Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom from Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's Legendary CEO
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-13 09:32:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Satoru Iwata
- ISBN：B091D8Q9GC
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Summary
"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。" —Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata was the former Global President and CEO of Nintendo and a gifted programmer who played a key role in the creation of many of the world’s best-known games。 He led the production of innovative platforms such as the Nintendo DS and the Wii， and laid the groundwork for the development of the wildly successful Pokémon Go game and the Nintendo Switch。 Known for his analytical and imaginative mind， but even more for his humility and people-first approach to leadership， Satoru Iwata was beloved by game fans and developers worldwide。
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。
Satoru Iwata was the former Global President and CEO of Nintendo and a gifted programmer who played a key role in the creation of many of the world’s best-known games。 He led the production of innovative platforms such as the Nintendo DS and the Wii， and laid the groundwork for the development of the wildly successful Pokémon Go game and the Nintendo Switch。 Known for his analytical and imaginative mind， but even more for his humility and people-first approach to leadership， Satoru Iwata was beloved by game fans and developers worldwide。
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。
Reviews
Joann Im
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A compilation of motivational addresses on diverse subjects such as leadership， development， designer and work philosophies from Satoru Iwata， one of the most beloved figures in the gaming industry。 The late Satoru Iwata was a former Global President and CEO of Nintendo and an accomplished programmer who prioritized humility and people-first approach。 This book isn't an in-depth biography on Satoru Iwata's life but a compilation on his reflection and observation throughout his career from Iwata A compilation of motivational addresses on diverse subjects such as leadership， development， designer and work philosophies from Satoru Iwata， one of the most beloved figures in the gaming industry。 The late Satoru Iwata was a former Global President and CEO of Nintendo and an accomplished programmer who prioritized humility and people-first approach。 This book isn't an in-depth biography on Satoru Iwata's life but a compilation on his reflection and observation throughout his career from Iwata Asks column on the Nintendo website in featuring interviews with key contributors to Nintendo Games such as Shigeru Miyamoto and Shigesato Itoi， the creator of Earthbound。Growing up， Nintendo was a huge part of my life and re-visiting these iconic games gave me such a nostalgic feel。 I really enjoyed the in-depth development and designing process in creating some of these beloved games。 What makes Satoru Iwata such an innovative leader was his fearless approach in risk-taking。 He embraced the challenge to always create something new rather than compete in an existing market。 The purpose of taking radical new directions moved boundaries in welcoming new players and continuing connecting with current players。 He is the exemplary figure in what a respected leader is and should be aiming for。 His words of wisdom were inspirational and lessons that are universal for all of us to gain。 Satoru Iwata is the kind of boss and colleague I would dream of working for and with。 He is a rare gem and it was unfortunate to have lost him way too soon。 Ask Iwata is a celebration for the late Nintendo's legendary CEO Satoru Iwata's life and his wisdoms。 This is a tribute to the man of patience， courage and determination who was universally respected and admired that positively impacted the gaming industry forever。 Thank you to NetGalley and VIZ Media for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Renee
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This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review。Part biography， part business book， this is such an insightful look into the life of a man who changed the gaming space for the better。 One of the legends of the space， someone who seemed so lucky for how things happened in his life， you can tell just by reading this book that nothing that happened to him was luck。 He got to where he was through sheer determination， quick wits， and creativity， and that's what the story should be a This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review。Part biography， part business book， this is such an insightful look into the life of a man who changed the gaming space for the better。 One of the legends of the space， someone who seemed so lucky for how things happened in his life， you can tell just by reading this book that nothing that happened to him was luck。 He got to where he was through sheer determination， quick wits， and creativity， and that's what the story should be about。 His business tactics outline throughout the book just make sense， showing that people were his priority， not product。 A book full of inspiration， and one I would recommend to anyone in the gaming space。 Or， honestly， even just someone curious about Japanese business。 。。。more
James
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The late Satoru Iwata was the global president and CEO of Nintendo and heavily involved in the development of some of their most iconic games。Gamers feel about Satoru Iwata the way that virgins must feel about Richard Branson。 Thank you， I'll be here all week。 That was a bad joke。 I'll see myself out。A prominent quote from Iwata on the book blurb conveys why he was held in such high regard:“On my business card， I am a corporate president。 In my mind， I am a game developer。 But in my heart， I am The late Satoru Iwata was the global president and CEO of Nintendo and heavily involved in the development of some of their most iconic games。Gamers feel about Satoru Iwata the way that virgins must feel about Richard Branson。 Thank you， I'll be here all week。 That was a bad joke。 I'll see myself out。A prominent quote from Iwata on the book blurb conveys why he was held in such high regard:“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。"Iwata was the head of a company but gamers took him to heart as one of their own。The book is comprised of his reflections previously published by Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun or as part of the "Iwata Asks" column on the Nintendo website。Although Iwata was never interested in a book being written about him in his lifetime it's easy to understand why one was made after his death。It's a tribute to one of the most beloved and influential figures in the gaming industry。 To steal a line from Playstation， one of Nintendo's competitors， "This is for the players。" 。。。more
