As much shit as some clowns liked to give him on the internet, the dude was pretty much the most personable and earnest game company CEO there was. He helped create two of the biggest gaming franchises of all time, in Kirby and Smash Bros. And his work once he joined Nintendo themselves, helping lead that company through rough waters, and bringing them to massive success again with the DS line and the Wii, was very commendable.

You don't have to love everything that Nintendo has done at any given time. And no, it's hardly been perfect. I myself have had issues with certain things Nintendo has done here or there, under his leadership. But anyone saying that Iwata needed to "step down", etc., was always full of shit. The guy had far more successes as Nintendo CEO than he did failures. And to be honest, none of the companies "failures" under his watch were monumental (like, say, the Virtual Boy).

But it goes without saying, really, that Iwata had a major impact on the business, and he should be remember for having a lot of earnest passion for both gaming and gamers. Unlike most corporate types, he really did care.

For being an overall great president of a great company. My favourite system is probably the Nintendo DS, really liked Iwata Asks and the Nintendo Directs.

This amoung other things:

I thanks Iwata mainly for DS and Wii, Nintendo Direct and Digital Event, and the most important thing is his duty as Nintendo's CEO.

All the amazing games he was involved in making.

The directs, the DS, the games he was involved in, like EarthBound.

R.I.P. Iwata

The story of a man who left college, programmed Balloon Fight, and earned a position to make a Famicom 30 Year Anniversary special where Balloon Fight was available for 30 cents.

He just seemed to be the kind of creator and person who started out great, but still found ways to grow as his life went on. And ultimately, the CEO who just died is the same man as the brilliant programmer who made Famicom games three decades ago.

Now I Understand.

I think that his whole life is worthy of a novel. But what I am the most thankful for is bringing a face to Nintendo. Miyamoto is instrumental to the games, but Iwata provided a modern face to the company that it never had. Nintendo was always just a bland corporation known only for a logo growing up.

Iwata and his directs made it known that they really were a family business and that they cared about their own people. They made sure that their products came with the same care that you would expect from a family business. Nintendo Directs, and Iwata Asks really brought personality to a company that I grew up with, and brought their heart with it. And for that I'll always be thankful.

For being one of my biggest admirations.

I thank Iwata for providing millions around the world a lot of unforgettable memories. He always cared about everyone and seemed like just in general a genuine good person who always wanted to just make people happy.