Game Boy Creator Started as Nintendo's Machine Repairman

In 1965, a young engineering graduate named Gunpei Yokoi took a job at Nintendo—then a small company that made playing cards and toys. His role? Maintaining the machines on the assembly line. It wasn't glamorous, but it paid the bills.

What happened next would reshape the entire video game industry.

A Toy That Changed Everything

Yokoi had a habit of tinkering. During downtime, he built a lattice-like extending arm toy just for fun. Nintendo's president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, happened to spot it during a factory visit.

Most bosses would have told him to get back to work. Yamauchi saw something else: potential.

He ordered Yokoi to turn his creation into a product. The result was the Ultra Hand, released in 1966. It sold over a million units and launched Yokoi's career as a game designer.

The Philosophy Behind the Legend

Yokoi developed what he called "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology"—using cheap, well-understood tech in creative new ways rather than chasing cutting-edge specs. This philosophy would define his career.

His greatest hits speak for themselves:

• Game & Watch (1980) – Portable LCD games that sold 43 million units
• The D-pad – The directional pad on your controller? Yokoi invented it
• Game Boy (1989) – The handheld that dominated gaming for over a decade
• Metroid – He produced this iconic franchise

The Game Boy Gamble

When the Game Boy launched in 1989, competitors mocked its green-tinted monochrome screen. Sega's Game Gear and Atari's Lynx had color displays and more power.

They missed the point entirely.

Yokoi's "withered technology" approach meant the Game Boy was affordable, durable, and had incredible battery life. While rivals drained six AA batteries in three hours, the Game Boy ran for 30+ hours on four. Parents loved it. Kids loved it. It sold 118 million units.

A Tragic End

Yokoi's later project, the Virtual Boy, flopped in 1995. He left Nintendo shortly after—though whether he resigned or was pushed out remains debated. In 1997, at age 56, he died in a car accident after getting out to inspect damage from a minor collision.

The gaming world lost one of its most innovative minds.

The Unlikely Legacy

From maintenance worker to the father of handheld gaming—Yokoi's journey proves that sometimes the most important person in the building isn't in the corner office. He didn't have the fanciest title or the biggest budget. He had curiosity, creativity, and a boss smart enough to notice.

Every time you play a Nintendo Switch, use a D-pad, or remember your old Game Boy, you're experiencing the legacy of a man who started his career keeping the assembly line running.