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What do YOU think about the "Nintendo killed Gunpei Yokoi" conspiracy theory?

S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GunpeiYokoi

biyo001.png


Unfortunately, Yokoi never lived to see the results of that. While slowing up near a traffic accident, another car plowed into his, killing him at the scene. There was some controversy surrounding his death (mostly pertaining to the fact that the driver of the car that hit Yokoi's car was a known member of the Yakuza), although most dismiss such discussion as a Conspiracy Theory. The funny thing is that there are some conflicting accounts of the man's death. Other sources report that it was Yokoi himself who had just been in a minor fender bender and was blindsided by the gangster's car when he got out to survey the damage. Also suspicious is the fact that in both versions, a man by the name of Etsuo Kiso, who worked for Nintendo, was somehow involved in the fatal accident.
Click to expand...

I've always heard about this rumor that Nintendo (or more specifically, Hiroshi Yamauchi himself) ordered the death of Gunpei Yokoi. For reasons ranging from punishment for the failure of the Virtual Boy to fear that under his direction, the Wonderswan could damage Nintendo's dominance of the handheld market. But I've never really given it any serious thought until now. And even now, I'm not really sure what to think about it. I guess all I can say is that while I don't necessarily believe it, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that it were true.

How about you, GAF?
 
G

Gravijah

Member
It's sad enough thinking about how the man was killed, I'm not really going to get into stupid conspiracy theories.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Wouldn't surprise me, after all it was Nintendo who hired Chapman to murder John Lennon

Seriously, Nintendo killing Yokoi? How about no
 
S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
Xater said:
I think that whoever thinks tha tis a crazy person.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I really don't believe it. It sounds too much like something from a movie or a manga to be real.

However, I do find it to be an interesting piece of gaming urban legend, and am interested to see what others think of it. I don't mean any disrespect to an obviously great man's legacy or memory. It's hard to imagine where gaming would be today without him. But I would like to imagine what gaming would be like today were he still alive. Sure, the Wonderswan didn't make a lot of waves (unless you REALLY liked Digimon and Gundam), but who knows what else he could have created.
 
G

GDGF

Soothsayer
swerve said:
Disrespectful 'romanticism' of a tragic event. Sometimes, sad things just happen.
Click to expand...

This. The rumor started the second his death was announced. Probably simulteneously on multiple message boards. A bunch of guys who thought they were telling an original joke.
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Errr Why Would Nintendo?

More than Likely if the dude that hit Yokoi was a yakuza they may have conflicting stories as the guy wanted to get let off without a charge maybe?

Other than that it is was an unfotunate accident on the motorway/freeway that took Gunpey's Life, tragic :(
 
A

AniHawk

Member
Seraphis Cain said:
Like I said, I really don't believe it. It sounds too much like something from a movie or a manga to be real.

However, I do find it to be an interesting piece of gaming urban legend, and am interested to see what others think of it. I don't mean any disrespect to an obviously great man's legacy or memory. It's hard to imagine where gaming would be today without him. But I would like to imagine what gaming would be like today were he still alive. Sure, the Wonderswan didn't make a lot of waves (unless you REALLY liked Digimon and Gundam), but who knows what else he could have created.
Click to expand...

Somehow, I think he would have been either working for Nintendo again with Iwata (like what happened when Sakurai left), or he just would have retired during the big transition period when Lincoln/Yamauchi/Arakawa/etc all retired and the SwanCrystal was killed off.
 
S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
andymcc said:
OP is going to be ran over by car. nintendo's gotta cover their tracks.
Click to expand...
Nintendo tried to run me over with a car once but I judo flipped it and it exploded. Sadly, I'm pretty poor at designing Metroid games.

YOU TOOK THE WRONG ONE NINTENDO
 
N

[Nintex]

Member
I'm still somewhat in the 'believers' camp that he was killed but I'm not sure if it was Yamauchi himself or someone else who had a stake in Nintendo. Why was Gunpei driving around with Etsuo Kiso, there's something fishy about the accident that's for sure.
 
L

Larsen B

Member
Microsoft's attempt to put a hit out on J Allard was a little less successful.

Alternatively:

Sony's attempt to put a hit out on Phil Harrison was a little less successful.

You see, because they are copying Nintendo but in an inferior fashion. I'm drawing parallels to the games industry.
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Segata Sanshiro said:
Nintendo tried to run me over with a car once but I judo flipped it and it exploded. Sadly, I'm pretty poor at designing Metroid games.

YOU TOOK THE WRONG ONE NINTENDO
Click to expand...

Thought the Rocket took you to outta space to explode you?
 
