I have had the fortune to read the all edition of Ask Iwata , which went on sale last week (although I had reserved it long before). It is a compilation of texts from the legendary CEO of Nintendo, in which he shares his experience in the video game industry.
I admit that it is not what I expected. Ask Iwata is, for the most part, a compilation of the texts that have appeared in the Japanese daily Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun , which launched in 2019 in Japan. This post belongs to one of Iwata’s personal friends, Shigesato Itoi, and it shows on every page.
Why is it not what I expected? Well, because through his words he doesn’t stop so much on the development of video games (Iwata was in Human before Nintendo) as on his side as a manager and, above all, on his enthusiasm to continue learning. 
I was hoping to find a lot more content taken from Iwata Asks, Mr. Iwata’s series of interviews with different developers from the big N (these are available online through the Nintendo website). And although it is not like that, he has satisfied me enormously.
Nintendo Switch on Amazon
Nintendo’s console remains one of the best-selling in the world. It has a wide catalog of exclusive games and is the first hybrid console that can play games on TV or in portable mode without interruptions.
It is a fairly short book, in which the manager (who left us in 2015) tries to teach us his secrets to manage a company like Nintendo. But what stands out, above these tips, is his lifestyle, both inside and outside the office, focused on making others happy.
Iwata was able to seek the happiness of others in many ways. He was looking for the surprise of the users who played with Nintendo products , with the obsession of always being above their expectations. He also tried to please his superiors and colleagues.
In particular, it is admirable how he was influenced by the words of the previous president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, when he told him that they should never continue doing the same or Shigeru Miyamoto’s work system , which was based on problem solving.
In the case of Miyamoto, he confesses to envy his creativity to achieve unforgettable characters. His secret was not only a prodigious imagination, but a methodical way of working, bordering on the scientific.
Miyamoto.
The whole work is almost like a confession, it shows the director with enormous humility . As the pages turn, you come back again and again to the importance of communication, of getting all of your employees to shine and do what they do best.
But of course, this is Hobbyconsolas. Are we going to find anecdotes about the creation of legendary video games? Indeed, there is also room for us to discover how Yoshi was created for Super Mario World, or some detail about the development of Earthbound.
Iwata was involved in the creation of pieces of hardware such as the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii ( and prepared the first prototypes of the Switch ) and in software for the NES, Game Boy, Super Nintendo and N64, such as Balloon Fight, Kirby’s Adventure, Super Smash Bros or Pokémon Snap. They also have a small mention on Ask Iwata.
What best describes this work, which I highly recommend, are Iwata’s own words. “On my business card, I’m corporate president. In my mind, I’m a video game developer, but in my heart, I’m a gamer.” Here you can read our report Satoru Iwata A life dedicated to video games.
