Satoru Iwata

Satoru Iwata (Japanese: 岩田聡, December 6, 1959 — July 11, 2015) was the president and CEO of Nintendo and Nintendo of America.

Iwata's involvement with Pokémon began with the development of the first Pokémon Stadium game. He was still the president of HAL Laboratory at the time, and helped Nintendo with various projects. Iwata's first task in Pokémon Stadium was to analyze Pokémon Red and Green's battle logic and recreate the program for the battle system on the home console. He served as a producer for each of the Pokémon Stadium games, and as a director for the original Super Smash Bros.

In June 2000, Satoru Iwata was appointed as director of Nintendo. In May 2002, he was promoted to president and Representative Director after the retirement of Hiroshi Yamauchi. He also became CEO of Nintendo of America in June 2013.

On January 8th, 2013, Iwata appeared on a Nintendo Direct broadcast to reveal Pokémon X and Y.

It was announced on July 13, 2015 that Iwata had passed away two days prior due to growth of a bile duct tumor. Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda temporarily served as Representative Directors of Nintendo together. One of Iwata's last efforts prior to his death was giving feedback on Pokémon GO from his hospital bed.

In September 2015, Tatsumi Kimishima took over as the fifth President of Nintendo.

Pokémon game credits

Producer

• Pokémon Stadium (Japanese)
• Super Smash Bros.
• Pokémon Snap
• Pokémon Stadium
• Pokémon Stadium 2
• Pokémon Crystal Version
• Pokémon Pinball mini
• Pokémon Puzzle Collection

Special Thanks

• Pokémon Red and Blue Versions
• Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions
• Pokémon Puzzle League
• Super Smash Bros. Melee

Executive Producer

• Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Versions
• Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire
• Pokémon Channel
• Pokémon Colosseum
• Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Versions
• Pokémon Emerald Version
• Pokémon Dash
• Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
• Pokémon Trozei!
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team
• Pokémon Ranger
• Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Versions
• Pokémon Battle Revolution
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
• Pokémon Platinum Version
• Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions
• Pokémon Rumble
• Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
• Pokémon Black and White Versions
• Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure
• Pokémon Black and White Versions 2
• Pokémon Dream Radar
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U
• Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon

Tribute in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

In an article on Destructoid.com, it was discovered in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon that if the player visits the Game Freak building in Heahea City with a Pokémon in their party from the Virtual Console release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, one of the possible responses from Morimoto is a tribute to Iwata and his contributions to the production of Pokémon Gold and Silver:

When we were having trouble fitting all the data in for Gold and Silver, and we were really in a pinch, this amazing guy came along and made a program for us that solved all our problems. He went on to become the amazing president of a real big company soon after that, too.

Trivia

• One of the default rival names in Pokémon FireRed Version is Toru (Japanese: サトル Satoru), an allusion to Iwata.
• According to an interview with Tsunekazu Ishihara, Max was created during a conversation with Satoru Iwata. His glasses are the same model Iwata wore then, and his overall design was based on Iwata's son.