Satoru Iwata 1959-2015

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Qikz
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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Qikz » Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:21 am

Iwata's wake is today/was today. Someone who was there tweeted about it and mentioned that Miyamoto's eyes were completely red from tears :(

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Victor Mildew » Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:43 am

If he was hardcore they would be green as a year of luigi tribute.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Fade » Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:49 am

Qikz wrote:Iwata's wake is today/was today. Someone who was there tweeted about it and mentioned that Miyamoto's eyes were completely red from tears :(

Surely that's a bit disrespectful to tweet about?

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Victor Mildew » Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:55 am

Thats Twitter for you. People at a funeral in being upset shocker, but hey let's try and bag some more followers and retweets out of it because hashtag sad.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Qikz » Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:50 pm

Fade wrote:
Qikz wrote:Iwata's wake is today/was today. Someone who was there tweeted about it and mentioned that Miyamoto's eyes were completely red from tears :(

Surely that's a bit disrespectful to tweet about?


A lot of the industry people who went have mentioned it on twitter.

Image

This is Yuji Naka's photo for instance. They're not being disrespectful, they're tweeting about how lovely it was and how upset everyone is as it shows how close he was to so many peoples hearts.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Squinty » Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:35 pm

Qikz wrote:Iwata's wake is today/was today. Someone who was there tweeted about it and mentioned that Miyamoto's eyes were completely red from tears :(


It's hard to imagine Miyamoto upset.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Lotus » Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:41 pm

I've been reading a lot more about him since his death and realising what a genuinely nice guy he seemed to be. That Kyle Bosman video points it out well, especially with regards to shouldering the pressure of losing money, facing calls for job cuts from shareholders/investors, and yet protecting his employees and still keeping the lighthearted and fun side he had.

I didn't see Nintendo's E3 stuff, and have only just heard about the response from fans and then from Iwata. Actually quite upsetting. :(

A real shame to lose such a creative, intelligent, kind and humble man from both the industry and the wider world; both are definitely worse off as a result.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Herdanos » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:05 pm

I only recently watched the e3 muppets videos after hearing about this. Thought they were brilliant. If Iwata was too ill to appear in person (likely) then going for muppets instead was an inspired choice.

Made me think, what other company has execs like Nintendo? Plenty of games companies have directors and key staff who become iconic in their own right (not just through their creations like you'd say Naka was iconic but only through/because of Sonic - for example Molyneux is an industry icon not just through one game or series), but not in the same way as those three (Reggie, Shigsy and Iwata), and I think it isn't just because Nintendo are better-loved or more popular than most other games companies from within the 'gaming' community.

I think a lot of it is their outlook (which you could argue shines through from their software too) - fun above all else. Whereas other execs might believe themselves to be iconic and want to be represented in a certain way, Nintendo's key staff don't care how they come across as long as it's fun. They were happy to take the mickey out of themselves, parody their own sayings and idiosyncrasies, dress up as their characters, depict themselves as muppets, stare at bananas, talk embarrassing smack etc. - whatever, so long as it entertains.

Actually, you definitely would argue it shines through from their software. Because regardless of what's cool or in, Nintendo will just make games that are fun, even if the subject matter is bizarre or deeply unfashionable. Cleaning robots and plant-men and goo fighting and conducting an orchestra and a game made entirely out of yarn or wool. I'd imagine Nintendo have never done a day's market research in their lives, instead building concepts around playability and then finding any old subject or theme that would fit the concept.

So maybe it is because they're Nintendo execs. But not just because people love Nintendo and therefore they love their main players. It's because those main players are so lovable. And they're lovable for the same reason that Nintendo's software output is so often adored - because of an overriding commitment to fun, entertainment and playability. And a lack of interest in what anyone else is doing or considers to be 'cool' or 'right'.

The Yamauchi family were Nintendo. But that was the Nintendo of old - brilliant, brilliant games, but with a public image that didn't want to look you on the eye, that drip-fed information and releases. And that made sense when combined with the personality of the last Yamauchi. Iwata's time in the top job was when the programmers - those responsible for those brilliant, brilliant games - took over the business side of things too. The madmen took over the asylum, if you like. And so not only were Nintendo's games brilliant and unique and great fun to play - everything about Nintendo became that, their approach, their hardware, their marketing, their business model...

You could argue that this has now hurt them - a lack of business ruthlessness (like in the Yamauchi days) has seem them go too far in this quest to be unique and different while simultaneously brilliant, the result being the Wii U, adored by its owners, of whom there are so few. Iwata's replacement has a big task: ideally they need someone with the business acumen of a Yamauchi, able to view the whole industry coolly and with a calculated mind and see opportunities to profit. But they also need a bit of Iwata: that heart of a gamer influencing everything they do and how they connect with the people who play their cames, which came as such a refreshing change from the 90s era of clear disconnect between player and company. (Other than through their games of course - which were developed by people like Satoru Iwata.)

I'm rambling now. But anyway. This whole thing is very sad. RIP Iwata, what a legacy. :(

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by jawafour » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:23 pm

Dan. wrote:(Quite a lengthy text!)

