Shigeru Miyamoto is a developer known for creating legendary Nintendo franchises like Mario and The Legend of Zelda, and he's now opened up about late president Satoru Iwata in a newly-released book called Iwata-San, which has just landed in Japan.
The book is in Japanese, but according to DualShockers Miyamoto reflects on their first meal together, getting Ramen while Iwata was working on HAL Laboratory.
"Nintendo doesn't pay for social expenses, so we had to go Dutch on the bill. That became a tradition that lasted even after he became company president and I became an executive," Miyamoto explained, adding that they regularly shared ideas over lunch every Monday.
"Normally, if someone younger than yourself with fewer years of experience becomes president, it might be difficult to get along with each other, but it was never like that. It had been obvious that he was more suited for the position (than me), so it never became a problem. I think it allowed us to naturally become true friends," Miyamoto continued when talking about Iwata's rise through the company.
When talking about Iwata's passing in 2015, Miyamoto added that the company is doing well, although there's still a hole left:
"Nintendo has been doing just fine. He left many words and structures that live on in the work of our younger employees today. The only problem is that, if there is some good-for-nothing idea I come up with over the weekend, I have no one to share it with the next Monday. That I can no longer hear him say 'Oh, about that thing...' is a bit of a problem for me. It makes me sad."
"To me, he was a friend more than anything. It never felt like he was my boss or that I was working under him. He never got angry; we never fought about anything."