The Touch of Satoru Iwata

I've mentioned the name a few times on this blog, but I haven't discussed the person directly. For fans of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata is no stranger. He was the CEO of the company from 2000 to 2015 up until his death, and during that time, he brought many successes. What might not be known very well by many fans, especially Pokémon fans, is that he had made his own contributions (his "touch") to said franchise, in a way making it successful than ever. It is therefore worth it to detail and discuss exactly that in a post of its own.

Iwata, prior to his Nintendo years, acted as part of the developer side of things, essentially "mediating" Game Freak and Nintendo. He developed graphics compression for the second-generation games (initially Gold and Silver), allowing the games to hold more data in less space. By doing so, the inclusion of Kanto was also made possible without detracting from the game's main region of Johto. For another game, Pokémon Stadium, it was also Iwata that took the battle system code of the original Red and Green (Japanese) games and made a port of it for use in Stadium. Iwata may not be described as a "miracle worker" regarding his game development capabilities, but these achievements are really nothing short of miraculous, to put it lightly.

His work also paved the way for Pokémon to become internationally recognized beyond its home of Japan. After examining the game code for the original Japanese Red and Green games, he then created the plan for the games to be localized in other languages, which for the American market is of course English. Two years later, the plan was realized to completion, and the games were sold, becoming extremely popular. He also helped to found the other two corporate entities connected to Pokémon, The Pokémon Company and Creatures, Inc., for which Tsunekazu Ishihara then took the reins. Iwata also juggled the licensing for Pokémon for all areas. If it sounds like Iwata is the key person for making Pokémon popular around the world, he actually is; Ishihara himself testifies of Iwata as such.

According to Iwata, video games are supposed to be fun for all people. To that end, Iwata instituted plans in his later years for games that would improve the "quality of life" - in other words, make it better. Pokémon Go is one of the offshoots of these plans, evidenced by its intended purpose of getting people to go out and play. Iwata actually participated in the development of the game as early as 2013, and it was even one of his last contributions - he even asked for feedback on the game from Ishihara just prior to his death; the game was divulged a couple of months later. Pokémon Sleep therefore constitutes a further expansion of the concept, and perhaps the same would be considered to apply to Pokémon Smile. The vision is pleasantly noble.

It's been more than five years since the passing of Satoru Iwata, as the top figure of Nintendo for more than a decade. Yet besides being important to Nintendo, he's also important to Pokémon. Iwata as a game developer was quite adept and then as executive officer was quite visionary for Pokémon in particular and Nintendo in general. It can be said that thanks to Iwata and his "touch", Pokémon fans everywhere now enjoy its lasting success in different forms, and his "touch" remains felt today even without his physical presence.

One year ago: For Want of an EX Raid

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day Weekend, 12/1/2018 to 12/3/2018

Three years ago: Fallen Comrades