S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
I don't doubt Yamauchi is capable of giving such an order, though. I remember once he ordered the Rolling Stones killed because the Ramones played a particularly boistrous set at his birthday party.

And then there's that time he tried to block the sun with a giant machine so that the citizens would have to spend more time inside playing Nintendo.
 
P

perfectchaos007

Member
Yeah I love conspiracy theories and all, but I just don't see Nintendo hiring the Japanese Mafia to whack a guy who created a video game system that didn't sell as well as he hoped.
 
G

Gravijah

Member
Larsen B said:
Microsoft's attempt to put a hit out on J Allard was a little less successful.

Alternatively:

Sony's attempt to put a hit out on Phil Harrison was a little less successful.

You see, because they are copying Nintendo but in an inferior fashion. I'm drawing parallels to the games industry.
Click to expand...

Explaining your joke means it's not funny. Unless you sarcastically explain your joke or make fun of yourself in the process, in which case, it's OK.
 
G

GDGF

Soothsayer
Segata Sanshiro said:
And then there's that time he tried to block the sun with a giant machine so that the citizens would have to spend more time inside playing Nintendo.
Click to expand...

I think I got a free game voucher because of that.
 
L

Larsen B

Member
Gravijah said:
Explaining your joke means it's not funny. Unless you sarcastically explain your joke or make fun of yourself in the process, in which case, it's OK.
Click to expand...

The explanation of the joke could not have not been any less sarcastic than it wasn't.
 
E

electroshockwave

Member
Combichristoffersen said:
Wouldn't surprise me, after all it was Nintendo who hired Chapman to murder John Lennon

Seriously, Nintendo killing Yokoi? How about no
Click to expand...

And Activision hired Courtney Love to kill Kurt Cobain so that one day they could disrespect his memory in Guitar Hero 5.
YEEAAHH BOOYYYY!!!


Cohsae said:
Antoine-Dodson-Dumb.gif
Click to expand...

I've been waiting to see this posted and I couldn't imagine a better thread to see it in. <3 Antoine
 
B

Blair

Banned
Combichristoffersen said:
Wouldn't surprise me, after all it was Nintendo who hired Chapman to murder John Lennon

Seriously, Nintendo killing Yokoi? How about no
Click to expand...


IT FITS.
 
S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
Okay, I have to say I love the direction this thread has gone.

<3 you GAF, even if you don't <3 me. :D

andymcc said:
OP is going to be ran over by car. nintendo's gotta cover their tracks.
Click to expand...

Oh god, you're right. Shit shit shit, what have I done?

If there's a black car with dark tinted windows sitting outside my house when I wake up, just know that I love you all, GAF.
 
M

megateto

Member
I think that Nintendo had enough with putting Yokoi in dishonorable situations, like making him do presentations of the Virtual Boy in a corner...
 
S

ShinobiFist

Banned
It could be true. People in GAF are acting like shit like this doesn't happen. I mean shit, people believe in Jesus Christ but theres no real life historical log of the man. But people still believe he was real. The wacking of Gunpei is more believable than Jesus Christ ever being born.

Iwata has the"Lance of Longinus" by his window in his office. So is not surprising Nintendo would be up to some "Jimmy Hoffa" type shit.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
Nintendo wasn't upset with Yokoi over the Virtual Boy. Nintendo needed something to offer. Anything. Yokoi had the VB. Nintendo took the ball and ran with it, and tripped up, and then realized that it wasn't even a ball, it was a banana. It was entirely Nintendo's fault, not Yokoi's and I think Nintendo knew it. Yokoi volunteered to take the blame and absorbed all the shame of it, freeing Nintendo from the stink of failure, and Nintendo owed him huge for that.

As I heard it, when Yokoi started his own company, he was "making a new handheld" but Nintendo was paying him to take notes and make observations about it's development, and those notes were passed to Yokoi's old team, which was concurrently making Nintendo's new handheld. That's why he was hanging with Nintendo people. Because he was unofficially still working for Nintendo as an advisor, and unofficially helping with it's handheld development.

When Yokoi was killed, the secret link to Nintendo was severed and Bandai took over control of his company, and two years later the Wonderswan came out.

It's a meme to suggest that Yamauchi is so badass that he can have people killed, but it becomes distasteful when you try and take it seriously. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who like it even more when it becomes distasteful.

That Yokoi was killed by known criminals does raise the concern that it may have been deliberate murder, but even if that was the case, we'll never really know why they did it (not unless they catch the guys who did it and someone like Perry Mason or Matlock breaks them down on the stand), and it's a bad idea to start randomly brainstorming the possible reasons for someone to kill someone else until you hit the one reason that you think just feels right.
 
