The Man, The Legend, Gunpei Yokoi

[johnlucas]

Parokki said:
The next project would of course be the one and only Game boy, which would use his philosophy of “lateral thinking of withered technology” to its greatest potential. By this he meant using old technology to create something new for the consumer at a cheap and affordable price, which is exactly what he did with the Game boy.

This is without a doubt his most important legacy to our day. Rather than pumping a gaming machine full of the latest and untested hardware, it's better to use existing technology that's reliable and cheap in an innovative manner. This guy is pretty much the reason the Wii and DS are doing so well against their technically advanced competitors.

Yep that's right. Hiroshi Yamauchi definitely had an eye for talent and Nintendo's very legacy is basically rooted in these 3 men:

Yamauchi the businessman who had the sense to transition his company from just playing cards to toys and by extension videogames piercing new markets with a sound (and profitable) businessplan.

Yokoi the inventor/tinkerer who laid out Nintendo's whole production philosophy as well as created the totally unique division of videogaming known as handheld gaming (which is why no one can really beat Nintendo at it) among other inventive gadgets that helped Nintendo transform itself in the 1970s.

Miyamoto the visionary who can conjure up countless ideas for software and hardware allowing the company to stay fresh and everlasting no matter how the industry comes about. The magic man.

I call them the 3 pillars of Nintendo and of course others contributed to their success as well but the core company philosophy comes from these 3 men.

And guess what?

I have a feeling Nintendo will revisit Yokoi's idea for the Virtual Boy one day and put it on the market. The idea not necessarily the hardware and components but the vision he set forth. Could be 10 years from now or maybe 20 but Nintendo will pioneer this field in a gaming aspect and continue to wow in the years to come as the Great Oak Tree of this industry.

Yokoi's vision was just ahead of the technology of the day. So sad he died the way he did. He surely is not appreciated enough and I'm so glad you highlighted him here, Mr. Nice.

R.I.P. Mr. Yokoi.

John Lucas