Satoru Iwata of Nintendo has been named of the World's Best CEOs.

A few years back, things were looking bad for Nintendo. Third party support for the Nintendo64 and then more recently for the GameCube was waning. There was even talk amongst fans of Nintendo going down the "Sega route" of third party publisher, but Nintendo still made a profit on their machines, despite seeing poorer than expected sales.

In stepped Satoru Iwata, and things just keep getting better and better. With his vision, Nintendo are aiming to change the perception of gaming in both the Western and Eastern World. The DS was seen as a strange idea at first, but results have paid dividends, and they're aiming to do the same with the Wii.

In the annual feature by Financial info-outlet Barron's has honoured Satoru Iwata, and has named him one of the World's Best CEO's.

"Little more than a year ago, it looked like game-over for Nintendo as Microsoft and Sony duked it out over the next generation of gaming consoles. Iwata, 47, changed all that with Wii. The strikingly innovative console converts body motions like the swing of a tennis racquet into actions on a screen. Meanwhile, Nintendo's Brain Age, aimed at boomers fearful of losing mental acuity, has be-come one of America's top-selling games.

"Result: Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo's earnings are jumping and its cash hoard has swelled to more than $6 billion. Iwata, a former game developer, says his strategy is simple: We are not fighting against other companies�we are fighting against ignorance of video games." Certainly, no one is in the dark anymore about Nintendo's potential."

And, rightly so. About time Iwata received some praise, and N-Europe wishes him all the best for the future.