Takaya Imamura
Takaya Imamura | |
---|---|
今村 孝矢 | |
Born | Video game designer | April 10, 1966
Years active | 1989–present |
Employer | International Professional University of Technology |
Known for | Contributing to the design of major Nintendo games, designing the characters of F-Zero and Star Fox and creating Tingle from Zelda |
Takaya Imamura (今村 孝矢, Imamura Takaya, born April 10, 1966) is a teacher at the International Professional University of Technology in
Early life
When Imamura was in college, he was an enthusiastic
Career
Work at Nintendo
Imamura applied for a job at Nintendo because he thought he could help illustrate
Imamura was placed in Nintendo Research & Development, working under Miyamoto himself, and was surprised to learn he would be developing Super Famicom games, despite the fact that he had never used a computer keyboard. Learning how to use one, the first game he worked on was F-Zero (1990), where he reworked and edited sci-fi racing vehicle concepts created by director Kazunobu Shimizu. While they initially had wheels, they were made to hover in order to save on animation frames, and drew inspiration from Tim Burton's Batman (1989), a seminal film that established the format for modern comic book movies.[2][3] Additionally, he drew animation patterns and characters, as well as designing the game's courses, due to the small team size of less than 10 people.[1]
It was at this time that Imamura designed
Imamura went on to work on
Beyond his work on Star Fox, Imamura played a crucial role in developing The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000), a game which was notorious for its one-year development time. His job was to make it look distinct from its predecessor, Ocarina of Time.[1] In the process of development, he designed the game's titular mask, which in Japanese is named Majura. He described it in an interview as a mash-up of his own name and the title of Jurassic Park, of which he is a fan.[4] However, Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma claimed that the name was instead based on the 1995 film Jumanji. He also created the game's "creepy" falling moon and the character Tingle, a flamboyant middle-aged man who dreams of becoming a fairy. A polarizing character, especially amongst Western fans, Tingle amassed a cult following and starred in his own spin-off games. Imamura also assisted with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002), stated to be the reason Tingle appeared so often in the game.[2]
In 2003, Nintendo partnered with Sega to develop
Other projects worked on by Imamura while he was at Nintendo include
Post-Nintendo career
In January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Imamura retired from Nintendo after 32 years in the company working under Miyamoto.[3] He stated that the company being empty made cleaning out his desk "a lot easier", but regretted he could not say goodbye to Miyamoto in person, and was invited to meet with him after the pandemic.[1] Following his tenure at Nintendo, Imamura was hired as a teacher at the International Professional University of Technology in Osaka and created the manga Omega 6 during his break time, which was initially published in France.[4] He confirmed an upcoming video game adaptation, Omega 6 The Video Game, is in development, and will be a retro-styled adventure game.[7]
Works
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1990 | F-Zero | Graphic design |
1991 | The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past | Object design |
1993 | Star Fox | Graphic design |
1994 | Stunt Race FX | CG design |
Donkey Kong | ||
1997 | Star Fox 64 | Art director |
1998 | F-Zero X | Chief designer, course design |
2000 | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask | Art director |
2002 | Star Fox Adventures | NCL supervisor |
2003 | F-Zero GX | Supervisor |
F-Zero: GP Legend | ||
2004 | F-Zero Climax | Supervisor, character design |
2005 | Star Fox Assault
|
Co-producer |
2006 | Star Fox Command | Producer |
2011 | Steel Diver | Director |
Star Fox 64 3D | Supervisor | |
2014 | Steel Diver: Sub Wars
|
Director |
2016 | Star Fox Zero | Supervisor |
Star Fox Guard | ||
Tank Troopers | Director |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Krabbe, Esra (2021-04-16). "The Man Who Invented Majora's Mask Reflects on 30 Years at Nintendo". IGN. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ a b Good, Owen S. (2021-01-20). "Nintendo artist (and Tingle creator) Takaya Imamura retires". Polygon. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ a b Robinson, Andy (2023-07-03). "Interview: Takaya Imamura, the artist behind Star Fox and F-Zero, speaks out". VGC. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- Siliconera. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (2022-11-27). "Takaya Imamura, the artist behind F-Zero and Starfox, is creating a new game". VGC. Retrieved 2023-10-28.
External links
- Takaya Imamura's profile at MobyGames
- Takaya Imamura at IMDb