Nintendo chief Iwata dies after long fight with cancer

Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata died of cancer on Saturday, months after he led the Japanese video-game maker’s belated entry into mobile gaming following years of declining sales. He was 55.

The death of the hands-on CEO and president, announced by Nintendo yesterday, comes at a critical time for the company which is betting that its new smartphone tie-up with online game maker DeNA will help make up for declining console sales.

Mr Iwata long resisted investors’ calls to move into mobile games for fear of cannibalising Nintendo’s traditional console base. He announced the move in March as stiff competition from console rivals and mobile games continued to drag on sales.