FACT! #38

Coleco's Telstar was released in 1976 for the low, low price of $50 was yet another clone of Atari's massively successful PONG game. The original system really didn't stand out but stuck around for a few years as it was released after Atari made a home version of PONG available and the same year that they were to release their VCS/2600 system.

Nowadays the Coleco Telstar doesn't fetch too much on the market, selling in the range of $10 to $50. Definitely a change from a company that originally produced leather.

FACT! #37

Generations of people have grown up with the Cap'n and have been taught since childhood that with his help, we can totally make it hap'n. Cap'n Crunch cereal was first produced in 1963 and the ever famous mascot, Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch, was designed by Jay Ward Productions which produced the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.

Many of the old commercials pit Cap'n Crunch up against the villainous Jean LaFoote, who has made sporadic returns as of this posting. Originally Cap'n Crunch was voiced by veteran voice actor Daws Butler (famous for being the voice of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and many more.)

As of this posting, no one knows exactly what his feelings are of ninjas. I suspect that, until ninjas attempt to steal his cereal, that he doesn't particularly concern himself with them.

FACT! #36

In 1792, the United States Coinage Act was signed into law and the first, undisputed, coins were minted the following year in 1793. The first of the US pennies was named the Flowing Hair Large Cent with Chain Reverse.

The chain was symbolic for the unity of the newly formed nation, there are 13 loops, representing the 13 states in the new county. Though the chain had been used before on pre-Mint coins, the public didn't respond positively to it. There were fewer than 40,000 reportedly minted and today, the original "chain" pennies go for several thousands of dollars apiece.

There was another unique feature, as a handful of the coins were minted with "AMERI." replacing "AMERICA" on the backside. Those easily fetch $7,000+ even in today's market.

I can see why the original US citizens didn't like the coin. Lady Liberty looks freaky as Hell. I've had nightmares of faces like that spitting Corn Nuts at me.

VVAC's VG Review - Dragon Warrior I Part II

We return to our regularly schedule pseudo-review thingamajig... Jiggy.. Jiggy wit it. Sorry, I have no idea what just came over me. I think I was invoking a bit of Fresh Prince, but came up a mile short.

Well, after returning to the game, I found myself back in front of the king, trying to explain exactly why I hadn't saved his daughter yet. I was lucky that I blamed it on a literal lack of experience, but in reality, I just get off on the idea of watching a dragon keep a princess captive.

(Un)fortunately, I needed to get on with the hero saving the princess action. Though I had to do the greatest thing in any RPG ever created EVAR: Grinding. -_- For those who really don't know what that is (and I both pity and am jealous of you) it's when you sit back for a long time fighting random encounters to increase your character/s' level. This process can take a long, long, loooooooooong time. Luckily for me, I had plenty of time.

After spending a bit of time fighting random creatures, this sign came up. Look at the experience points, 2011. I swear it's an omen. Now that I think about it... How far off was 2001: A Space Odyssey? We're 10 years ahead of that and look at us! No Hal 9000. Not even a T-1000.

Of course, by this point, I was starting to become too strong for a number of the creatures in the area that I felt comfortable working on up. This caused them to run away often...

Usually in a row. This was right after the previous picture...

Damn it, you cock! Seriously, I ran into that guy three times in a row and each time he ran away before I was ready. My agility is higher than his, this is balls! BALLS I SAY!

I ended up deciding to head down to Rimuldar, which is a semi-important town to visit. I wasn't terribly under leveled, but it wasn't going to be easy. The cave down to Rimuldar is very, very straight forward. So much so that I can actually navigate it without sound or being able to see a single square beyond my character. It's down for a long time, right, down, right, down, left...

...God, I feel sickened with myself.

I never really questioned it when I was a kid... But how in the hell did scorpions and, what I'm guessing is tin or iron, mate and produce that? Where does this fit in the evolutionary process? I wonder how much I can scrap them for...

Then again, why am I questioning the logic behind a metal scorpion? The game has wolves wearing a tunic and leather boots... Not to mention learned how to walk on two feet and apparently discovered steroids. Needless to say, if I saw one walking towards me... I'd probably cry.

At approximately $1,600 an ounce... I wonder how much that guy is worth? Maybe this whole "metal evolving into living creatures" thing isn't so horrible. Unless this guy's fool's gold. Then he can go screw himself.

