Satoru Iwata was the current President and CEO of Nintendo, promoted in 2000 by the previous President, Hiroshi Yamauchi, before his retirement the same year.[1] Iwata is known for his contributions to the Nintendo subsidary, HAL Laboratory, Inc., and is attributed to the success of the Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and the latter console's launch title, Brain Age.[1][2][3]
While at HAL, Iwata worked on concept and design for the EarthBound and Kirby games, and eventually was promoted to President of the company in 1993. His work at HAL carried over to his career at Nintendo, contributing towards titles such as Super Mario Sunshine, Star Fox Adventures, Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Animal Crossing and The Wind Waker.[1] Iwata currency discusses the Wii and future Nintendo plans in his portion of the Nintendo online site, Iwata Asks. [2]
Iwata died on July 11, 2015, in Kyoto, Japan, at the age of 55 years old. It's commonly believed that the Lord of the Mountain from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom is a tribute to Iwata, as it resides on Satori Mountain.