Gunpei Yokoi, a former Nintendo employee and creator of the Game Boy, is also credited with an inspirational philosophy about innovating “mature” technologies. In his book Yokoi Gunpei Game House, Yokoi discusses his approach to improving on old ideas using lateral thinking to produce something both radical and innovative. He even suggested that pushing cutting edge technology sometimes gets in the way of developing a new product.

It’s easy to draw parallels between his philosophy and the Nintendo Wii’s recent success. Wikipedia’s article on the topic even goes back to Nintendo’s Game and Watch products, explaining how other innovations at that time meant LCD screens were cheap and plentiful, so by thinking laterally Nintendo used to this to create a new type of product. The same article contrasts this with knowing when the time is ripe for tech…

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