Even though it was founded in 1889, only five people have served as the President of Nintendo.
Satoru Iwata held that post from 2002 until his death in 2015, and in that time, the colorful executive guided the consolemaker through the boom years of the DS, Wii, and 3DS, and laid the groundwork for the launch of the Switch.
He also opened a window into Nintendo’s famously secretive culture, and spoke directly to fans as the face of the company’s Nintendo Direct video series and initiated a series of conversations with developers through his Iwata Asks column.
Shigesato Itoi’s printing company, Hobonichi, compiled some of these interviews (along with posts that Iwata made on the Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun website) into a collected edition in 2019 that was only available in Japan. But Itoi, who was also Iwata’s close friend and the creative force behind the EarthBound series, recently teamed up with Viz Media to announce that the collection will finally be released in English in Spring 2021 as Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom From Nintendo’s Legendary CEO.
Viz Media shared an official description of Ask Iwata with The Verge:
In this motivational collection, Satoru Iwata addresses diverse subjects such as locating bottlenecks, how success breeds resistance to change, and why programmers should never say no. Drawn from the “Iwata Asks” series of interviews with key contributors to Nintendo games and hardware, and featuring conversations with renowned Mario franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto and creator of Earthbound Shigesato Itoi, Ask Iwata offers game fans and business leaders an insight into the leadership, development and design philosophies of one of the most beloved figures in gaming history.
If you don’t want to wait until Spring 2021, the Iwata Asks archive is still available on Nintendo.com.
UPDATE (1/8/21): Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom From Nintendo’s Legendary CEO will be published on April 13, 2021.