Gunpei Yokoi, a former Nintendo Co. toy developer who helped bring Nintendo succeed in the videogame market, died Saturday in Japan after being struck by a car on the Hokuriku Expressway in Neagarimachi, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Yokoi, a 56-year old Kyoto native, was riding in a car driven by a company executive from Kyoto, when their vehicle read-ended a truck in front of them. The pair had stopped to examine the damage to the two vehicles, when a random car struck the two men. His associate sustained a fractured rib, but Yokoi was seriously injured. He was pronounced dead at a near-by hospital two hours afterward.

Yokoi was well-renowned for his creative talent and was responsible, among other things, for creating the Game & Watch series of handhelds, Game Boy, Virtual Boy and Game Boy Pocket. He also co-designed the Family Computer (Nintendo Entertainment System) and worked on Metroid, a megahit game for that system.

Yokoi resigned from Nintendo in August, 1996 to set up his own toy company, Koto Co., In Kyoto.

We at Atari Gaming Headquarters would like to express our condolences and deepest sympathies to Mr. Yokoi's family.