Earlier today, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took to Twitter to discuss why he will not personally be present at E3 this year. Here’s a translation of Iwata’s tweets:
[Iwata] Good morning, everyone. E3 is finally starting. E3 is the games industry’s biggest trade fair, which takes place once a year in Los Angeles. From today on, during E3 I’ll be tweeting using the Nintendo Official account with the hashtag #Iwatter.
[Iwata] Because of the operation I underwent in June last year, I’ve become a little thin. My weight has more or less remained the same since I left the hospital and it seems as though I’ll be able to maintain this figure, so I decided to update my official Mii to reflect my present condition. Please be kind to it.
[Iwata] With the exception of last year, I’ve been going to E3 every year. However, as there’s no new hardware to present this year and considering the fact that a general meeting of shareholders is planned for the week following E3, I will remain in Japan this year. My role at E3 this year is to relay everything happening at E3 to everyone that’s in Japan.
[Iwata] I just received this earlier but it looks like Mr. Miyamoto has already reached Los Angeles. Seeing the E3 logo gives you that feeling that “Oh, E3 is finally getting started!”
E3 will begin on Monday, June 15th. You can view Nintendo’s full schedule here.