said in his heart, he was a gamer, the media and fans could take him at face value. A man who contributed to everything from found HAL Labratory and Creatures Inc, to co-creating Kirby and Smash Bros, co-producing Mother 2 and 3, reforming Nintendo's development into EAD and integrating their R&D teams. A man who believed gaming belonged to everyone, everyday. A man who worked his way from student to programmer to designer to CEO of the world's largest developer and publisher.

Make no mistake: Nintendo and the games industry are worse off with out Satoru Iwata. Our community has lost a humble, passionate and at times visionary designer and leader, a man who was driven by his passion for our hobby and our medium. I hope he rests in peace, and that fans and the industry take time to appreciate what they've lost.