I feel especially sad because one of his last, if not last, public communications was apologizing for the E3 Nintendo Direct. It was pointed out on Twitter and just made me feel all kinds of sadness and regret.

Although bitter sweet. At least the last memory we have of him is a happy one with the E3 Muppet skit.

Pedantry is often best avoided in a memorial article.

The last one he programmed on was “Super Smash Bros. Melee,” and he is a strong part of the reason it’s as polished as it is. He swept in near the tail-end of its development like a superhero, fixing a number of bugs, finding others, and applying spit-shine until the game was ready to ship. I do hope that, somewhere,…

I did not, at all, manage to get through this news post with a dry face.

As gamers, we do owe him. Say what you will about his business decisions, he really did care about his job, and should be an example to other CEOs in terms of personality. Those tweets above talking about him show exactly why.

I did a double take seeing this posted on a friend’s Facebook and I haven’t been this heartbrokent since Robin Williams’ death. Oh my god..

I tried to play some Kirby...just couldn’t do it...I’m gonna need a few days

I can’t imagine what sort of issues your wife is going through but, to put your mind at ease: what he had was likely a cholangiocarcinoma, an exceedingly rare bile duct tumor that has highest incidence in Southeast Asia. Most other issues of the bile duct, even those that are very serious, are considerably less quick…

It is crazy how a person you don’t know and who lives thousands of miles away can be so impactful on your life. While I grew up with an NES, SNES, and 64, the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS were the first two consoles I personally owned (followed by 3DS, PS3, Wii U) and still are my two favorite consoles and contain…

I’m actually choking up. Didn’t know the man. Looked up to him. He’s part of the reason I’m studying game design. Just...wow...

My dad died at 52 and mom at 61, all before I was 30. Go hug them for as long as you can and never, ever take them for granted .....

Banzai Iwata-sama!

He also was a CEO who decided to cut down his own salary when his company fell on hard times rather than doing the usual downsize/prepare-golden-parachute stunt that has become so prevalent nowadays.

He seemed fit and healthy last year

Really? That’s what you say when a man of his stature and importance to the gaming community as a whole dies? You should be ashamed and the person who felt like this comment deserved a star should too.