Part 50: Side Notes Rest In Peace Satoru Iwata

Rest in Peace Satoru Iwata

To anyone who doesn't know, on July 11th 2015, Nintendo's CEO and President Satoru Iwata passed away at 55 due to an unexpected complication in his bile duct cancer. I was listening to the Chip stream of MGS2 while I was typing out Update 8, when someone posted a link to the official PDF announcing the news. I kinda just stopped for a second, rasied an eyebrow and thought "Really? No, it can't be." But then it dawned that it could be true, it could be something that could've happened. And when a few more people confirmed it, I was floored. My heart sunk, I had to check the forums. And there in the Wii U thread, people were posting about it. It was real.

Celebrity deaths don't particularly affect me, the past few years I've become less and less connected to television and books and music so I don't have much of a vested interest to specific people, unless I really like their stuff or have watched a lot of films or television relating to them. So I was upset when Leonard Nimoy, or Sir Christopher Lee died, because they've been a part of my life for a long time. And now they're not. It's very strange, sometimes I forget and just think they're doing whatever, since I don't keep my ear to the ground for stuff like this. Until I remember that they're no longer with us. And it sucks. It just sucks.

So because of how crushed I feel and how much I think it just sucks, I know that Satoru Iwata was a big part of my life. He more or less created my childhood, like he did for millions of children all around the world. He's been with Nintendo for a long time and has shaped the company into what it is today. It has not been financially successful, that is true. But the games they make are unrivaled. They have that magic that while doesn't make them huge profit, has the ridiculous quality you just know will be there regardless. Plenty companies are stiff suits doing exactly what they know will get them big numbers. But Nintendo? Who the fuck knows? They do what they want, make what they want, design what they want. And they will always have a fan in me because of that.

Since this is a Pokemon LP, I should talk about what Iwata did for this franchise. He influenced two major games: Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Gold and Silver. He created the template for Stadium out of fun, really, without anyone knowing. And it was really good, because he was really good. It was also the kind of thing he just did, swoop in, do a bit of this, sort a thing out here, touch up this and then leave everyone with the makings of a successful game. Shigeru Miyamoto made Generation 1 possible. Satoru Iwata made Generation 2 possible. He came up with ways to compress the game so that they could fit two regions in it. That's an impressive feat for the time. I know I talked shit about it yesterday since it wasn't perfect, but for the time, that is amazing. NO other Pokemon game has done that. And they may never do so again.

So because of that technology marvel, it allowed me to experience my childhood. I believe that Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle is the first video game I ever played. But Pokemon Silver was THE game I played. I got both it and Blue for my birthday from my Gran along with a Gameboy Colour and I just couldn't stop playing them. So much so that my GBC was basically a Pokemon machine, I played more or less nothing else. I have very few Gameboy or GBA games leftover because all I did was played Pokemon. And with my GBA, I could play it in the dark, so I played it even more! These games shaped my life and how I play games and why I have this LP here for you, because for so many years Pokemon was such a huge part of my life that it's just so easy. I can play this game and just slip into Gen 1 mode and know more or less everything about the game. It's insane.

And it is because of Satoru Iwata. And because of him I have played Nintendo games all my life. He has shaped a company that makes so many wonderful games that I will continue to play until I too join him on that flagpole in the sky. Nintendo will not be the same without him and I hope they continue in his direction, to create games for all ages that anyone can enjoy and be together and have fun. I have unfortunately not been able to buy a Wii U, I have focused on my 3DS and my LPs and will need to buy a new Laptop when I get student finance. But for my second payment in January, I am buying a Wii U, along with Mario 3D World, Xenodblade X, Splatoon and Yoshi's Wooly World. I wish I could buy more but I'll probably run out of money at that point, so I will save up and get a 3DS Cap- er, even more Wii U games and have fun playing excellent titles from an amazing company.

This is a huge loss for gaming and the collective medium will never be the same again. All I can do is keep playing. And I will. Because in my heart, I am a gamer.

Rest In Peace, Satoru Iwata.