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. 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 Barrel (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:
Fire Emblem Wiki Icaruspedia Metroid Wiki Super Mario Wiki

• Gunpei Yokoi on Wikipedia