Hiroyuki Takahashi (game producer)
 |
Hiroyuki Takahashi | |
|---|---|
 Takahashi in 2005 | |
| Born | October 30, 1957 |
| Occupation | Video game designer |
| Employer | Camelot Software Planning |
| Known for | Shining series Golden Sun series Mario sports games |
Hiroyuki Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋 宏之, born October 30, 1957), is the president of the video game development studio Camelot Software Planning.[1] He has participated in most of the company's projects as a game designer, producer, and writer.
Career[edit]
Hiroyuki Takahashi started his career in video game production as an employee at Enix, where his work on the Dragon Quest franchise included roles as assistant producer on Dragon Quest IV and executive producer for the North American release of Dragon Warrior II.[2]
Takahashi left Enix and in April 1990 founded the game development studio Climax Entertainment alongside Kan Naito, the chief programmer of Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest IV at Chunsoft.[3][4] Takahashi and Naito were also joined by two former Enix freelancers, artist Yoshitaka Tamaki and programmer Yasuhiro Taguchi.[5][6] Climax's first project was Shining in the Darkness for the Sega Mega Drive, a game which Takahashi wrote and produced.
On June 12, 1991, Takahashi registered a new game company, Sonic! Software Planning, with an 85 percent investment from Sega Enterprises to develop further role-playing games for the Mega Drive. The studio was named after Sonic the Hedgehog, a Sega mascot character whose first game would release that month.[7]
Sonic supported Climax in the development of the first Shining Force, for which Takahashi has design, production, and writing credits. After Climax's departure from the series, Sonic became the primary developer of subsequent Shining games, which Takahashi would continue to produce.
In April 1994, Hiroyuki Takahashi's brother, Shugo Takahashi, founded Camelot Software Planning as an independent studio to develop games for Sony's PlayStation starting with Beyond the Beyond.[8] Camelot would also support Sonic in the development of games in the Shining series including Shining Wisdom and Shining the Holy Ark. After the release of the latter, Sega merged its investment in Sonic into its subsidiary Nextech, and Hiroyuki Takahashi moved to Camelot, where he became president during the development of Shining Force III.[8][9][10]
In late 1998, Sega began focusing their resources on the Dreamcast, leaving Sonic with its last scenario for Shining Force III for the Sega Saturn in jeopardy. After the project was complete, Camelot formed a partnership with Nintendo.[citation needed]
Since working with Nintendo, Camelot has developed many Mario sports games, mainly related to golf and tennis. They have also developed the Golden Sun series of role-playing games.
Works[edit]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Dragon Quest IV | Assistant producer |
| Dragon Warrior II | Executive producer | |
| 1991 | Shining in the Darkness | Producer, scenario |
| 1992 | Shining Force | Producer, game designer, scenario |
| Shining Force Gaiden | Producer, scenario | |
| 1993 | Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya | |
| Shining Force II | Producer, programmer | |
| 1995 | Shining Wisdom | Producer, map designer, scenario |
| 1996 | Shining the Holy Ark | Producer, game designer |
| 1997 | Shining Force III Scenario 1 | Producer, game designer, scenario |
| 1998 | Shining Force III Scenario 2 | |
| Shining Force III Scenario 3 | ||
| 1999 | Mario Golf | Producer, lead game designer |
| 2000 | Mario Tennis | |
| 2001 | Golden Sun | Producer, game designer, scenario |
| 2002 | Golden Sun: The Lost Age | |
| 2003 | Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour | Producer, lead game designer |
| 2004 | Mario Golf: Advance Tour | Producer, game designer, scenario |
| Mario Power Tennis | Producer, lead game designer | |
| 2005 | Mario Tennis: Power Tour | Producer, lead game designer, scenario |
| 2007 | We Love Golf! | Producer, lead game designer |
| 2010 | Golden Sun: Dark Dawn | Producer, game designer, scenario[11] |
| 2012 | Mario Tennis Open | Producer, lead game designer |
| 2014 | Mario Golf: World Tour | Producer, lead game designer, scenario |
| 2015 | Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash | Producer, lead game designer |
| 2017 | Mario Sports Superstars | |
| 2018 | Mario Tennis Aces | |
| 2021 | Mario Golf: Super Rush |
References[edit]
- ^ "Company Outline – 株式会社キャメロット" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
- ^ "Be Mega hot menu special: Special interview talking about Shining and the Darkness", 「BEメガ・ホットメニューSPECIAL 特別インタビュー シャイニング＆ザ・ダクネスを語る」, Beep! MegaDrive (ビープ！メガドライブ), December 1990 Edition (in Japanese). SoftBank, 1990-12-01.
- ^ "Weekly Famitsu Issue 176" (PDF). Weekly Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 176. ASCII. 1992-05-01. pp. 126–129. (Translation by Shmuplations Archived 2019-02-01 at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ "Shining and Darkness: Sudden announcement of an RPG in which Sega has great confidence", 「シャイニング＆ダクネス セガ最大の自信作RPGの速報」, Mega Drive Fan (メガドライブFAN), November 1990 Edition (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, 1990-11-15, pp. 6–9.
- ^ "Yoshitaka Tamaki interview—Animeland", VGDensetsu. Originally published in Animeland, issue 71. 2001-05. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09.
- ^ "Behind the Scenes: Shining Force", 25 Greatest Sega Games. GamesTM, 2009, pp. 22–27.
- ^ "Investment by Climax and Sega!! Game development and market research!!", 「クライマックスとセガが出!! ゲームの企画や市場調査!!」, Mega Drive Fan (メガドライブFAN), November 1991 Edition (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, 1991-11-15, p. 98.
- ^ a b "My history with golf, vol. 22: Camelot Co., Ltd., president and CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi and executive vice president Shugo Takahashi",「わたしのゴルフ履歴書〜Vol.22〜株式会社キャメロット 高橋宏之代表取締役社長、高橋秀五代表取締役副社長」. Gridge. Da-Bird, 2020. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27.
- ^ "Historical Record", Nex Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.
- ^ Shining series history, Camelot Software Planning. Yasuhiro Taguchi. Archived from the original 2000-07-07.
- ^ "Golden Sun: Dark Dawn's Hiroyuki Takahashi on the new game, hoaxes and 3DS". Engadget. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
