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[VegaNine]

Man, I never heard about the details of his death before (other than it was a car accident). He got hit by passerby cars while he was pulled over? That's fucked up.

It's terrible, but even worse is that it's not uncommon on the narrow Japanese highways.

You can read more about Yokoi's accident here:

Why Gaming’s Most Tragic Conspiracy Is Bullshit

 

[Canis lupus]

RIP! Wondering how would Nintendo look like if he was alive.

 

[Datschge]

Extended the list a little:

• Was hired by Yamauchi specifically for his imaginative tinkering, so he was the very first Nintendo employee to work on toys
• Progressively delved into electric toys, which would eventually lead to video game systems
• Created the Game & Watch line of handhelds, including novel control layouts, dual-screen and clamshell designs
• Changed the way we play video games by inventing the D-Pad, originally for Game & Watch
• Changed the world with the Game Boy
• Supervised the creation of Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and others
• Produced Kid Icarus and Metroid
• Prefigured the DS and 3DS with a dual-screen Game & Watch and the 3D Virtual Boy
• Virtual Boy first introduced dual stick controls (using D-Pads at the time)
• Created the Wonderswan
• Was a mentor and friend to Miyamoto and other icons
• Continues to influence Nintendo with his philosophy of design

Having been given the freedom to come up with anything by Yamauchi, Yokoi is undoubtedly the single biggest influence turning Nintendo into the company it is today.

 

[bernardobri]

RIP.

 

[Schweinehund]

I met my best friend playing Tetris on my Gameboy over LAN with the link cable. Thank you so much Yokoi.

Man I forgot all about the link cable, even though its outdated and replaced by wireless signals, it still has a charm to it. Loved linking up in red/blue and watching the animation for trading.

 

[PowderedToast]

gameboy is still my favourite handheld. the pocket remains impressively sleek even today due to it's fantastic design. RIP gunpei

 

[VICI0US]

yokoi was great and his ideals still live on within nintendo

specifically, his philosophy of lateral thinking with withered technology

Yokoi held that toys and games do not necessarily require cutting edge technology; novel and fun gameplay are more important. In the interview he suggested that expensive cutting edge technology can get in the way of developing a new product.

Game & Watch was developed based on this philosophy. At the time of its development, Sharp and Casio were fiercely competing in the digital calculator market. For this reason, there was glut of liquid crystal displays and semiconductors. The "lateral thinking" was to find an original and fun use for this cheap and abundant technology. The Game Boy and NES were developed under a similar philosophy.

We're still seeing this design philosphy employed at nintendo today. Touchscreens, gyros, accelerometers, and the like aren't cutting edge technology. In fact they're quite abundant today, but nintendo is combining them all in a new and unique way for the wii-u in an attempt to create new, fun gameplay experiences.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

there is controversy surrounding his death?


A kid in my neighborhood was killed in a similar fashion.
His dad got a flat on the interstate, the kid got out to check on the tire, and a truck completely wiped him out. Horrible stuff.

 

[Jubern]

I went to the "Gunpei Night" in Tokyo the other day, good stuff.

It was an event with 6/7 panelists, including Yokoi's biographer and former-Pix'n Love Florent Gorges, who might be the most well-versed Frenchman about Yokoi. They talked about Yokoi's ideas, his philosophy, legacy... for two hours. They had a lot of his works in working condition for everyone to try with and screened a lot of old Nintendo's commercial too.

Really, really nice event.

 

[dc89]

Legend. Genius. Visionary.

 

[Nightstick11]

It's amazing how advanced his thinking was, what with Lan cables, and even an embryonic DS.

Second most important person our industry has known, behind Shigeru.

 

[Just take it with you.]

there is controversy surrounding his death?


A kid in my neighborhood was killed in a similar fashion.
His dad got a flat on the interstate, the kid got out to check on the tire, and a truck completely wiped him out. Horrible stuff.

Yeah, I always thought the "conspiracy theory" regarding Yokoi's death was just some Internet joke in the same vein as "Nintendo ninjas."

But anyway, Yokoi's contributions to Nintendo and the industry itself are immense.

 

[Defuser]

I wonder how the gaming industry would change if he is still alive.

 

[galvatron]

I think the worst thing he's associated with is the puzzle game named after him. Virtual Boy was great, in my book, and the rest of his work pretty much dominated my childhood gaming time. Such a visionary...

Spoiler

Ok, ok, Gyromite wasn't so great in execution, but a neat idea.

 

[KojiKnight]

I wonder how the gaming industry would change if he is still alive.

Honestly, I wouldn't think much. He was already 60 (almost 60?) at the time of his death and with the WonderSwan never quite reaching a super popular point there probably wouldn't be many places he could go in that industry. He'd probably have returned to making actual toys and likely would have quietly faded out of the collective memories of gamers.

 

[JoeFu]

Does Nintendo really ever talk about him nowadays?

I remember after I beat Metroid Prime I was happy to see Retro have a special thanks to Yokoi in the credits, but nothing about Yokoi was in Metroid Fusion's credits.

 

[Zee-Row]

I wonder if Iwata would of brought him back.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I spent a significant amount of time playing GameBoy as a kid.

Thanks for all the fun.

 

[Stewox]

Salute

 

[out0v0rder]

RIP man.

