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Gunpei Yokoi
Gunpei Yokoi (September 10, 1941 – October 4, 1997) was a former Nintendo employee and video game developer, working as the manager for the company's former Research & Development 1 division, as well as being known as the mentor of Shigeru Miyamoto. Working at the company for over thirty years, Yokoi is most well-known as the inventor of products such as the Game & Watch and Game Boy, and as the producer for franchises such as Metroid and Kid Icarus.
Biography
Born on September 10, 1941, Gunpei Yokoi was raised in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Doshisha University with an electronics degree, Yokoi was hired by Nintendo in 1965 as a maintenance worker. In 1966, while looking around the Nintendo headquarters, president at the time Hiroshi Yamauchi noticed an extendable arm toy that Yokoi had created in his spare time. Interested in the product, he told Yokoi to mass-produce and sell it. The Ultra Hand was a huge commercial success, and Yokoi worked on a number of additional successful toys, such as the Ultra Machine and Love Tester.
When Nintendo decided to enter the video game market in 1974, Gunpei Yokoi was made one of the company's first video game designers. As a game designer, Yokoi created the Game & Watch LCD game series, as well as assisting Shigeru Miyamoto with several of his first projects, such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Yokoi would later be the producer for several of Nintendo R&D1's games, as well as helping in creating the Game Boy line.
Following the commercial failure of the Virtual Boy, Yokoi left the company in August 1996, after he had completed work on the more successful Game Boy Pocket. Yokoi had originally wanted to retire at age 50, but work on the Virtual Boy and its failure had pushed his plans back. Yokoi, along with several other former Nintendo employees who had worked under him, went on to found his own company, Koto Laboratory. Under Koto, he worked with Bandai to create the WonderSwan handheld console.
On October 4, 1997, Yokoi rear-ended a truck driving on the Hokuriku Expressway, 250 miles northeast of Tokyo. While inspecting the damages, he was hit and fatally injured by two passing cars, resulting in his death.
In 2003, Yokoi posthumously received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards.
Products
Toys
- Ultra Hand (1966)
- Ultra Machine (1967)
- Ultra Scope (1968)
- N&B Block (1968)
- Love Tester (1969)
- Ele-Conga (1970)
- Light Telephone LT (1971)
- Lefty RX (1972)
- Jet Launcher (1974)
- Punchbuoy (1975)
- Kôsenjû (1975)
- Chiritorie (1979)
- Ten Billion (1980)
Games
This section is a stub. You can help NintendoWiki by expanding it. |
Game | Year | Console | Role / credit |
---|---|---|---|
Donkey Kong | 1981 | Arcade / NES | Produced By |
Donkey Kong | 1983 | Arcade / NES | Produced By |
Mario Bros. | 1983 | Arcade / NES | Producer |
Metroid | 1986 | NES | Produced By |
Super Mario Land | 1989 | Game Boy | Producer |
Dr. Mario | 1990 | NES / Game Boy | Game Designer, Producer |
Metroid II: Return of Samus | 1991 | Game Boy | Producer |
Yoshi's Cookie | 1992 | NES / SNES / Game Boy | Producer |
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins | 1992 | Game Boy | Producer |
Mario & Wario | 1993 | SNES | Executive Producer |
Super Metroid | 1994 | SNES | General Manager |
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 | 1994 | Game Boy | Producer |
Tetris & Dr. Mario | 1994 | SNES | Design consultant |
Mario's Tennis | 1995 | Virtual Boy | Producer |
Mario Clash | 1995 | Virtual Boy | Producer |
Virtual Boy Wario Land | 1995 | Virtual Boy | Producer |
Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack | 1996 | SNES | Executive Producer |
3-D Tetris | 1996 | Virtual Boy | Producer |
Dr. Mario 64 | 2001 | Nintendo 64 | Original Concept |
Nintendo Puzzle Collection | 2003 | Nintendo GameCube | Conception |
External links
Gunpei Yokoi on other NIWA Wikis: | ||||||||
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