splatoon

Since Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata’s passing a few days ago, fans around the world have been paying their respects to the Nintendo giant with a landslide of drawings and messages. Players of the team-based online game Splatoon have especially embraced this trend, leading to an outpouring of in-game tributes to the beloved president.

The basic premise behind Splatoon is to cover the arena with colored ink using characters called Inklings. The game was highly anticipated before its release, and it has since proven to be extremely popular around the world. However, over the past few days, it seems as if players have shifted their focus from defeating the opposing team to honoring the memory of the late president Iwata in the game’s Miiverse community.

Let’s take a look at some of the Twitter posts on the subject:

▼ “Splatoon is overflowing with messages to Mr. Iwata. I’m touched.”

https://twitter.com/game_draw_m_/status/620430961361039360

▼ “Highcolor City was in mourning mode when I started up Splatoon.“

▼ “I turned on Splatoon and it was overflowing with tributes to Iwacchi [Iwata’s nickname] (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀).”

▼ “There’s no one else like President Iwata……”

▼ “In Splatoon‘s Miiverse, somebody shot ink out of a Hot Blaster like fireworks in remembrance of Mr. Iwata. Oh, the tears…(´；ω；｀)”

Some of those in-game, personal messages included the following:

“Mr. Iwata!! Thank you for all the gaming memories!”

“President Iwata–Thanks for all of the fun times.”

“We don’t know anything except that the tears won’t stop.”

“Mr. Iwata! Thanks for all of the adventures!!”

“We’re praying for your happiness in the next world.”

How many CEOs can say that they’ve personally touched such a large number of people around the world? Iwata truly leaves behind a legacy of devoted fans.

Source: Kai-You
Top image: Twitter/@nagominium