Siobhan Keogh: A tribute to Satoru Iwata

The late Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co. Photo / Getty Images

When I was growing up, Nintendo didn't have a massive impact on New Zealanders. Every kid I knew had a Sega Master System and no one had an NES. Still, even then, everyone knew who Mario was.

Now, 20-something years later, it's clear that Nintendo has had a profound impact on New Zealanders, regardless of their past or current position in the market here. Go to Armageddon and you'll spot a slew of cosplayers dressed as Mario, Luigi, or Link. One year I went to see the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, speak. The room was packed and there was a long line of people waiting afterward to get a picture with him.

There aren't many big names in gaming. Despite the scale of the industry now, there's no-one as recognisable as Steven Spielberg or Tom Cruise. Satoru Iwata, who headed up Nintendo for 15 years until he died two weeks ago, aged 55, was as big as games industry figures got.

Luigi, from the Super Mario Brothers video game.

Iwata was the President of Nintendo and a therefore a businessman, but he was also one of us - a consumer advocate, a programmer and a gamer. He made himself accessible to everyone through his Iwata Asks Q&A sessions and his appearances on Nintendo Direct. He had an odd sense of humour, which embodied the silliness and fun of Nintendo - he once dropped Donkey Kong hints by staring seriously at bananas.

He prioritised making great games over having the flashiest graphics and he really, truly seemed to want to bring joy to people of all ages, genders and walks of life.

Nothing evidences this more than the release of the Nintendo Wii. While it was, at the time, derided by more 'hardcore' gamers, Iwata and Nintendo had a vision of opening up gaming to a wider audience - and so began what was, at the time, the most successful console launch in history.

Casual gamers and people who'd never touched a game console before in their lives were suddenly using Nintendo products.

Some of Nintendo's most beloved games were heavily influenced, or even masterminded, by Iwata. When Iwata decided he wanted to create a game so simple that anyone could play it, Kirby's Dream Land was invented. He contributed to the development of GameCube titles like Metroid Prime and Wind Waker. He single-handedly got the Kanto region put into Pokemon Gold and Silver by coding tools in his spare time that compressed the game enough to double it in length.

A scene from the Nintendo video game, Pokemon.

Iwata was also a fierce protector of his people. In 2013, Nintendo was struggling against competitors. When a shareholder asked about "restructuring" - laying people off - Iwata refused. He believed that in order to make great games, morale had to be high and employees had to feel secure in their jobs. The following year, he slashed his own salary in half instead as penance for a slump in profits after the launch of the Nintendo 3DS.

Iwata was a man who genuinely cared about people. Gamers loved him and his company loved him. In an industry that's getting increasingly ruthless, that is a treasure. The death of Iwata is a huge loss to Nintendo and to the wider games industry.

So long, Satoru Iwata, and thanks for all the bananas.

Here are Satoru Iwata's five biggest achievements ...

1. Lead the release of the Wii
2. Lead the release of the Nintendo DS
3. Turned his first company, Nintendo partner HAL, back from the edge of bankruptcy
4. Created Super Smash Bros.
5. Turned Pokemon into a multi-platform juggernaut.

- nzherald.co.nz