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Nintendo of America president Fils-Aime: Iwata's impact will not be fully appreciated for years

The death of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata continues to reverberate throughout the video game space. The latest to issue a statement is Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime, who notes that Iwata's impact will be felt for years to come.

Ozzie Mejia

July 13, 2015 9:30 AM

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The third piece of the Nintendo triumverate weighed in this morning on the tragic passing of Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime has weighed in on his colleague's untimely death, largely echoing the sentiments of Shigeru Miyamoto from earlier today.

Fils-Aime issued the following statement (via USA Today):

"Mr. Iwata is gone, but it will be years before his impact on both Nintendo and the full video game industry will be fully appreciated. He was a strong leader for our company, and his attributes were clear to most everyone: Intelligence, creativity, curiosity and sense of humor. But for those of us fortunate enough to work closely with him, what will be remembered most were his mentorship and, especially, his friendship. He was a wonderful man. He always challenged us to push forward... to try the new... to upset paradigms -- and most of all, to engage, excite and endear our fans. That work will continue uninterrupted."

While Miyamoto and senior managing director Genyo Takeda are taking charge of Nintendo on an interim basis, Fils-Aime will continue his duties on the Nintendo of America side.

For more on Iwata, his passing, and what he meant to the video game industry, be sure to read our retrospective from earlier today.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?