Satoru Iwata
| 'Satoru Iwata |
| Date of Birth: December 6, 1959 |
| Home Town: Sapporo, Japan |
| Occupation: CEO |
| Development Teams |
| HAL Laboratory |
Satoru Iwata is the fourth president of Nintendo. His strategy for the Gamecube increased their sales by 41%.
Biography
Iwata was born in Sapporo, Japan. Iwata showed an early interest in video games. In high school, he learned to program and started creating his own games. His games were on an electronic calculator and he shared them with his friends.
After high school, he entered Tokyo Institute of Technology and majored in Computer Science. While in college, he was hired part-time by HAL Laboratory. His family was unhappy with his decision. Iwata once commented, "My father didn't talk to me for about six months after I joined HAL. They must have thought I was joining a religious cult."
After his college graduation in 1982, he was hired full-time at HAL Laboratory. In 1983, he became the company's coordinator of software production. At times, he also helped Nintendo on a free-lance basis. While at HAL, he helped with Balloon Fight, Earthbound, and Kirby. In 1993, he became president of HAL Laboratory.
In 2000, Iwata became the head of Nintendo's corporate planning division. When Hiroshi Yamauchi retired in 2002, Iwata was chosen as his successor. He continues to help HAL out with a correspondent. It's said that he also works as an artist for HAL.
Though he is president, he still has had a role in the development of certain games, including Super Mario Sunshine, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Metroid Prime, to name a few.
Awards and Honors
- Named one of World's Top CEOs by Barron's Online.
Trivia
- Iwata is the only president of Nintendo unrelated to Nintendo founder Fusajiro Yamauchi.
- He appears in two of the Wario Ware games. In WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, he can be seen on Wario's TV in a break between microgames in the Introduction stage. In Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, he is the manager of a videogame store, and also appears as a Mii in the ending credits.