Satoru Iwata: Nintendo President Dies at 55

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese video game programmer and executive. Born on December 6, 1959, in Sapporo, he studied computer science and joined HAL Laboratory.

He worked on Balloon Fight, Kirby and EarthBound, and became president of HAL in 1993. He joined Nintendo in 2000 as president, helped introduce the Nintendo DS and the Wii, and made Nintendo one of the most popular companies in games.

He was known for his friendly Nintendo Direct presentations. Iwata died of a bile duct tumor in Kyoto on July 11, 2015, at age 55.

Achievements: President of Nintendo (2002-2015).

Birth: December 6, 1959 - Sapporo, Japan.

Profession: Video game executive.

Interesting Facts: He appeared in Nintendo Direct videos as a cartoon.