Nintendo on Saturday lost a company legend when President Satoru Iwata died at 55 from cancer. The game industry lost one of its most voracious risk takers.
Iwata, like Steve Jobs, was an ambitious leader whose absence won't truly be felt for years. His vision for the company based in Kyoto, Japan, had been plotted out for the next decade. While he'd revealed few details to the public, he said the company would focus on products that entertained while improving one's "quality of life."
No easy task. But Iwata never took Nintendo down the easy path. When competitors engaged in a technological horse race, Iwata exited, pledging that the company should do more than appeal to core gamers.