I was looking at photos of Hiroshi Yamauchi, that is one good looking motherfucker.

 

[Taco_Human]

RIP Gunpei. You made the best handheld ever.

 

[HK-47]

What Nintendo did to him after the VB was disgusting.

 

[fabfour64xx]

Under-appreciated for sure. R.I.P. Gunpei Yokoi

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I notice that the first picture in the OP has "Galactic Pinball" playing on a monitor behind him. Coincidentally my favorite VB game. Truly a legend of the industry.

 

[Jubern]

What Nintendo did to him after the VB was disgusting.

Yokoi was always going to quit Nintendo because he felt it was not the right environment for him anymore. He left Nintendo by himself to create Koto and do what he wanted.

If we exclude the fact that Nintendo doesn't really talks a lot about his legacy, they never "did something to him".

 

[IrishNinja]

pardon the bump, i thought some of you would also be excited to see pix n' love's Gunpei Yokoi: The Life & Philosophy of Nintendo's God of Toys is up at Amazon (US) for $28.37 right now with free super saver shipping - a pretty good deal, since their prior books on Nintendo's history are both sold out and often go for double that.

doesn't look like it's out till july, but yeah, at nearly 200 pages i'm pretty excited to learn more about the legend. they've also got a history of mario book (400 pages!) for about the same price, same date.

 

[Midnight Believer]

R.I.P. Gunpei Yokoi

 

[monome]

He's why I love Nintendo.

He's Batman, when Miyamoto is mere Robin parading as Nightwing these days.

May your spirit some day find its way back into Nintendo HQ.

R.I.P.

 

[polyh3dron]

RIP in Peace, Yokoi Gunpei-sama

 

[fabricated backlash]

The Gameboy was the first console I got for myself... although my Mother used to steal it all the time to play Tetris before going to bed lol.

I never had many games for it, but I have such fond memories of playing Wario Land, SML1-2, Street Fighter 2, Gargoyles Quest, Links Awakening, R-Type... great times great times. I also remember all those 60 in 1 collections that mostly never seemed to work right or only partially.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

There should be an Iwata Asks segment about him.

 

[RaikuHebi]

Happy birthday and sleep peacefully inventor of my first console!

 

[cafemomo]

he shares the same birthday with me?


im blessed.

based yokoi ;_;

thank you for the gameboy

 

[Black Republican]

Coolest first name ever

 

[NewGame]

I will always think of Gunpei Yokoi as the father of handheld gaming.

 

[BGBW]

happy birthday & R.I.P to a legend, i wish Nintendo did more to celebrate his contributions.

Items you can get in Animal Crossing New Leaf:

All bar the Virtual Boy are all prizes during fireworks. It's a clear tribute to him.

Wario Ware games also make a lot of references to his inventions.

They're not likely to mention him by name (because they hardly ever do namedrop in their games) but they still remember his inventions and his contributions to the company.

 

[ElFly]

Welp I share my birthday with him.

Happy birthday,bro.

 

[IrishNinja]

^wasnt aware of those, that's awesome. i really gotta be more active next fireworks festival in AC, missed the last one cause of work

I will always think of Gunpei Yokoi as the father of handheld gaming.

i tend to think many do

 

[twothunder]

Metroid ,Kid icarus and above all. The gameboy itself.
He certainly deserves respect for his impact on the industry.
Sad that his life was cut short by that car accident.

 

[Blearth]

Man I forgot all about the link cable, even though its outdated and replaced by wireless signals, it still has a charm to it. Loved linking up in red/blue and watching the animation for trading.

My cousin's Machoke is still stuck in that damn link cable.

 

[Ivan]

Thank you for happy childhood...

 

[Kouriozan]

I had an awesome childhood thanks to him.
He was a genius.

 

[TheGhosts]

Happy Birthday & R.I.P !!!

 

[?oe?oe]

He was a time traveler?

 

[Blue Submarine No. 6]

So he is the guy who saw the Atari handheld & made the Game Boy & released it before Atari could release their handheld?

(no I don't believe that's how it happened but that's the old story that I heard but I doubt if Nintendo could have moved that fast without already having the Game Boy planned.)

Of course this isn't how it happened. When Mical and Needle went to Japan on behalf of Epyx in an attempt to enlist Nintendo as a manufacturing partner for the "Handy" portable, Nintendo brought out their Game Boy prototype at the meeting to emphasize that they were not interested. Epyx then partnered with Atari (to their detrement), and the Lynx was christened and doomed on the same day.

Happy Birthday, Yokoi.

 

[javac]

His death as all deaths was a tragic one. But the fact that last thing he worked on at Nintendo was the Virtual boy is a shame. How he was shunned because of its failure and made to sit around and do nothing. And then his death came out of nowhere.

Here he is at E3 1995 with the Virtual Boy.

And the great G4 Icons vid

Happy birthday Gunpei.

 

[Diablohead]

Linked up tetris was rather awesome, only had a few chances to do so ever.

 

[sixteen-bit]

RIP. Without him we likely wouldn't have Game Boy or Metroid.

 

[NeoGeoOwner]

Happy Birthday.

 

[SolidSnakesMyStepDad]

RIP
Starting a my day off sad though.