C

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
electroshockwave said:
And Activision hired Courtney Love to kill Kurt Cobain so that one day they could disrespect his memory in Guitar Hero 5.
YEEAAHH BOOYYYY!!!
Click to expand...

Blair said:
IT FITS.
Click to expand...

Oh fuck, we might be onto something here.. Guys, if you don't see me posting on GAF after tonight, you know what happened and who did it D:
 
S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
ruby_onix said:
Nintendo wasn't upset with Yokoi over the Virtual Boy. Nintendo needed something to offer. Anything. Yokoi had the VB. Nintendo took the ball and ran with it, and tripped up, and then realized that it wasn't even a ball, it was a banana. It was entirely Nintendo's fault, not Yokoi's and I think Nintendo knew it. Yokoi volunteered to take the blame and absorbed all the shame of it, freeing Nintendo from the stink of failure, and Nintendo owed him huge for that.

As I heard it, when Yokoi started his own company, he was "making a new handheld" but Nintendo was paying him to take notes and make observations about it's development, and those notes were passed to Yokoi's old team, which was concurrently making Nintendo's new handheld. That's why he was hanging with Nintendo people. Because he was unofficially still working for Nintendo as an advisor, and unofficially helping with it's handheld development.

When Yokoi was killed, the secret link to Nintendo was severed and Bandai took over control of his company, and two years later the Wonderswan came out.

It's a meme to suggest that Yamauchi is so badass that he can have people killed, but it becomes distasteful when you try and take it seriously. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who like it even more when it becomes distasteful.

That Yokoi was killed by known criminals does raise the concern that it may have been deliberate murder, but even if that was the case, we'll never really know why they did it (not unless they catch the guys who did it and someone like Perry Mason or Matlock breaks them down on the stand), and it's a bad idea to start randomly brainstorming the possible reasons for someone to kill someone else until you hit the one reason that you think just feels right.
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, this is exactly the kind of post I was hoping for. Thank you.
 
M

megateto

Member
ruby_onix said:
Nintendo wasn't upset with Yokoi over the Virtual Boy. Nintendo needed something to offer. Anything. Yokoi had the VB. Nintendo took the ball and ran with it, and tripped up, and then realized that it wasn't even a ball, it was a banana. It was entirely Nintendo's fault, not Yokoi's and I think Nintendo knew it. Yokoi volunteered to take the blame and absorbed all the shame of it, freeing Nintendo from the stink of failure, and Nintendo owed him huge for that.
Click to expand...

I might be wrong as I read it ages ago, but Steven L. Kent's take on the matter in his "Ultimate History of Videogames" wasn't that Yokoi volunteered to take all the blame and he got quite depressed as a result. But please, do take my post with lots of salt as I don't remember it quite well. Your take seems more plausible, considering all things involved though.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
megateto said:
I might be wrong as I read it ages ago, but Steven L. Kent's take on the matter in his "Ultimate History of Videogames" wasn't that Yokoi volunteered to take all the blame and he got quite depressed as a result. But please, do take my post with lots of salt as I don't remember it quite well. Your take seems more plausible, considering all things involved though.
Click to expand...
I'm sure there were a lot of emotional states going around. And I'm nowhere near able to prove my version. It's just the version that I thought made the most sense. And I respect Steven Kent a lot, but even his info for deep stuff like this comes from second/thirdhand rumors.
 
H

Hitlersaurus Christ

Banned
Nice try, but Gunpei Yokoi isn't dead.
You see, after the failure of the Virtual Boy, Yokoi-san was more determined than ever to come up with something that was truly revolutionary. After hours of research and possible use of top secret alien technology and occult rituals, he finally invented a game platform so amazing, so innovative that it trasncended spacetime itself. The creation of the device (dubbed ULTIMATE SUPERIOR INFINITY BOY in Nintendo's secret documents) brought about a change in Yokoi. While creating it, he had gained something along the way... He had attained true enlightenment. He had become too big for this world. Using his god-machine, he ascended to a higher plane of existence and was never heard of again. Nintendo, not wanting anyone to ask questions, forged a story about his death.
But he still lives, in the dimension beyond our own... Watching.
 
1

1-D_FTW

Member
Like all conspiracy theories, it's garbage.

I'm kind of surprised there's multiple stories on how he died. The story I accepted as fact doesn't match either one in the OP. I'm not repeating it though, because it's grotesque.
 
I

iidesuyo

Member
I thought it was weird coincidence that a Nintendo associate was in the car with him. We'll never know.

There is no evidence and no serious motive.
Click to expand...

Motives? That's Japan, where pride plays a huge role. The country where manager instead of cashing in compensations for failing commit suicide or stand before the press crying like a baby.
 
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