Gumpei Yokoi 横井 軍平

[ASSEMbler]

Most of us remember the tragic death of Yokoi-san and
the deafening silence regarding the passing of this giant
innovator.

The man invented the D-pad and was the father of the Game
Boy. 120 million game boys have been sold, yet no monument
exists for him.

Our point of view is that Yokoi-san did not vanish that day
in Ishikawa, and that the children who once enjoyed his
inventions are now older and appreciative.

Gumpei Yokoi is the first project of the ASSEMblergames.com
tribute project.

The intention is to create a bronze plaque bearing tribute to
Yokoi-san. This would be loaned out to libraries and museums
for display, as well as displayed at game conventions.

Any ideas are welcomed.

[feder]

It's a very interesting idea, but i've never done something like this before, so I really don't know where to start.

[cyberguile]

This is a great idea.
How about a game and watch shaped bronze plaque ?

This is a great idea !
How about a game and watch shaped bronze plaque ?

[Herman]

Do we have any artists who can help sketch a concept?

@herman, if you have the original pic of him and yourself, a high resolution scan of it would help greatly when given to the artist.

I know nicola and myself have done art in metal, I am capable of
making a bronze or brass casting with wax method.
Its scanned and its ready to be sent over. Just tell me when and
where to deliver it to.


Sounds like a done deal! If Nicola ends up making the chassi, I could organize the engraving of the signature, given the signature would be provided in a vectorial format (.Eps for example).
And bronze would probably be not even that expensive!

Will you be needing a higher res jpeg of Gunpei's signature than
the one I posted above, kammedo ? Lemme know and i'll send it over.

[jugems cloud]

amazing idea.

i think a mr game and watch statue would be nice along with the plaque, or maybe a sculpture of the original ball game and watch machine.

anyone have an idea of what if any machines/games/characters Yokio designed for game and watch, rather than just the concepts for the machine and the idea of the d pad?

[kammedo]

Will you be needing a higher res jpeg of Gunpei's signature than
the one I posted above, kammedo ? Lemme know and i'll send it over.

Yes, definitely. Don't worry, once the case is ready we can follow up with it.

[Herman]

Yes, definitely. Don't worry, once the case is ready we can follow up with it.

Sure thing...

[ASSEMbler]

I need some good pics of him.

I am going to commission a local artist to make a scale bust of him, and
if we get enough interest I will have small bronze busts cast.

The money from the sale will go to charity in his name.

What do you think?

[Tchoin]

I need some good pics of him.

I am going to commission a local artist to make a scale bust of him, and
if we get enough interest I will have small bronze busts cast.

The money from the sale will go to charity in his name.

What do you think?

Sounds good!

With a good hi-res picture of his signature I can make a vectorial trace of it if you want to include it in the plaque with his name, if it hasn't been done yet.

Any ideas on how much would it cost?

[ASSEMbler]

Sounds good!

With a good hi-res picture of his signature I can make a vectorial trace of it if you want to include it in the plaque with his name, if it hasn't been done yet.

Any ideas on how much would it cost?

Not quite sure yet, I was thinking $50 or so each.
The pedestal would be a gameboy, with the bust on top.

Say 6 inches tall total.

[Herman]

I need some good pics of him.

I am going to commission a local artist to make a scale bust of him, and
if we get enough interest I will have small bronze busts cast.

The money from the sale will go to charity in his name.

What do you think?

I'm totally diggin it, Assembler. Keep me posted :thumbsup:

[ASSEMbler]

We need pics, didn't you have some you could scan herman?

[Herman]

We need pics, didn't you have some you could scan herman?

All I have is the photo of him with me and his autograph on my E3 1995
Daily. If that's what you're looking for me to scan, i'll get on it.

Another place with some rare photos of Gumpei would have to be:

http://yokoicredits.bananachan.net/

[supermariovb64]

ooh i like this idea:D Gumpei was an amazing inventor and invented things that are very unique. Even those that not people like it, i still think the virtual boy would have would have great library of games if Nintendo didn't pull the plug on it so early:/ also i like the idea of the game and watch plaque;)

[ASSEMbler]

All I have is the photo of him with me and his autograph on my E3 1995
Daily. If that's what you're looking for me to scan, i'll get on it.

Another place with some rare photos of Gumpei would have to be:

http://yokoicredits.bananachan.net/

The higher the resolution the better herman.

[Tchoin]

So, ASSEMbler, your idea is for it to look something like this right?

http://yokoicredits.bananachan.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/preview1.png

But instead of the full body, a bust on top of the Gameboy base?

That's a papercraft model from the site Herman included in hist post. Looks pretty cool.

[ASSEMbler]

It would be the gameboy, upright as a column. At the top would be a shoulder up bust of him, in a classic greek sense.

[Barc0de]

It would be the gameboy, upright as a column. At the top would be a shoulder up bust of him, in a classic greek sense.


I like your thinking

[virtual alan]

So, ASSEMbler, your idea is for it to look something like this right?

http://yokoicredits.bananachan.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/preview1.png

But instead of the full body, a bust on top of the Gameboy base?

That's a papercraft model from the site Herman included in hist post. Looks pretty cool.


Or as a NES arcade controller or smiliar with him as the stick/controller

[MetalSlime]

I'm sure it would be alot of work but a base of the ship from Super Metroid would look quite cool with him standing in the middle like Samus did while recharging/saving.

[ASSEMbler]

I want keep it tasteful and something one could have out and not seem like it's a freebie from e3

[Barc0de]

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8393/gunpei001.png

tell em to make a couple of these;p

Marble for the GB, Bronze for the statue

[ASSEMbler]

It would be a much smaller bust, in line with the width of the gameboy. Brass or bronze is stupidly expensive.