I've always wanted a private island in the middle of a village. That guy looks so cool and he tells us a great story about Erdrick and... Wait... Erdrick created a rainbow?

...Gayyyyyyy.

For make sexy good times, yes?

This is Orwick. I remember seeing him when I was a kid and, for a while, didn't know you could talk to him. Actually, I thought it was a her for the longest time and felt funny thinking about "her" waiting for "her" girlfriend.

So the poor bloke has been sitting around waiting for his girlfriend. Where is she during all of this?...

Literally on the other side of town. Why in the HELL would Orwick have you meet him there? Especially if you two are supposedly going out to eat. No, you idiot, you sit there and starve. Hope you go to Hell.

The largest building in town is... Actually pretty damn useless in the grand scheme of things. Though it does tell you where to go next. To the south it is! Though that person next to me looks pretty interested in this conversation.

...Okay, so I need to go south, but if I do, I'll be mauled? What type of adventure is this?! I should've stuck with the Adventures of Lolo. Also, doesn't that sound a little bit like something a villain in Scooby Doo would've said?

So this entire time, I've kinda kept this building under wraps. What's suppose to be in there and who designed this town? Why would you want to make it so the only way in to you building was to either make an unnecessarily long trip around the perimeter of the town or risk fording a moat and drowning in it... Or catching Dysentery?

Underneath the menu is a bridge leading in.

Magic keys! And they unlock any door! YES! I can now sneak into secret areas that are always locked. Like... Forest Service Road Gates? And uhm... Valhalla? Meh, I'd probably just sneak into businesses after they close and steal crap, or spy on people. These keys unlock any door, so I can go wherever, really.

Also it's dawned on me that the game capitalizes GOLD like some old timey western prospector.

So I finally get tired of screwing around in town and head south to the magic temple. Entering it after fighting actually fairly hard monsters, I expect a hero's welcome. Instead, this dick is in there and kicks me out. Ass.

After buying better equipment and gaining a level, I decide that I'm strong enough to save Gwaelin. Now, the princess is actually being held captive in the cave that I took without really being able to see where I was going. Seriously, it's that simple. Though I suck and don't know how to get to the princess without light.

In keeping with its historical accuracy, Dragon Warrior makes sure to use a Green Dragon as the villain keeping the princess captive. It's not really talked about in most history books, but whenever a princess goes missing, a dragon is to blame. It's honestly going to be behind a dragon that we'll find Anastasia.

Oh yeah, this goon laid the smack down on me a bit before I put him to sleep and he stayed asleep as I wailed on him.

Once you beat the dragon, you're able to get to the princess... Provided you have a damn Magic Key. By the way, I should mention, you need to have one before leaving Rimuldar to save Gwaelin.

And my how the princess looks... Sick? Wow, she looks dead to me. I guess being trapped in a cell for God knows how long can leave you looking ill. That, or she's actually being quarantined to prevent the spread of the Black Death. Oh well, time to bring her home!

No bitch, you're walking. 

After saving her, she jumps into your arms to spread the plague to you. Oh well, you can at least use her as a meat shield, or a weapon of some sort. Imagine grabbing her by the ankles and swinging her at your enemies. They may be monsters, but they'll think twice about screwing with you when you come barreling at them swinging a member of your own species as a weapon.

Unless you have an item called Wings or something like that, or the spell Return, you're in for a LOOOOONG walk home with princess plague weighing you down. But eventually you'll make it back to Tantegel Castle. And with the princess in your arms, you're sure to be hailed as a hero.

...Except you're not. Either these are the most serious guards in the world, or they're just dicks who honestly don't give a shit about their princess. Whatever, I'm sure that guy just around the corner who was looking for the princess (by doing nothing) will be elated to see her!

...What a dick. At least King Lorik is glad to see his daughter home safely. A job well done! And what does Gwaelin have for you? Gold? Gems? Her virginity? That's unlikely, she was defiled by the dragon more than once.

A question. This heinous bitch, who you just busted your ass trying to save, asks you whether you love her or not. So, of course, after this, you say "no." The problem here is that she refuses to let you say no. So yeah, she's definitely a princess.

This is one of the better known parts of the game as you can keep breaking her heart for hours on end, but her undying optimism (read: spoiled bratty nature) keeps her from accepting anything you say as truth. She's a princess, whatever reality she wants is the reality we all live in.

Trust me, it's just easier to lie to her than anything else. It gets her to shut up and when you stomp on her heart later, it'll be oh so sweet.

