Sad Day For Gamers, Nintendo's Global President Dies
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - The president of video game company Nintendo, who oversaw the launch of DS and Wii consoles, died Saturday.
The company announced Monday that President Satoru Iwata, 55, in a short statement.
"Nintendo Co., Ltd. deeply regrets to announce that President Satoru Iwata passed away on July 11, 2015 due to a bile duct
growth," the company stated.
To mark his passing Iwata, Nintendo of America announced that it was suspending social media posts for the day in remembrance of Iwata.
During his 15 years leading the company, Iwata, 55, was appointed president in 2002, led the company with the launch of popular Wii home console and DS handhled.
Due to his illness, the outgoing executive who interacted with fans and appeared in promotional materials did not attend the past two Electronic Entertainment Expo events, but did appear in a video for Nintendo at the conference this year.
News of his death led to an outpouring of tributes online.
The AP reported that "Halo" and "Destiny" developer Bungie posted a quote from Iwata's 2005 talk at the Game Developers Conference on Twitter: "On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer."
Gamers also posted tributes on Twitter:
Despite his successes, there were also some misses such as the Wii U and mobile gaming platforms.
The company did announce recently that it would be expanding into online gaming and theme parks.
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