May he rest in peace

It's a sad day for the video game world. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata passed away yesterday at 55 years of age. The cause of his unfortunate death was a bile duct growth.

Nintendo announced the news with a brief one-sentence notification of death and personnel change of a representative director. Iwata had served as Nintendo's president since May 2002. Iwata effectively spent his entire career at Nintendo, beginning at HAL Laboratory, Inc. on titles such as EarthBound and the Kirby series. He was the fourth president in Nintendo history, taking over after Hiroshi Yamauchi retired.

Nintendo's remaining representative directors are Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda.

In 2014, Iwata took time away from the public spotlight for medical reasons. It was later revealed to be for a surgery to remove a tumor on his bile duct. It seems as if that ailment ultimately proved fatal.

Our thoughts are with Iwata's family, friends, and loved ones. The video game community lost a respected visionary with his passing. May he rest in peace.

Notification of Death and Personnel Change of a Representative Director (President) [Nintendo]