Gumpei Yokoi, creator of Nintendo's Game Boy, was killed Saturday in Japan when he and an associate were struck by a car while inspecting damage from a previous, relatively minor freeway collision.
Yokoi played a key role in transforming Nintendo from its beginnings in 1989 selling Hanafuda - a type of playing card - into a giant of the videogame industry. After the disappointing results of his Virtual Boy project, however, Yokoi left the company, which is known for an unforgiving management style.
Yokoi had recently been busy developing his own series of handheld children's games. He was 56 years old.
