The gaming world lost a legend Monday with the passing of Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata. He was only 55 years old.

Iwata died Monday from a growth on his bile duct according to a statement released by Nintendo.

Iwata helped pull Nintendo out of slumping sales by introducing the Nintendo DS....The hottest selling gaming system in history.

Iwata was forced to skip last year’s E3 due to his poor health, and shortly afterwards underwent surgery to remove the bile duct growth. A few months later, in the wake of concerns over his health, he said via Twitter “I’m progressing well”.

A talented programmer, Iwata first joined Nintendo’s HAL Laboratory in the 1980s, where he worked on games like Balloon Fight and EarthBound. He became a Director of the company in 2000, and in 2002 was appointed as only the fourth President of Nintendo when he succeeded Hiroshi Yamauchi.

Satoru Iwata will be sorely missed in the gaming world.

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