Lol damn man, make him smiling. It looks like a death mask hah

[Barc0de]

Maybe it would be more practical to fit his bust on a GB gamepak so it can sit in any ordinary GB - maybe even containing a ROM with some words etc.

[ASSEMbler]

Maybe it would be more practical to fit his bust on a GB gamepak so it can sit in any ordinary GB - maybe even containing a ROM with some words etc.

We still need a picture from herman.

[Herman]

We still need a picture from herman.

Alright, i'll get on it today. Whom should I send the file over to ?


http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/8393/gunpei001.png

tell em to make a couple of these;p

Marble for the GB, Bronze for the statue

I second that. It be nice to have some of these statues made exclusively to the
contributors. Kinda like those gold & platinum records awards an artist / producers receives. We could all pitch-in some money to have this done. Just a thought.

[Barc0de]

it doesn't need to be museum-sized, unless it's going to the Smithsonian. Oscar-sized or smaller is possible, no?

[Herman]

it doesn't need to be museum-sized, unless it's going to the Smithsonian. Oscar-sized or smaller is possible, no?

Oscar size sounds good coming from us. But eventually Gumpei Yokoi deserves a spot at the Smithsonian on a grand scale. Without Gumpei and Miyamoto, its no tellin wether there would be a gaming industry today or not.

[Tchoin]

So, any news on this?

[ASSEMbler]

So, any news on this?

No picture yet.

[Herman]

No picture yet.

Whom should I send the picture and signature over to ?

[Barc0de]

Oscar size sounds good coming from us. But eventually Gumpei Yokoi deserves a spot at the Smithsonian on a grand scale. Without Gumpei and Miyamoto, its no tellin wether there would be a gaming industry today or not.


agreed to the letter

[Jamtex]

Anyone read his fascinating autobiography that was published in Japan?

[Barc0de]

no, I don't have the jap.lang drivers in my brain, someone care to install or interpret, recompile the book in proper in english?

[Herman]

Anyone read his fascinating autobiography that was published in Japan?

No, but i'm actually waiting for the French and English translation of the Takefumi Makino book coming soon by these guys:

http://www.gameblog.fr/blogs/pixnlove/p_3639_un-genie-s-invite-chez-pix-n-love-annonce-exclusive

[ASSEMbler]

Any news on the picture?

[Herman]

Any news on the picture?

The scan of the pic is ready to go. I just need to know whom to send
it over to.

[Buyatari]

The scan of the pic is ready to go. I just need to know whom to send
it over to.

Send it to Assembler.

[Tchoin]

So...

Any updates on this? :-P

[ASSEMbler]

I gave him the wrong email to send the pic lol. I replied with a pm containing the correct email address.

[Chi-kitory]

Did this ever happen?

[redstar_dan]

Hi,

Not sure how far this project has come, or what has come of this, however I have a thought.

My idea would be to have the skilled programmers, create a short interactive experience that could run on a original gameboy. I am not talking anything to complex. It would be awesome to put a cart into a gameboy, and then see a tribute to Gumpei appear on the handheld.

One could create a custom cart label to go with it, maybe somebody could respray the cart gold/silver and re-spray a gameboy to match.

Im sure there are some really talented programmers on here, this approach could have a more original and successfull outcome, over a bust approach.

I realise there could be a lot of work involved here. I thought I would throw this out there as an idea.

Dan.

[Alchy]

create a short interactive experience that could run on a original gameboy.http://gbdev.gg8.se/wiki/articles/Tutorials
http://www.devrs.com/gb/docs.php#faqs
Give it a go yourself, a simple text tribute should be within reach of anyone persistent enough, regardless of programming ability, even if it's just messing around with a "hello world" code example.

[redstar_dan]

Wow thanks! I will have a good look at the content from those links over the next few days, see If I can come up with something. Cheers!

[Kao]

No sure if this is any use, but here's a photo from a French biography of the man when he was younger:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfi7cyzkSk1qzp9weo1_400.jpg

The biography itself might be useful as well:
http://editionspixnlove.fr/collectiondetail.php?ID=49

I wonder if it's available in English as well? It looks like a good read.

[ASSEMbler]

Amazing photo.

[MetalSlime]

Gumpei rocking the pompadour and Elvis side burns, so awesome!

[ASSEMbler]

Anyone know about silicon molds?

[Cyantist]

Anyone know about silicon molds?

Maybe bacteria might know something.

[FlabberGaster]

I think it'd be cool to make a plaque look like the game boy, and then have his face put on the screen.

[kuji]

I did a report about him I believe a year ago for my game dev class.

[LeGIt]

It would look much nicer as a gameboy with a picture of Gunbpei Yokoi on the screen, not sat on top like a GameBoy Camera.

If you wanted to take it to the next level you could make a ROM as a photo gallery or something and flash it to a cart and have it displayed on a real GameBoy. Maybe even bronze said GameBoy.

IMO the best way to remember them is not via plaque etc, but buy continuing to buy and enjoy their products.

[ave]

No sure if this is any use, but here's a photo from a French biography of the man when he was younger:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfi7cyzkSk1qzp9weo1_400.jpg

The biography itself might be useful as well:
http://editionspixnlove.fr/collectiondetail.php?ID=49

I wonder if it's available in English as well? It looks like a good read.

I don't think so. I have the book, but can't access it right now... it's probably the best source for information on the man available though (at least as far as non-Japanese books go, I don't know if there are better biographies on him in Japan).

[ASSEMbler]

Anyone in Japan able to get his book?