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Description
Nintendo has had a significant impact on my life, from Yoshi's Island to Mario Kart to Kirby Super Star to Splatoon; the company's games always provided good fun, and for all my life I believed that was what video games were all about.

Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015, after almost 15 years of impact upon the game company as president and as the host of the Nintendo Direct. Under his directorship, the company created beautiful masterpieces up to the recently-released Splatoon for the Wii U. Iwata and all of Nintendo have given not just me, but an entire generation of kids the chance to have fun in these fantasy worlds--hurtling through outer space as Mario, galloping across Hyrule upon Epona, searching for treasure in the Great Cave Offensive, catching that Diggersby tho in the Kalos region, and even making a mondo mess as a sentient squid-kid. He had an ideal; he produced games that people would play and find fun. (He even halved his own pay to compensate for undeservedly poor initial sales of the Wii U.)

I have surrounded myself with friends who share my love for the games, who I could talk to about strategy, in-game-happenings, and fantasies of my own that involve the worlds of those games. Iwata's vision, and every developer involved in making that vision a reality, gave me something to share with other people, and even get to know them better through that gate lined with green warp-pipes.

It's strange; as my childhood fades, the figure that defined Nintendo's vision in that time has passed as well. But his influence upon people like me shall not fade. We'll still be the Goomba-stomping, Pikmin-plucking, turf-inking, Mewtwo-catching, pot-smashing, Waddle-Doo-inhaling, yoga-doing, kart-racing, coconut-cream-pie-showering, Metroid-blasting, PSI-wielding fun-lovers that Iwata's vision helped bring out in us.

Thank you, Mr. Iwata. May you rest in another castle, knowing that you and your company have blessed a generation of gamers.

Description
Nintendo has had a significant impact on my life, from Yoshi's Island to Mario Kart to Kirby Super Star to Splatoon; the company's games always provided good fun, and for all my life I believed that was what video games were all about.

Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015, after almost 15 years of impact upon the game company as president and as the host of the Nintendo Direct. Under his directorship, the company created beautiful masterpieces up to the recently-released Splatoon for the Wii U. Iwata and all of Nintendo have given not just me, but an entire generation of kids the chance to have fun in these fantasy worlds--hurtling through outer space as Mario, galloping across Hyrule upon Epona, searching for treasure in the Great Cave Offensive, catching that Diggersby tho in the Kalos region, and even making a mondo mess as a sentient squid-kid. He had an ideal; he produced games that people would play and find fun. (He even halved his own pay to compensate for undeservedly poor initial sales of the Wii U.)

I have surrounded myself with friends who share my love for the games, who I could talk to about strategy, in-game-happenings, and fantasies of my own that involve the worlds of those games. Iwata's vision, and every developer involved in making that vision a reality, gave me something to share with other people, and even get to know them better through that gate lined with green warp-pipes.

It's strange; as my childhood fades, the figure that defined Nintendo's vision in that time has passed as well. But his influence upon people like me shall not fade. We'll still be the Goomba-stomping, Pikmin-plucking, turf-inking, Mewtwo-catching, pot-smashing, Waddle-Doo-inhaling, yoga-doing, kart-racing, coconut-cream-pie-showering, Metroid-blasting, PSI-wielding fun-lovers that Iwata's vision helped bring out in us.

Thank you, Mr. Iwata. May you rest in another castle, knowing that you and your company have blessed a generation of gamers.