So now Princess Gwaelin is home safe now, but your adventure isn't quite over yet. There's many mysteries for you to find solutions to and there's the whole "Dragonlord" menace that's causing so much shit in your home land. There's still plenty of game left (eh, not really, it's short) to go through, so make sure you return for exciting Part III of this review-type-thing.

One last note, just because I felt bad for him. I ended up talking to Croaky McDeathmiser in Brecconary village after saving the princess... You know, just to rub it in that I saved the princess whereas he failed and barely made it home to his family alive.

That's when I found out he'd gone deaf and blind. Oh well, that didn't stop me from pushing him over and rubbing my victory into him. I'll let you figure out how I did that.

FACT! #35

Founded in 1898, the company we now know as NABISCO was originally named the National Biscuit Company. The name Nabisco originated from a wafer that the company produced back in the early years of the 20th century. By 1971, the name was officially changed to NABISCO.

They really lucked out with the name, in my opinion. Nabisco rolls of the tongue nice and easy. Now I'm in the mood for an Oreo or a Chips Ahoy! Also, I'm selling a vintage 1969 Nabisco Saltine's tin. Check it out under My eBay Listings.

FACT! #34

Released in 1976 for $169.95 by Fairchild Semiconductors, the Channel F was the first video game console that used interchangeable and programmable cartridges, predating Atari's VCS/2600 by approximately a year. Each cartridge had a number printed on them and ranged from 1 - 26.

Nowadays the cartridges go for about $10 some going up to $20. The system itself goes for $50 to as much as $200.

FACT! #33

Though people often associate anything Mars related as being invented and introduced in America first... Those same people forget that Mars, Inc. has had a long and powerful position in the British market as well. Introduced in 1967 in the United Kingdom, Twix made stayed across the great pond for more than a decade before finally being brought over to the United States in 1979.

The old slogan "Two for me, none for you" resulted in hundreds of deaths as people refused to take that answer. Apparently risking your life was completely worth the price of at least one Twix. Makes me wonder if they used to bestow those who ate them the power of the Highlander.

Update Post - 07/21/2011

Made a couple quick changes to the blog... Namely adding in a skyscraper ad to the top-right and halfway down the gadget boxes, a list of links that I think many of you may be interested in visiting. Most of these are websites I find myself frequenting on a daily basis and figure many of them to be of interest to you, my readers. The collection of links also contain a link to my eBay page with items I'm selling... So check them links out!

Hopefully have a FACT! up tomorrow and an actual article up either tomorrow or Saturday. I really need to stop procrastinating so badly on articles. @_@

They Might Be Giants - Join Us

Get it. Love it. Listen to it. Offer your soul to me.

They Might Be Giants are still out there and rocking just as hard now as they did... Ever? I guess. Either way, their latest album Join Us was released on July 19th, 2011. It's absolutely amazing and is undoubtedly TMBG. Go out and look up some of the songs, see if you like it, then pick up the album. They did a great job with this one.

Join Us - Can't Keep Johnny Down

Link to the song, enjoy!

FACT! #32

And I lost $5 on A. Piker Clerk! I guess I shouldn't have trusted something that ran for a year and then was pulled. Bud Fisher's Mutt and Jeff is widely, if incorrectly, considered the first newspaper comic strip that was printed daily. Debuting in 1907 in the San Francisco Chronicle, the strip was originally titled A. Mutt. The strip's namesake, Augustus Mutt, was a tall tinhorn man who, much like Piker Clerk from the earlier comic, would bet on horse races one day, with the next strip showing A. Mutt's reaction depending on whether he won or lost. He would then make yet another bet.

The comic strip probably wouldn't have lasted too much longer if not for the arrival of Jeff... A much shorter man that Mutt met in a mental institution in 1908. The name of the strip changed to Mutt and Jeff shortly thereafter and the rest is history. The strip continued to be run until 1982.

It should be noted that this is another example of a comic strip lending a word or phrase to the English language. The phrase "Mutt and Jeff" came into existence to describe a pair of people, one tall, one short.

Update Post - 07/18/2011

After over a month of operation, I'm going to state that the rate that I post FACT!s and other things may drop a bit. The goal I've had to myself is 4 - 5 FACT!s and 1 or 2 articles a week since the blog started. So if I don't do a FACT! a couple times a week, don't worry too much. And no... This doesn't mean I don't have enough FACT!s, I really see no end to that series in sight, easily have enough to get us into 2012.

