DS gets Gunpey Rebirth & Super Control Robot MG

5 July 2006

Posted by:Ferry

Straight from the pages of Famitsu comes news that’s very dear to my heart. Gunpei “Gunpey” Yokoi has always been my videogame hero, as I’ll explain below. Here are the two newly announced game descriptions.

Super Control Robot MG
- platform: Nintendo DS
- description: Giant Robot Fighting game with over 100 robots (pictures here!)
- publisher: Nintendo
- developer: Sandlot
- Touch pen control

Gunpey Rebirth
- platform: Nintendo DS & Sony PSP (name Gunpey-Reverse)
- description: puzzle game named after GameBoy inventor *
- release: Fall 2006
- publisher: Bandai Namco
- producer: Mizuguchi
- developer: Q Entertainment
- Stylus & music play, horizontal & vertical levels in original

* Shortly after Gunpei Yokoi left Nintendo, where he worked on many projects since they first got into games, he created games like Kid Icarus & Metroid, and he was the inventor of the Game & Watch, GameBoy (Pocket) & Virtual Boy. When he left Yokoi-san began the new company Koto Laboratory in Kyoto, Japan.

There he began development of the WonderSwan, a handheld developed in partnership between Koto and Bandai. Yokoi never saw the final product of the Wonderswan, which was released in 1999, long after his death in 1997. The first game released for the WonderSwan was named “Gunpey” in his honor. It’s really nice to see “his” game getting versions on the WonderSwan (my favorite!), WonderSwan Color, PSone and now see him spiritually return to Nintendo on the DS (and the PSP as well).

Update: Bandai-Namco has announced that both titles will reach Japan this autumn. Nothing was said about any overseas releases, but with Meteos even getting a Disney edition everywhere, we’re hopeful.