A memorial compilation of writings by and about the late Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, will be published in English this spring.
Entitled Ask Iwata, the book contains excerpts from his popular roundtable series “Iwata Asks” aimed at the public with Nintendo developers, as well as memories of Nintendo luminaries who got to know him better. The book was published in Japan in 2019 as Iwata-San, from Hobonichi, a company founded by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of Earthbound. Iwata was a colleague of Itoi’s at the HAL Laboratory, the studio behind the Kirby franchise, in the 1990s, and was also a producer of Earthbound.
“On the day of Iwata’s funeral, it rained heavily, and [Shigeru] Miyamoto and I were waiting, ”writes Itoi in the book (translations of his excerpts were published in July 2019 by IGN). Iwata died on July 12, 2015, aged 55, of cancer complications. “Suddenly, I decided to ask him how many chances Iwata himself believed to have been cured.
“Miyamoto responded immediately, in a very natural way,” continues Itoi, “’He totally believed that he would become better. He had no intention of dying. ‘This response made me realize how close Miyamoto and Iwata were, and how close they were to each other. “
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Nintendo’s Mario and Zelda franchises, among many other games, was appointed to Nintendo’s board of directors by Iwata shortly after Iwata took over Nintendo in 2002. Iwata had moved up the company’s development hierarchy , which helped to form the close relationship he had with the company’s most famous designer.
This experience in game design and production also helped Iwata to lead frank round tables with Nintendo developers, where they discussed current products and franchises and revealed secrets behind their creation.
“Since he passed away, Nintendo has been doing really well,” writes Miyamoto in Ask Iwata. “He left many words and structures that live in the work of our youngest employees today. The only problem is that if I have any useless ideas over the weekend, I have no one to share with the following Monday. That I can no longer hear him say, ‘Oh, about that thing …’ is a problem for me. This makes me sad. “
Iwata was also popular with the crowd of Nintendo fans and customers, well known for his exaggerated and cheerful appearances in Nintendo Direct’s marketing videos. Often seen waving at the camera, Itoi writes that the gesture had a deeper meaning with Iwata.
“Iwata said the vision behind his business was to make everyone happy: himself, his business friends and his customers,” writes Itoi. “He used the English word for ‘happy’ instead of the Japanese word, which delighted me. It’s funny how you remember the most insignificant things, but whenever Iwata used the word ‘happy’, he would show the palm of both hands. This is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. “
Ask Iwata will publish on April 13. It is currently available in hardcover on Amazon for $ 22.99.