I'm going to be doing a handful of changes to the blog. The major change will likely be the addition of a "favorite links" list on the right side of the page. These will be filled with links to websites I really enjoy and think many of you would enjoy as well.

Have a good day! Should have an article or two up this week!

Fact! #31

Running from 1903 to 1904, A. Piker Clerk (by Clare Briggs b. 1875 - d. 1930) was very unusual due to the way it was presented, which required it to be ran daily. This gives it the distinction of being the earliest known daily comic strip.

At the time, it was unheard of for a comic to be done daily, since most were very elaborate and required much time to be drawn. There was also the issue of space as daily newspapers were often smaller than the Sunday newspapers which had dedicated comic sections. As such, A. Piker Clerk appeared in the sports section of the Chicago American.

The usual situation was that Piker Clerk would make a bet on one of the horses running in races that day and the next day, his reaction would be shown based on whether he won or not. This idea was used later in the first long-term daily comic strip that, more-or-less, actually got the ball rolling for daily strips.

It was pulled from the newspaper in 1904 as the owner of the paper, William Randolph Hearst, considered it "too obscene."

FACT! #30

First designed and distributed by General Consumer Electronics, then later, Milton Bradley (after MB purchased GCE), the Vectrex is famous for being an early 3D gaming system. Using Vector Graphics, the Vectrex rendered 3D wire-frame objects on the screen. It was also known for having a monitor built into the system, whereas most consoles, even today, require a pre-existing monitor to plug into.

The system was released late in 1982 at a retail price of $199. By the time the video game market began to wane in 1983, the system was $150 new, then, finally, $100 by early 1984 before it completely left the market.

VVAC eBay! Coins for sale!

Hey! Anyone who's anyone is totally bidding on the two lots of wheat pennies I have for sale on eBay!

Huge wheat penny lot, 1920 - 1929 mixed date, mint and more.

Huge wheat penny lot, 1930 - 1939 mixed date, mint mark.

So if you wanna help Virtual Vintage Antiques and Collectibles and, by extension, this super sweet, totally rad, blog... Go over there and bid! Buy It Now's of $50 on each of them!

Expect more auctions to be posted here... Also, expect a FACT! later today!

FACT! #29

I sincerely could do dozens upon dozens of FACT!s based on different sodas and everything. Though I've been itching to do this one since I caught the bug. Originally introduced in 1992, Crystal Pepsi was essentially the same Pepsi cola that everyone knew, but without the food coloring to turn it into the epic brown sludge that we love.

Initially tested in a handful of markets in 1992, it was released nationwide early in 1993 before suddenly being pulled from the shelves. Though there was positive response in the test markets, it seemed the rest of the nation wasn't ready to give a clear cola a shot. Many people claimed that it simply didn't taste the same and went on to prove the importance of food colors in the foods that we eat; they're almost as visual as they are flavor based.

Though I personally believe that there was more at play than that. This was less than a decade after the "New Coke" catastrophe, where Coca-Cola reformulated their original drink and saw their market share plummet rapidly. This was still fresh in people's minds. We weren't ready for another cola to mess with their formula at all and we'd be damned if we were going to put money towards it!

Regardless, you damn well better believe that, should I get my hands on some, that I am going to give it a try. I don't remember trying it when it first came out (though my memory's terrible.) I feel like I am missing out, even if it's still the regular Pepsi with a cool, clear look, hip and fresh for the 1990s!

Update Post - 07/15/2011

As many of you probably noticed, there was no post made on the 13th of this month. That was due to me not feeling too well and spending the vast majority of the day at OMSI at the GameOn2.0 exhibit. There weren't many opportunities to take pictures but we did get a few while we were there. So expect the review on GameOn2.0 sometime in the next week or so.

I still have a number of articles that I need to work on getting up, including the second part to the Dragon Warrior I game review whatchamacallit thing. I do want to point out that tomorrow is our first month anniversary! So I gotta figure something special for tomorrow's FACT!

Should be an interesting second half of July here. So stay tuned and remember, keep spreading the word!

Fact! #28

Starting in 1916, the US Mint began production on their Winged Liberty Dime, better known as the Mercury Dime. Many people, obviously, noted the similarities between the image of Lady Liberty on this coin to the ancient Roman god Mercury. This would have to be in my top ten favorite coins minted by the US. They were minted between 1916 and 1945 when the mint opted to create a new dime bearing the image of former president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had just passed away.

