Satoru Iwata

“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.”

— Satoru Iwata

1959 - Born the son of a prefectural official.
1975 - Started developing his first games on his HP 65 that he purchased with his own money.
1978 - Admitted to Tokyo Institute of Technology
1980 - While attending university, joined HAL Laboratory as a programmer
1982 - Hired by HAL Laboratory after graduating, his father did not talk to him for 6 months after this event
1983 - Worked on his first game developed for the NES, Joust
1993 - Promoted to president of HAL
1999 - Developed a compression tool that allowed the original Kanto region to be included in Pokemon Gold and Silver
2002 - Named president of Nintendo
2003-2009 - Led the revitalization of the company with the NDS and Wii
2010-2014 - Oversaw a downturn in Nintendo's fortunes do the commercial failure of the WiiU
2014-2015 - Oversaw the development of the now wildly successful Nintendo Switch that would turn Nintendo's fortunes around.
2015 - Passed away due to complications from a tumor

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