Why doesn't Gunpei Yokoi get as much credit as Miyamoto?

[diskoboy]

He invented just as many classics as Shigeru-san did. Not to mention he also invented alot of Nintendo's early hardware - home and arcade.

Gunpei and Shigeru have also both had their share of failures at Nintendo, too...

Yet for some reason, Miaymoto gets all the credit... What gives?

[Cloud121]

All I've gotta say is this...

Metroid > Anything Miyamoto has made (Bold statement, I know).

[ssjlance]

I would imagine that the reason is, although Yokoi came up with nearly as many classics, he didn't come up with the huge classics. Regardless of the fact that he has Metroid and Kid Icarus under his belt, Miyamoto has Mario and Zelda. Also, when people remember a system, they usually remember it for the games it had on, so even though he came up with much of the hardware, Miyamoto designed many of the games. And one of the systems that is not remembered for its games, is the Virtual Boy. The system is remembered for giving headaches and making you look like an idiot while you were playing it. And, Gunpei Yokoi designed it.

Please, let me say that I really think that he deserves way more credit than he gets, all the things that I said are just meant to show my opinion on why he doesn't get as much credit. I think that the man who invented the GameBoy, countless classic Nintendo games, and even the directional pad we see on nearly every controller in existence deserves far more credit than he gets, if not more credit than Miyamoto himself. He was even a sort of mentor to Miyamoto.

I'd say more but I woke up like 20 minutes ago, lol. Need coffee.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I agree, he created Samus, Icarus and Wario didn't he? Also the father of the Nintendo Gameboy. It sucks that his final piece of work had to be dubbed his worst. The Virtual Boy.

Didn't he also create some of the early "Game & Watches?"

[Cloud121]

Yeah, he created the Game & Watch series as well.

Oh and, to give you an idea how much Nintendo respected him, the reason there never was a Metroid 64, was because Nintendo felt they couldn't create a Metroid game without him as Director (Or was it Producer?).

[diskoboy]

All I've gotta say is this...

Metroid > Anything Miyamoto has made (Bold statement, I know).

I can agree with that.

Most of my Nintendo faves are Gunpei's games. The NES Metroid still blows me away, today, just as it did 21 years ago.

There's just so much to do, and see, in that game (And it's far superior SNES sequel). Many have duplicated it, but few have managed to nail the formula the way that Gunpei did.

[kaedesdisciple]

I agree, he created Samus, Icarus and Wario didn't he? Also the father of the Nintendo Gameboy. It sucks that his final piece of work had to be dubbed his worst. The Virtual Boy.

Didn't he also create some of the early "Game & Watches?"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he also help design the WonderSwan?

[bangtango]

If this thread does anything, it will prove that us gamers give the guy credit. Maybe the press and some other "industry" people who don't know or appreciate his contributions might leave him off of some lists or fail to mention him more often but that is blemish on their records and not Gunpei's.

The GameBoy and its various models kept cash coming into Nintendo in good times and bad. When you think about it, with his old games that end up for sale on Virtual Console or for each GameBoy Advance SP that continues to sell, you could say he is still bringing home the bacon for Nintendo.

[NE146]

I think Gunpei gets plenty of credit. Come on.. Game & Watch & Gameboy. What else do you need to say. The problem is he's dead.

[Kid Ice]

Because Mario is still one of the most recognizable characters to children around the world, Miyamoto is elevated to a level that transcends video gaming. It's about more than games.

[Jorpho]

Miyamoto was credited as a supervisor or something on a whole lot of SNES games, wasn't he? The same cannot be said for Gunpei, no?

[Cloud121]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he also help design the WonderSwan?
Yeah, he helped with the WonderSwan as well.

[Aussie2B]

Miyamoto was credited as a supervisor or something on a whole lot of SNES games, wasn't he? The same cannot be said for Gunpei, no?

Actually I'm sure you can find Gunpei credited in just as many SNES games, if not more so, than Miyamoto. The only problem is that many of them were Japan-exclusives and others just aren't as well known as the projects Miyamoto was involved in. Although, if you ask me, they're every bit as good as Miyamoto's projects (and more so in some cases).

Anyway, you'll see me talking about Gunpei all the time. I've sort of taken up a crusade to spread the word. When I take a grand look at things, I can see no figure as influential to me as a gamer or to the industry as a whole. I literally don't think I would be a gamer without Gunpei. From the little things, like how thoroughly captivated I was by the mysterious world of Metroid as a child, to the huge industry-altering contributions that changed how every single gamer played games, like the invention of the D-pad and Game Boy, to the fact that Miyamoto would have never become the shining star of the game industry without Gunpei's assistance, he has worked his way into every aspect of gaming. I'm amazed that no matter how much time passes I keep finding more reasons to love Gunpei, as I learn of his involvement in yet another invention or game that I adore. If I had to pick out any person in my life, other than family and friends of course, as a an idol or role model or "hero", it would be Gunpei. If I could have the genius that he had just in his pinky finger and bring to people only a small fraction of the happiness that he brought to this world, I would think I had done quite well with my life.

I may sound over the top, but I honestly feel that way. I don't think Gunpei will ever get as much credit as he deserves. I do my small part, like talking about him from time to time and giving him some attention in the "NES A-Z" article in Video Game Collector, but I'm always happier to see other people talking about him and spreading the love. :)

[Kitsune Sniper]

Simple, really.

Yokoi's dead. Miyamoto isn't.

If Yokoi were still alive, he'd get more credit.

[DigitalSpace]

This thread reminded of a great article I read about him in The Escapist a while back:

Link (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi)

[8-bitNesMan]

Simple, really.

Yokoi's dead. Miyamoto isn't.

If Yokoi were still alive, he'd get more credit.

I disagree. Miyamoto was more of a household name even when Yokoi was alive.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I disagree. Miyamoto was more of a household name even when Yokoi was alive.

I meant that Miyamoto's still in the spotlight, talking to folks, letting his ideas be known. Yokoi can't because he's, well, dead.

[Aussie2B]

This thread reminded of a great article I read about him in The Escapist a while back:

Link (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi)

Wow, what a fantastic article. Thanks for posting the link. :) The conclusion literally made me misty-eyed.

[idrougge]

I can think of a few hundred other developers who don't get as much credit as Miyamoto. There's nothing strange against that, and no conspiract against Yokoi. It's just personal cult.

[Haoie]

2 words. Virtual Boy.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Yokoi getting less respect than Miyamoto is not as bad as the grape-kicking Ralph Baer must feel everytime someone calls Nolan Bushnell "The father of video games". Plus the man is dead... Miyamoto still has time to create, hence, he receives more attention because he can still impact the living. Which does give him 1up on Gunpei.

[udisi]

2 reasons ....Miyamoto's works are bigger... Mario is huge and always have been. He's Nintendo's flag ship. Zelda is bigger than metroid...etc. not to say that Yokoi's works are unkown, on the contrary they are also well know...ust not as big as Miyamoto's. Yokoi's work is known, that in itself is proof that he does get some respect. There's tons of people who get less than Yokoi.

2nd Reason...Miyamoto makes himself available to the public. He goes to nintendo's big press conferences, he signs autographes, he poses for pictures. He plays the celeberty. Yokoi used to give interviews and such, but never on the scale thay Miyamoto does. It's easy to see why everyone is Miyamoto is more popular.

[djbeatmongrel]

As a Wonderswan fan Gunpei is a god to me. It was the last piece of hardware he helped to design before his death.