Who was the CEO of Nintendo during the launch of the Wii?

Satoru Iwata was the CEO of Nintendo during the launch of the Wii.

Iwata became Nintendo’s fourth president on May 24, 2002, succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi. Although Nintendo commonly used the title president rather than CEO for its top executive, Iwata was the company’s chief leader when the Wii launched in 2006.

The Wii reflected Iwata’s strategy of expanding gaming beyond dedicated players. Instead of competing primarily on graphics and processing power with Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo emphasized accessible motion controls through the Wii Remote. The console launched in North America on November 19, 2006, then reached Japan and other regions in December.

Iwata had an unusual background for a Nintendo president: he was a programmer who had worked at HAL Laboratory and contributed to games including Kirby and EarthBound. Tatsumi Kimishima succeeded him after his death in 2015; Shuntaro Furukawa became president in 2018.