Satoru Iwata: Nintendo President Dies of Cancer Aged 55

Nintendo has announced its president and CEO Satoru Iwata has died of cancer at the age of 55.

Satoru Iwata underwent surgery in 2014 and had resumed his duties after a brief period of recovery.

A highly revered figure in the Japanese gaming scene, Satoru Iwata was considered the leading figure behind some of Nintendo’s most popular devices since he joined the company in 2000.

Most recently, Satoru Iwata led Nintendo into the rapidly growing mobile gaming sector.

The iconic video game maker has been losing market share to top competitors like Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s XBox, with its latest Wii U console third in line.

Photo Reuters

Nintendo made its first annual operating profit in four years to the year that ended in March.

Satoru Iwata started out as a programmer in a Nintendo subsidiary in the 1980s and became president of Nintendo in 2002.

Under his leadership, Nintendo launched its hugely successful Wii and Nintendo DS consoles and he was considered the crucial driver behind the focus on easy-to-use consoles, a move that allowed the company to tap into a much wider audience beyond the traditional gaming community.

Tributes have been coming in on social media with the team at PlayStation tweeting: “Thank you for everything, Mr. Iwata.”

‏Satoru Iwata’s death comes as Nintendo expects to double its annual operating profit based on the long-awaited entry in the rapidly growing smartphone gaming sector to counter weakening sales of its traditional consoles.

In March this year, Nintendo announced a deal with mobile gaming company DeNA to start their foray into mobile gaming.

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Donald Trump and Elon Musk Celebrate Election Victory at UFC 309

Image source: Wikimedia Commons President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his election victory at the Ultimate Fighting…

5 days ago

White House 2024: Donald Trump Wins, Kamala Harris Calls Him to Concede Election

Millions of voters across the US chose to return Donald Trump to the White House…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Donald Trump Declares Victory as He Addresses Jubilant Supporters in Florida

Donald Trump declares victory in the US election as he addresses jubilant supporters in Florida.…

2 weeks ago

Stocks Soaring as Donald Trump Closes in on US Victory

Stocks around the world are rising as Donald Trump appears to be on the cusp…

2 weeks ago

Who Won? Kamala Harris Cancels Election Night Party as Path to Victory Narrows

Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia and taken a lead over Kamala…

2 weeks ago

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

2 weeks ago