Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's CEO and general manager, respectively, are the two most important people now employed by the company. Iwata has run the Big "N" for over a decade and Shigeru Miyamoto has essentially created almost all of Nintendo's most popular franchises and IPs. Iwata may technically be Miyamoto's boss now, but that wasn't always the case. Not too long ago Iwata was newly employed by the company, and in the early days he saw Shigeru Miyamoto as a rival and wanted to "give him hell."
From a recent interview with Japanese site, 4Gamer:
"Iwata: So, I have this strange sense of duty regarding the codifying of the 'Miyamoto Methodology', because I feel like it would be useful to the game industry if you could put it into words. I started up a project similar to 'Iwata Asks' for that purpose. And, of course, wanted to see it put into words so I could understand it too, because back when I was just starting out, I sort of arbitrarily decided that Miyamoto was my rival, though that's embarrassing to admit now.
"4Gamer: Your rival? Mr. Miyamoto?
"Iwata: Yes. Would you believe that for a long time I'd just decided within myself, completely arbitrarily and not at all reciprocated, that he was my rival and I wanted to do something to just give him hell.
"4Gamer: Well fair enough, but in the end did you ever manage to give him hell?
"Iwata: Umm, well, maybe a little (wry laugh)"
Even though Iwata wanted to give Miyamoto hell, it is clear that he also had a good deal of respect for him and his development methods. That rivalry has turned into a partnership over time, and together the two men were vastly influential in creating the most popular Nintendo home console (Wii) and handheld (DS) of all time...just a few, scant years after Iwata took over as president and CEO.