For the most part, these aren't terribly expensive, often going only for silver smelt value (they were 10% copper/90% silver) and only a handful of them fetch decent prices. These include the 1921 and 1921-D, the 1931-D and a few varieties of errors such as the 1942 with a 1 underneath the 2. But the rarest of them all would be the 1916-D which had a small production of a quarter-million. Those sell regularly in the $750 - $1,250 range for the poorest grades, with better grades fetching in excess of $5,000 and mint conditioned types going for well over $10,000.

FACT! #27

Perhaps one of the more influential European strips would have to be The Adventures of TinTin. Debuting in 1929 written by Georges Prosper Remi (b. 1907 - d. 1983) under the pen name Herge, TinTin quickly became quite the success.

Essentially just an adventure strip about a plucky young journalist and his dog, the cast is rounded out by a number of wonderfully charming characters. The adventures TinTin and his dog Snowy go on usually require him to deduce the situations logically and solve numerous mysteries.

Many Americans (especially GenerationX and GenY kids) were introduced to TinTin thanks to the cartoon The Adventures of TinTin that was produced from 1991 - 1992. I remember watching this series when I was a kid and falling in love with it. It was absolutely wonderful and it's no surprise to me that TinTin was such an international sensation.

Herge wrote 23 complete adventures for TinTin, leaving a 24th unfinished, between 1929 and 1983. The unfinished book ended with a cliffhanger as TinTin was about to possibly be killed.

FACT! #26

Originally programmed in 1984 by Alexey Pajitov, Tetris soon became a wildly popular game and was an international sensation during the latter part of the Cold War. Tetris should've made Alexey Pajitov millions of dollars... But due to the fact that the game was designed under Soviet rule, he was not able to make any profit off of it.

It wasn't until 1996 that Pajitov began to be paid royalties for his work, over a decade after its initial release and development. The Soviet Union was the recipient of the vast majority of the money generated by the game.

FACT! #25

Though I'm certain plenty of people already know this, after being mentioned in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Pac-Man was originally named Puck-Man in Japan. Makes sense considering that he was shaped like a puck and the story goes that his creator was inspired by a pizza with a slice missing.

The reason the translation didn't stay makes plenty of sense. When Puck-Man was about to be sent to the United States, Namco and Midway feared that vandals would scratch out part of the P in Puck to become an F, thus creating an unsightly curse word that would cause parents to not let their kids play the F-bomb game. They wisely changed the title to Pac-Man and the rest is history!

FACT! #24

Back in 1954, Royal Crown Cola was the first soda to be sold in cans. Though it wouldn't be for a few years (approximately 1960) that they were sold in aluminum cans. Though they didn't have as much market penetration as Pepsi or Coca-Cola, they ultimately led the way in soda distribution. To this day, aluminum cans are widely available and have become the standard for most sodas.

FACT! #23

Here he is performing the crane move.

 

Rich Uncle Pennybags (Now known as Mr. Monopoly. To that, I call balls!) is a time honored mascot for the game Monopoly. But few people realize his true roots. He was first seen in an old Parker Brothers' game named Dig, before receiving his name after having his likeness associated with the game Rich Uncle which debuted in 1933.

Oh GOD! It's as if Wilford Brimley mated with Uncle Pennybags! SLAY THE BEAST!

 

It wouldn't be for a few more years until Pennybags would grace Monopoly when, in 1936, he first appeared on select Community Chest and Chance cards. From there, he became associated with Monopoly more than any other game or character (except for that dick, Officer Edgar Mallory) and starting in 1985, the jolly man appeared in the second O on the box's lid.

Update Post

Decided that it's time to actually bring up some possible future plans for Virtual Vintage Antiques and Collectibles and this blog so people can have an idea of what's going to be on... Or that's what I'm going to tell myself. In reality, I just wanted to make another post today.

I do want to mention that there's a distinct possibility that VVAC will be at OMSI in Portland, Oregon sometime this summer to visit their GameOn 2.0 exhibit. It sounds like a really amazing exhibit that is about the growing history of video games (40+ years now) and that you may be able to play a number of games while there. I'm going to assume that they have a number of various gaming types there such as arcade games, perhaps console gaming and physical games. Won't know until we get there.