Yeyoung Won
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I really enjoyed this book！ It's a mix between a business/life advice book， an autobiography， and a homage to Iwata， both as an influential figure in the video games world and as an individual。 I went into this book not really knowing who Satoru Iwata was， only knowing that he was one of the notable figures at Nintendo。 I didn't grow up playing a lot of Nintendo series classics like Mario， Zelda， or Kirby either， but I figured this would be an interesting read for me， as a person who enjoys vide I really enjoyed this book！ It's a mix between a business/life advice book， an autobiography， and a homage to Iwata， both as an influential figure in the video games world and as an individual。 I went into this book not really knowing who Satoru Iwata was， only knowing that he was one of the notable figures at Nintendo。 I didn't grow up playing a lot of Nintendo series classics like Mario， Zelda， or Kirby either， but I figured this would be an interesting read for me， as a person who enjoys video games and is interested in game development。Fortunately， I was right！ Many parts of this book touch on the contributions that Iwata made to the video games world， including consoles like the Nintendo DS and the Wii， both of which I grew up playing with。 Even for games I'm not really familiar with， such as Earthbound， it was still incredibly interesting to hear about the behind-the-scenes stories， how these games/consoles came to be， and what philosophies Iwata used to guide them through the development process。 Having said that， I definitely think die-hard Nintendo fans with a more in-depth knowledge of the company's history and its games would gain more from these sections than I did。Even more pleasantly surprising to me were the sections where Iwata discusses his business philosophy and how he drew upon the lessons he learned as a programmer to become a more effective business leader and communicator。 I'm not sure how clearly some of those parallels will come across to the average person， but as a computer science major I found the comparisons he made to be extremely insightful and a stark reminder of how experience in seemingly unrelated backgrounds can repurposed to offer fresh perspectives in other fields。Finally， it's impossible to come away from this book without the deep sense that Iwata was a truly remarkable person to have as a leader， a co-worker， and a friend。 His guiding ideology and the way he writes about his accomplishments reveal him to be a humble individual who genuinely believed in the value of teamwork， open and honest communication， and making space for other peoples' strengths。 I feel like I've come away from this book with a new， more positive approach to professional relationships with others。My main criticism would be the "Words of Wisdom" sections at the end of every chapter。 I assumed that they would be nice little bullet-point summations of the main ideas in each chapter， but they felt more like short snippets that the translator/editor couldn't manage to fit into the main text。 Most of them are related to the contents of the chapter， but some of them seemed a little random and made me think "Huh？ Where did this come from？" or "What advice am I supposed to gain from this？"。 Nevertheless， they were fun to read。Favourite quote: "Talent basically involves the ability to find rewards。 In my view， talent isn't about achieving results so much as deriving pleasure from the results that you've achieved。 When somebody has tapped into their stores of talent， the cycle of discovery and reward is up and running。"I would definitely recommend this book as a quick enjoyable read for video game fans， especially Nintendo fans and those interested in game development。 **Thank you Viz Media and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Meghan
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This book was received as an ARC from VIZ Media LLC in exchange for an honest review。 Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own。I have been waiting for this book for over three decades。 Nintendo was huge in my family and my brother played almost all of the games including Super Mario， Tetris， Madden， and the Racing Games and we will never forget the release of Nintendo 64 and the parties we would throw to celebrate the release。 I love how Iwata broke down this book and This book was received as an ARC from VIZ Media LLC in exchange for an honest review。 Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own。I have been waiting for this book for over three decades。 Nintendo was huge in my family and my brother played almost all of the games including Super Mario， Tetris， Madden， and the Racing Games and we will never forget the release of Nintendo 64 and the parties we would throw to celebrate the release。 I love how Iwata broke down this book and the stories he told that provided descriptive content in not only how to succeed in the video game business but in any business especially do not let the demons in your head take over。 How he started the book was brilliant。 It says CEO on his business card， holds the job as a developer but he is a gamer at heart。 This book I know will do very well in our business and in our biography collection and will be a hit with our community。We will consider adding this title to our Business collection at our library。 That is why we give this book 5 stars。 。。。more
Jonathan
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This book is simple and clear with a lot of lessons that cover the gamut of Satoru Iwata’s life as a game designer and president of HAL Laboratories and eventually Nintendo。 Even with this game-centric focus， it is more about lessons he learning in working with others and managing people。 It shows， in mostly his own words， why Iwata is still regarded with a great deal of respect even almost six years after his untimely death shook an entire industry。
Geoff
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