To many people, Japan is seen as the spiritual home of gaming; and there’s a very good reason for that. It’s a country that has given a ridiculous amount to the industry over the years, both in terms ofthe fantastic games that have been created thereand the pioneering Japanese talent behind them.
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Although the west has caught up a little recently, Japanese developers still lead the way when it comes toinnovation and creativity in gaming. Not only are these genre-defining visionaries responsible for some of the biggest and most recognizable franchises of all time, but they’ve also inspired countless others along the way.
10Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi first began working for Square in the 1980s and went on to work on many of the company’s biggest games over the next two decades. His greatest achievement, however, wasthe creation ofFinal Fantasy. The huge success of the series over the coming years led to him becoming Square’s executive vice president, although he stepped down from the post in 2003 shortly before the company’s merger with former rivals Enix.
Following his departure from Square, Sakaguchi set up his own development studio called Mistwalker. Having originally started out creating titles for consoles, the studio has since shifted its focus to mobile gaming and has released several successful games for IOS and Android. The most notable of these isTerra Battle; which was downloaded almost two million times and reunited Sakaguchi withlegendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu.
9Shinji Mikami
Shinji Mikami began working at Capcom after attending a college recruitment event in the early nineties and it did not take long for the young designer to make a name for himself at the company. Together with producer Tokuro Fujiwara,he createdResident Evil; which would go on to become one ofthe largest and most successful survival horror franchises of all time.
Mikami worked on the series' first four entries as well as a number of other big titles likeDevil May CryandPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorneybefore leaving the company to start up his own studio in 2004. In the years that followed, he had a hand in the creation of a number of other successful games includingThe Evil Withinand its 2017 sequel.
8Yuji Naka
With Mario helping Nintendo to capture a huge share of the North American video game market in the mid to late eighties, Sega needed a mascot of their own to help turn the tides. Many were considered, butthe company ultimately settled on a blue hedgehog named Sonic. The man responsible for bringing the character to life was a young programmer named Yuji Naka.
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The blue blur took America by storm and catapulted its creator into the spotlight. Naka was given his own team and together they were responsible for the creation of some ofthe best games to ever appear on Sega consoles. Naka has since gone on to set up his own studio which will be releasing a new platformer later this year.
7Yu Suzuki
Yu Suzuki really hit the ground running when he began working at Sega in 1983. Within his first four years at the company, he created eight hugely successful arcade titles includingSpace Harrier,Out Run, andAfter Burner. His next big achievement came in 1993 in the form ofVirtua Fighter;a groundbreaking 3D fighting gamethat completely revolutionized the genre.
With his stock at Sega at an all-time high, Suzuki embarked upon what would prove to be his most ambitious project yet:Shenmue. Upon its release, the game’s state-of-the-art visuals and innovative gameplay mechanics wowed players and critics alike andhelped to lay the groundwork for future open-world games. Suzuki continues to work on the series to this day and is currently in the process of pitching a fourth entry to publishers.
6Toshihiro Nagoshi
Toshihiro Nagoshi actually spent much of his early career working beneath Yu Suzuki at Sega’s legendary AM2 department. He worked as a supervisor and designer on many of the studio’s biggest hits before moving into more senior positions followingthe release ofShenmuein 1999.
As well as directing and producing several of theDaytonaracing games, Nagoshi is credited as having created both theSuper Monkey BallandYakuzafranchises in the early two-thousands.The success of the latterultimately led to the formation of the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio; of which Nagoshi remains the general director.
5Satoshi Tajiri
Satoshi Tajiri was just 16 years old when he began writing and editing his own arcade gaming fanzine, Game Freak. Eight years later, it was this name that he chose for his game development studio. The companydeveloped a number of fairly successful titles throughout the early nineties, but it would not be until 1996 that Game Freak would become a recognizable name outside of Japan.
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Tajiri’sPokemongames were hugely successful domestically and took the rest of the world by storm when they were released worldwide the following year. In the 25 years that have followed, the series has gone on to becomeone of the largest and most recognizable in the worldwith over a billion games sold to date.
4Masahiro Sakurai
Masahiro Sakurai started working at HAL Laboratory when he was still a teenager and quickly set about coming up with ideas fora game that was accessible to casual gamers. This ultimately led to the creation of Kirby and the NES classic,Kirby’s Dream Land.He worked on several moreKirbygames in the years that followedbefore eventually turning his attention to the fighting game genre.
Super Smash Bros.was released in 1999 and became an instant hit thanks to its solid combat mechanics and the inclusion of some of Nintendo’s most popular characters. Since then, the game has spawned multiple sequels; four of which rank amongthe top 15 fighting games of all time on Metacritic.
3Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura started his career at Square and worked as a character designer on some ofthe company’s biggest hits of the nineties. It wasn’t until the turn of the century, however, that he was given a shot at directing his first title. That game wasKingdom Hearts, which Nomura also co-created along with veteran producer Shinji Hashimoto.
Following the game’s success, Nomura was handed senior positions on a number of other big projects while also continuing as the director forthe numerousKingdom Heartssequels and spin-offs. As his stock continued to rise, he was handed the reins for the highly anticipated and much-requested remake ofFinal Fantasy VII.
2Hideo Kojima
Despite expressing a keen interest in film-making during his teenage years, Hideo Kojima ended up taking a job at Konami after graduating from university. It was here that he came up with the idea forMetal Gear. The game was a big hit with players, although it would not be until the series' third entry that Kojima’s would become such a recognizable name within the industry.
The increased power of the PlayStation allowed Kojima to combine his love of film-making with his natural talent for game design.Cinematic cut-scenesand an incredibly immersive narrative helpedMetal Gear Solidto become a critical and commercial success andbecame synonymous with the series moving forward. After decades of acclaim, however, Konami and Kojima parted ways in 2015, and Kojima Productions became an independent studio as a result.IfDeath Strandingis anything to go bythough, there’s a lot more to come from the legendary auteur.
1Shigeru Miyamoto
In many ways, Shigeru Miyamoto is likethe Steven Spielberg of gaming. He’s responsible forthe creation of some of the biggest franchises of all timeand has helped to shape an entire genre. It helps, of course, thathe was able to learn from such visionaries as Gunpei Yokoi and Satoru Iwata, but his unparalleled achievements remain incredibly impressive nonetheless.
As well as creating the likes ofMario,ZeldaandStar Fox, Miyamoto has had a hand in almost all ofNintendo’s biggest hits of the last few decades. He’s also held several senior positions at the company and has acted as a mentor to many of its up-and-coming developers. Although he’s taken more of a back seat as he approaches the twilight years of his career, he remains an incredibly influential figure in both the company and the industry itself.
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