That isn't the only event that VVAC should be going to this year. We're (read: At this time, "I") am hopefully going to be attending KumoriCon for my 8th consecutive year and I'd love to be able to attend the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Both events take place in September (KumoriCon at the beginning of the month, Gaming Expo at the end.) So we'll see what happens. It'd be awesome to get in on a press badge or something to any of the events, but I am sincerely not going to hold my breath. Just a pipe dream.

Some time in the near future, VVAC should be launching an official Facebook page. So if you happen to like this blog and want to show it... Not to mention REALLY help us out here... When the page is up, Like us!

There's still plenty of FACT!s for me to go through and I do have some articles lined up. Just need to decide when I want to do them. If I end up going to any events, I'll make sure to write up about them and share them with all of y'all.

Thanks for reading and I'm really enjoying hearing some of the feedback that I've heard so far. It's definitely a nice boost. I really enjoy doing this and I'm kinda shocked it's gone this long and is starting to grow outside of a group of friends. I'm starting to get views from other nations that I either didn't think still existed, or don't know anyone from there on-or-offline.

FACT! #22

Perhaps one of the most commonly known errors in the coin market would have to be the 1955 Double Die Lincoln Wheat Penny. As you can see, when the coin was struck, the text on it was struck twice instead of once, creating a trippy, drop-down effect.

While well known, that doesn't mean they necessarily are easy to come by and do fetch quite a bit even in poor conditions. For the most part, the cheapest one you'll find will sit in the $750 - $1000 range, though in slightly better conditions, you can expect to fork $1,500 - $2,000 per coin.

Profiles of Awesome - Gunpei Yokoi

Another giant in the video game industry, Gunpei Yokoi's influence is still seen today. If not for him, the handheld gaming market wouldn't look anything like it does today. Unfortunately, despite numerous grand slam successes, Gunpei Yokoi is often known for his biggest failure. A sad fate indeed for a man whom single handedly saved one of the largest companies in the world.

Born in 1941, Gunpei Yokoi attended Doshisha University and graduated with a degree in electronics. After putting in a handful of applications at various businesses in Kyoto, Japan, he was hired by Nintendo Co., Ltd. in 1965 to help maintain the machines that were producing their Hanafuda Cards.

During the mid-1960s, Nintendo was busy trying to find a new niche market to settle into. While their Hanafuda cards were quite popular, there was only so far playing cards could take you. The company began a flurry of new business ventures including a love hotel, a taxi service and an instant rice company.

Unfortunately, none of those ideas were quite the successes the company was hoping for. This led then-president Hiroshi Yamauchi to ponder new ideas. While walking around the manufacturing floor, he noticed a young Gunpei Yokoi playing with an odd looking device. When Yamauchi spotted it, he approached the man and asked him to show him how the device works. After watching it in action, Yamauchi was very impressed and requested Yokoi to help manufacture more of them.

This was the birth of Yokoi's first major success, the Ultra Hand. The Ultra Hand helped bring Nintendo into the toy industry in 1966 and sold over a million units the following holiday season. The popularity of the toy injected new capital into the company, which they then used to attempt to compete with Tomy and Bandai, the two major toy companies in Japan.

 Designed to extend your reach before breaking while grabbing a weight.

Though they were initially successful, Nintendo opted to exit the toy industry for the most part and began to focus on the development and manufacturing of electronics. With his background in it, Yokoi was brought on as the company's second game developer.

In the late-1970s, Yokoi was on a bullet train when he spotted a businessman idly punching at the buttons on his LCD calculator. This inspired Yokoi who quickly developed a handheld gaming system that could be used to pass the time. In 1980, Yokoi's first series, the Game and Watch line, was launched with quite a bit of success.

 Mr. Game and Watch breaking balls once again.

The games were simple LCD games that ran on small batteries and were a gaming device that happened to have a time function which inspired the name Game and Watch. Many of them were designed with a unique clamshell design that would later be used by Nintendo for use on their Game Boy Advanced SP and Nintendo DS. Many, many different titles were launched under the Game and Watch line and the series lasted, in total, 11 years with over 40 million units sold.

During the early 1980s, Yokoi was put in charge in keeping an eye on the development of the company's  new Donkey Kong game. It was at this time that he really got to know Shigeru Miyamoto and soon became the younger Miyamoto's mentor. Donkey Kong became a massive success and soon Yokoi and Miyamoto were working on a new game, their second Mario game, Mario Bros. which was released in 1983. Yokoi suggested that the game be a multiplayer game with one person controlling Mario and the other controlling Luigi.

