News - Shigesato Itoi Pays Tribute to Satoru Iwata

On July 11th the games industry lost one of it's most inspirational personalities, Satoru Iwata, the power house behind Kirby, Balloon Fight, Super Smash Bros & Earthbound. 

The Earthbound director Shigesato Itoi today posted one of the most touching tributes to Iwata and one I personally enjoyed reading. As a huge fan of Earthbound and Kirby I felt a pang of sadness upon hearing the news and have chosen to repost Itoi's sentiments here as a sign of respect. 

Unofficial translation thanks to fansite Yomuka!

"When I'm parting with a friend, regardless of the circumstances, I find it best to just say, 'See you later.' We'll meet again. After all, we're friends.

That's right - nothing unusual about it. I'll see you later.

You went on a trip far, far away, even though it was planned for many years from now. You wore your best outfit and said 'Sorry for the short notice,' though you didn't say it out loud.

You always put yourself last, after you'd finished helping everyone else. You were so generous as a friend that this trip might be your very first selfish act.

I still can't grasp what's happened. It feels like I could still get a light-hearted e-mail asking me out to lunch at any moment - after you've made sure lunch wouldn't disrupt my schedule, of course.

You can invite me out whenever you want. I'll invite you, too. So for now, let's plan on meeting again. You can call me up whenever you like, and I'll give you a call, too. I still have a lot to talk to you about, and if I come up with any particularly good ideas, I'll let you know.

So let's meet again.

"No - I suppose we're already meeting. Right here, right now."

In regards to the future of Nintendo the rumour is Shigeru Miyamoto is being looked into taking the position Iwata has left, personally speaking I couldn't think of anything better as I know how close they were and the ideals they shared for Nintendo. 

Myself and the team at Otaku Gamers Uk would like to extend our gratitude and respect to the family & friends of Satoru Iwata and would like to say that for myself personally, without his input in games like Earthbound I wouldn't be half as interested in RPG & Niche titles.