In 2015, so many of us mourned the passing of Satoru Iwata at the all-to-young age of 55 as if we’d lost the closest of friends despite never having met. The impact of Nintendo’s most charming leader is beautifully illustrated in Ask Iwata, a collection extracted from interviews conducted with friend and frequent collaborator Shigesato Itoi as well as from Iwata’s own celebrated interviews with his developers.
Ask Iwata reviewAuthor: Satoru Iwata, translated by Sam BettPublisher: VIZ MediaAvailability: Out now digitally, physical copies releasing May 27th
Here was a man whose ambition was simply to make everyone happy, something he achieved on a scale that’s almost unimaginable: anyone who’s ever played a Wii or DS, the phenomenally successful consoles that opened up gaming for all and are perhaps his greatest legacy, will be able to appreciate that.
Ask Iwata’s a curious book, although one that ends up just as valuable an insight to Nintendo as something like David Sheff’s Game Over or Osamu Inoue’s Nintendo Magic, if not more so. This isn’t the place to find out rich new detail or gossip about what went on behind those unremarkable office walls in Kyoto during the remarkable era Iwata guided Nintendo through; instead, it’s a chance to better understand the man who put those pieces in place as he talks through his philosophies and approach to management.
Some of those approaches are already part of his legend, of course. There’s the famous tale of Earthbound, when Iwata was parachuted into Itoi’s team as they floundered years into the SNES RPG’s development with the threat of cancellation hanging over them. Struggle on and it’d take another two years, came Iwata’s advice. Start from scratch, though, and it could be done in six months – and so the decision to scrap so much work was made that bit easier to swallow for Itoi and his team.
Directly to you: Remembering Mr Iwata Watch on YouTube
Beyond such canny manoeuvres early in his career, though, something more illuminating emerges. Iwata was a manager who believed, deeply and strongly, in people. At HAL Laboratory, his first company, he made a point of meeting with every employee twice a year and letting them speak their mind until they felt they’d said it all; sessions that could last 20 minutes, or could last for over three hours. It speaks to a sense of selflessness, but also to a programmer’s attention to detail. How else could you make a decision on behalf of the company without gathering and analysing all the information you can?