Satoru Iwata: 6 career-defining moments

Satoru Iwata, who recently passed away aged 55, bucked the trend of what to expect from the CEO of a major games company.

Starting his career as a programmer, he worked on some of Nintendo's most revered games right up until he led the firm in 2002, taking it through its most successful period of growth with the Wii and 3DS and pushing gaming into the mainstream like never before.

And, despite his position, he put himself front and centre of its Nintendo Direct conferences, regularly appearing in fun sketches alongside other executives, endearing him to countless fans.

Satoru Iwata 1959-2015: Tributes and reactions from the industry and fans

1. Iwata was a developer first, creating Kirby and Super Smash Bros

Iwata was best known as a game creator first and a company executive second, and this is reflected in his early start in the industry. Iwata was one of the first employees of HAL Laboratories, a developer who would become one of Nintendo's most treasured developer partners. Here he created one of Nintendo's most treasured franchises – Kirby – as well as working on Balloon Fight, Earthbound and, in later years, Super Smash Bros.

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During a keynote during GDC 2015, Iwata said of his career best: "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."

2. Iwata wasn't afraid to get stuck into development

Iwata was a proficient programmer who wasn't afraid to overhaul games to make them better. With 1994 SNES title Earthbound, he reworked the entire game to get it released in a fraction of the time. "If we used what you have now and fix it, it will take 2 years," he told lead designer Shigesato Itoi at the time. "If we can start fresh, it'll take half a year." And so he did.

Moving over from HAL Laboratories to Nintendo, he worked on a number of franchises, including Mario and Legend of Zelda. During the GameCube era, despite climbing the ranks at Nintendo, Iwata spent three weeks dedicated to giving Super Smash Bros Melee an extensive code review and debugging process, and "because of that, the game made it out on time", he said.

3. He became the first Nintendo president who wasn't part of the Yamauchi family

Believe it or not, for an organisation that had been around since 1889, Satoru Iwata became only the fourth Nintendo president when he took the job in 2002, and was notable for being the first company chief who wasn't part of the founding Yamauchi family.

Iwata would learn the necessary leadership skills as head of Nintendo's corporate planning division from 2000 until 2002, and would go on to lead the company through one of its most successful periods in history, which was remarkable considering he was only 43 when he took the job and spent most of his career as a programmer.

4. He launched the Wii and Nintendo DS

Not long after becoming president, Satoru Iwata would cement his legacy by releasing two of the company's most popular gaming consoles in the form of the Nintendo Wii and DS, which have sold a combined total of 255 million units to date.

The DS was notable for featuring two screens - one of which was a touchscreen - and for ushering in wireless connectivity between consoles, something that would change the face of multiplayer. With other unique features such as microphone and stylus support, you were just as likely to see somebody training their brain as playing the latest Mario or Zelda release.

As for the Wii, launching in 2006, it was notable for popularising motion controls and would comfortably outsell the Xbox 360 and PS3, despite being relatively underpowered by comparison. Iwata's enthusiasm was no doubt a contributing factor, and it wasn't unusual to see him demonstrate the Wii Remote at various gaming events and expos.

5. When Nintendo under-performed, Iwata himself took a pay cut

While the Wii and DS were colossal successes for Nintendo, their successors Wii U and 3DS were less so. Iwata said the company itself was to blame and after a decline in profits of 30% over the 2013 to 2014 financial year, Iwata reduced his salary by 50% for three months, while other board members saw a reduction of 20 to 30%.

The year before, Iwata objected to staff cuts at Nintendo as a result of the early performance of the Wii U, saying the move would only decrease employee morale.

In the past year, Iwata had been paving the way for Nintendo's future, with a strategy of getting into smartphone development with industry leader DeNA, as well as a new dedicated console, codenamed the NX.

6. Poking fun at himself in Nintendo Direct

One of Satoru Iwata's greatest initiatives, Nintendo Direct video presentations would begin to be used as a way of informing fans in 2011, and would eventually replace the company's traditional E3 conference in 2013.

Not only have Nintendo Direct presentations been a great source of information about new and upcoming games - giving the news direct to fans - but they were also hugely entertaining.

Never afraid to have fun at his own expense, Iwata starred in some of its best sketches alongside other Nintendo executives. Remember the time Shigeru Miyamoto threatened to suck Iwata into his Poltergust 3000 ghost capturing machine?