Crikey, Dan... it seems that you've been giving this some serious thinking :-). I agree with many of your thoughts. I just hope that whatever Nintendo does next, it's still "different"; I really like playing on my PS4 and I think it's ace, but I wouldn't want to see Nintendo bringing out something that was the same. Familiar and innovative... it's gonna be tricky.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Herdanos » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:31 pm

jawafour wrote:seems that you've been giving this some serious thinking


I was thinking as I was typing. It's usually a bad idea as it leads to mega-long rambling posts like those. :lol:

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Green Gecko » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:56 pm

I'm not sure a Japanese Wake necessarily has the same guard associated with it as a British funeral. Bearing in mind temples with monks everywhere are places you can just walk in and out of at any time.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Squinty » Thu Jul 16, 2015 5:43 pm

Dan. wrote:
jawafour wrote:seems that you've been giving this some serious thinking


I was thinking as I was typing. It's usually a bad idea as it leads to mega-long rambling posts like those. :lol:


I thought that was an interesting post, I agree with a lot of it. Your point about Nintendo under Yamauchi was exactly my experience with them. Today's Nintendo seems to be a lot more transparent, although they still tend to surprise announce things. The drip feed of information back then was excruciating. Maybe because I was younger and didn't have as many interests or priorities as I do now, or there wasn't as many media channels as we have now. Months seemed to drag by with little info on titles. I remember my main source of info was The Official Nintendo Magazine (which quite frankly, was appalling before I stopped reading it). I read NGamer as well (I think it was called), great magazine but they had very little to work with.

Edit - Lotus is bang on with his post as well. I don't think the guy got the appreciation he deserved in life. I wad guilty of this as well.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Green Gecko » Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:07 pm

I think less journalistic ties, the advent of blogs and social media etc has also opened things up. Also generally speaking many, many businesses have opened up to the more transparent B2C communications the Internet enables.

Nintendo actually have a really good social media presence, I'm surprised people still complain about their advertising when really they are doing it in the right place.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by jawafour » Thu Jul 16, 2015 10:52 pm

SquintyMcSquint wrote:...I remember my main source of info was The Official Nintendo Magazine (which quite frankly, was appalling before I stopped reading it)...

:o .
SquintyMcSquint wrote:...I remember my main source of info was The Official Nintendo Magazine (which quite frankly, was appalling before I stopped reading it)...

:x .
SquintyMcSquint wrote:...I remember my main source of info was The Official Nintendo Magazine (which quite frankly, was appalling before I stopped reading it)...

:evil: .

I *loved* the official mag in all its guises. Nintendo Magazine System (great), Nintendo Official Magazine (they kuld net spellz but it waz koolz), Official Nintendo Magazine (terrific)... they all focussed on fun while most other mags in this period became incredibly tedious and boring.

I am the ONM Defence Force. I subscribed right up until the (*sniff*) end... :cry: .

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Green Gecko » Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:51 pm

NGC supremacy by some margin.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Herdanos » Fri Jul 17, 2015 9:02 am

N64 Magazine / NGC Magazine was clearly superior but I did enjoy the occasional issue of NOM, if only because they generally went very in-depth on Nintendo's own titles (the ones I was most interested in playing at the time) and it was usually a very colourful, image-packed, positive affair. Nowhere near as well-written or funny as Future's greatest ever magazine though.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by jawafour » Fri Jul 17, 2015 10:13 am

Dan. wrote:...Nowhere near as well-written or funny as Future's greatest ever magazine though.

It's good to see that people remember the mighty Amiga Power :wub: .

- - - - - - - - - -

Back on track, I enjoyed thinking about this quote from a friend of Iwata's:

Shigesato Itoi wrote:When I’m parting with a friend, regardless of the circumstances, I find it best to just say, “See you later.” We’ll meet again. After all, we’re friends.

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Victor Mildew » Fri Jul 17, 2015 12:09 pm

Amstrad Action supremacy! Dat demo tape.

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Squinty » Fri Jul 17, 2015 1:07 pm

Dan. wrote:N64 Magazine / NGC Magazine was clearly superior but I did enjoy the occasional issue of NOM, if only because they generally went very in-depth on Nintendo's own titles (the ones I was most interested in playing at the time) and it was usually a very colourful, image-packed, positive affair. Nowhere near as well-written or funny as Future's greatest ever magazine though.


This was the magazine that I read. Fantastic writers, genuinely funny text.

My problem with NOM was the constant Nintendo supremacy they had going on. I never really cared about the console generation wars before that. I was a big fan of both the N64 and the PS1. I kinda got the impression that they were biased in reviews as well. Reviewing some of the dirge on the N64 and giving it high marks, I was burnt a few times listening to their judgements (Turok 2 anyone?)

Yeah, I was not a big fan of that. I remember the last issue I bought as well (it had a Pichu on the front).

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PostRe: Satoru Iwata 1959-2015
by Herdanos » Fri Jul 17, 2015 1:15 pm

NOM were totally biased in their reviews. That said, N64 Mag, while far more objective, didn't always get it right. Perhaps it's hindsight but even at the time I didn't think Turok 1 & 2 were all that.

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