Gunpei Yokoi

Gunpei Yokoi
横井 軍平
Yokoi in 1995
Born	(1941-09-10)10 September 1941[1] Kyoto, Empire of Japan[1]
Died	4 October 1997(1997-10-04) (aged 56) Komatsu, Ishikawa, Japan
Alma mater	Doshisha University
Occupations	Toy maker game designer game producer
Years active	1965–1997

Gunpei Yokoi (横井 軍平, Yokoi Gunpei, 10 September 1941 – 4 October 1997), sometimes transliterated as Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese toy maker and video game designer. As a long-time Nintendo employee, he was best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the original designer of the Game Boy, and producer of a few long-running and critically acclaimed video game franchises such as Metroid and Kid Icarus.