Last Saturday saw the passing of Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo.
IGN published this beautiful tribute:
It brought me to tears.
Mr. Iwata will always be one of my heroes. He pushed the boundaries of fun and play for three successive generations. He created the best known characters in the world. When others would rush to market, he would wait until his games were great. Iwata had the confidence to know when he was right, and the talent to be right most of the time.
We Make Products Like They’re Games
At Rapportive, we made products like they were games. Nintendo taught us how.
The day we sold the company to LinkedIn, I demonstrated a prototype that was delightful, amazing, and magical.
Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn CEO, asked: “How did you learn to make products like this?”
I rambled my answer: “We make products like they’re games. The challenge is this: find the magic. It starts with a hunch. People think you’re crazy. But you push to a prototype. Then the hunch becomes a heartbeat, faint and faltering. Some days, you don’t feel it at all. But then come the days when it all rushes back, beating so strong that it pounds in your chest. You cut, refine, and polish, go back and do it some more, and then eventually your prototype grows up. Now you can’t stop playing it. Everybody who sees it wants it; everybody who plays it loves it. You just found the magic!”
Mario’s jump (perfection itself); Pikachu’s design (enduring and iconic); Link’s sword (it’s dangerous to go alone!) — Nintendo find the magic time and time again.
Amaze & Delight
Mr. Iwata passed away at the age of 55 due to a tumor in his bile duct. The world can be a cold and unforgiving place. But our products don’t have to be that way.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re building for the enterprise or designing for consumers. Let’s incorporate fun and play. Let’s infuse our products with magic and joy. Let’s make experiences that amaze and delight.
Nintendo do this better than any company in the world. Satoru Iwata was a star amongst stars.
RIP Mr. Iwata. We will miss you.
On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer.” — Satoru Iwata
Thanks to Conrad Irwin and Vivek Sodera for reading drafts of this post.