10 Biggest Gaming Moments Of The Last Decade
7. Iwata Passes Away (And Reggie Retires)
Gaming is an industry held together with the might of millions of passionate artists, composers, developers and, yes, even studio execs. Very occasionally, figures in that industry become more just part of the machine and get a kind of legendary status.
Satoru Iwata was one such man, working in gaming all of his life, and having major impacts on notable franchises like Earthbound, Kirby, Pokémon and Smash Bros. But he’s most certainly known best as President of Nintendo from 2002 onwards, where he shepherd the company through the shaky period of the GameCube into the turn-around success of the DS and Wii.
Iwata’s declining health was noted but his death in 2015 at the age of 55 came as a terrible shock, shaking the gaming industry. Tributes poured in from colleagues at Nintendo and across the industry, including at Sony and Microsoft, who espoused the value Iwata had brought to the artform.
Four years later, Nintendo changed once again as Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime stepped down from the role after 13 years. Like Iwata, he had been both a respected industryman and a public figure that fans recognised.7. Iwata Passes Away (And Reggie Retires)
And with Charlies Martinet - the voice of Mario for 30 years - also moving on from his placement as a fixture of Nintendo in 2023, it’s been a decade of change for the who’s-who of Nintendo.