In 1983, the gaming industry came to a screeching halt due to the infamous video game crash of that year. Many retailers were very worried over stocking video games, viewing them as a passing fad. Yokoi assisted in the development of one of the Famicom's/NES' main selling points, the Robotic Operating Buddy, popularly known as R.O.B.

 Yes, you could program him to grab you a beer.

After distribution negotiations with Atari fell through, Nintendo sought to market their system in North America themselves. The R.O.B. was a cornerstone of their marketing plan, helping make the NES stand head and shoulders above their competition. Who didn't want a personal robot back in the 1980s? The plan was a massive success, allowing Nintendo to build a fan base before discontinuing their R.O.B. add-on. During the mid-1980s, Yokoi helped design two major titles for Nintendo, Metroid and Kid Icarus.

 I know it's a monochrome screen, but I argue puke-green is more than one color.

While at this point, Gunpei Yokoi would've easily been well remembered as a giant in the gaming industry, his biggest contribution to the world of video games was to be developed at the close of the 1980s. In 1989, Yokoi's handheld system, the Game Boy, was launched. It became a titanic success and helped secure Nintendo's domination in the handheld market until this very day.

The Game Boy basically defined the handheld market and in less than 10 years, had sold in excess of 60 million units. The system had a long battery life, though was limited in the color displays as the screen was a monochromatic display.

It's said that it was always Gunpei Yokoi's intention to retire at the age of 50 to do what he pleased. Though 1991, his 50th birthday, came and went. In 1994, the sequel to Yokoi's popular Metroid game was released, Super Metroid. It was in this year that Nintendo began to develop their latest gaming device. It was designed to be a "true" 3D gaming experience that utilized an effect similar to the Red Blue anaglyph format.

Yokoi was reported saying (David Sheff's "Game Over" from Random House, 1993) that he didn't think the device, named the Virtual Boy, was quite ready for production. But at this time, Nintendo was facing quite a bit of heat from Sony and their PlayStation system. The company quickly redirected focus and energy  from the Virtual Boy into the development of their next generation gaming console, the Nintendo 64. The Virtual Boy was released in 1995 and bucked Yokoi's trend of successes. The system was considered a miserable failure. Many players reported dizziness and a general lack of comfort thanks to the display set up.

 You're telling me that causing eyestrain and forcing people to sit uncomfortably for hours may be a design flaw? Get outta here.

By this time, Yokoi was ready to retire. Though he helped redesign the Game Boy to make it smaller and more portable. The Game Boy Pocket was released in 1996 and was yet another major hit. It was the last item developed by Yokoi for Nintendo before retiring to set up his own company, Koto. Koto was tapped to assist Bandai in the development of their WonderSwan handheld system.

Though his post-Nintendo life was going to be tragically short. In October 1997, while driving northeast of Tokyo with a friend Etsuo Kiso. The two accidentally hit a truck in front of them. The accident was minor and Yokoi stepped out of his vehicle to inspect the damage when another car hit him, causing fatal injuries.

Gunpei Yokoi passed away October 4th, 1997, just after the accident. Leaving a tremendous legacy and having influenced many of the great video game designers of the 1980s and beyond. He was 56 years old. The WonderSwan would go on to be released and stay in production for a few years. Though it couldn't hold much of a candle against Yokoi's main claim to fame, the Game Boy. The final device in the Game Boy system line was the Game Boy Micro in 2005.

 Gunpei Yokoi simply waved his hand and created magic. Suck it, David Copperfield.

Though the inspiration lives on. Metroid and Kid Icarus are considered classics from gaming's second golden age and the designs used for the original Game and Watch line are still being used in Nintendo's DS systems. It's very clear that without Yokoi, Nintendo may not have been around as we know it today. If not for his idle creation, the Ultra Hand, Nintendo may never have attempted to enter the toy industry that led to their entry into the gaming world.

Nintendo didn't have a huge budgeting campaign for the Game Boy. Instead, they took this picture and managed to sell millions of units.

So, for his awesome work in the world of gaming, we here at Virtual Vintage Antiques and Collectibles tip our hat to him and bestow him with the greatest honor that we can: Gunpei Yokoi - Legendarily Awesome!

(Most of this information came from years of studying gaming history, with additional information coming from www.wikipedia.org, www.mariowiki.com and David Sheff's 1993 "Game Over" book.)