Yoshiaki Koizumi
Yoshiaki Koizumi | |
---|---|
小泉 歓晃 | |
Nintendo EPD (2015–present) (2018–2020)Executive Officer at Nintendo Senior Executive Officer at Nintendo (2020–present) |
Yoshiaki Koizumi (小泉 歓晃, Koizumi Yoshiaki, born April 29, 1968) is a Japanese
Since October 2022, Koizumi is part of the board of directors of Nintendo's subsidiary Nintendo Pictures as one of its directors.[2]
Biography
Early life
Koizumi was born in
Nintendo
After Koizumi had joined Nintendo in April 1991, he was assigned to work on the manual for the
While developing Super Mario 64, Nintendo's employees devised rough concepts of a three-dimensional The Legend of Zelda game with a bigger focus on puzzles and less pronounced action elements.
Following Ocarina of Time, Koizumi was designing a "cops and robbers"-style board game that had the player catch a criminal over the course of a week in-game, or roughly equivalent to an hour in real time. However, he was pulled off the project and asked to help develop the sequel to Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.[17] Koizumi carried over his "cops and robbers" idea with the time limit and expanded it into a world threatened by a falling moon after he had daydreamed about such a scenario.[17][18] The concept was corroborated by Miyamoto's wish to have a "compact" Zelda that could be played over and over again, and the ideas eventually evolved into a system with a three-day time loop.[17][19] Koizumi was again placed in charge of the game's player characters.[17] He also wrote many of the scheduled events involving the villagers of Clock Town, for which he tried to depict the characters' lives as realistically as possible.[7][17] Many of the serious elements in Majora's Mask came from Koizumi, which his coworker Eiji Aonuma countered by introducing more lighthearted portions in the areas he was in charge of.[17]
In 2003, Koizumi switched to Nintendo's Tokyo Software Development Department and directed the 2D platformer Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.[6][7][20] The game's side-scrolling nature sprang from Koizumi's attempt to overcome problems with complex camera controls in 3D titles. These efforts continued in his next title, Super Mario Galaxy. The game's spherical levels eliminated the possibility of the player getting lost or the need for adjusting the camera when reaching the end of a flat surface. Koizumi directed Super Mario Galaxy and was heavily involved in the creation of its story, deciding on the inclusion of the optional fairytale book that tells the characters' backstory.[5][7] Following this, he was promoted to producer and was manager of Tokyo Software Development Group No. 2 within the company's Entertainment Analysis & Development Division.[6] In September 2015, he became Deputy General Manager of the newly formed Entertainment Planning & Development Division.[21] Koizumi also served as General Producer of Nintendo's 2017 video game console, the Nintendo Switch.[22] He alongside Shinya Takahashi also succeeded Satoru Iwata as the host of the Nintendo Direct video presentations since 2017,[23] and has been doing so since the live streamed Nintendo Switch Presentation, which took place on January 12, 2017.[24]
Koizumi was part of the board of directors of Nintendo's subsidiary
Game design
If you think about games only as a thing that you interact with, you're missing the possibility of immersion. The inspirations that I tend to draw on for that all come from real life itself. Hiking on a mountain and seeing a cave and thinking about what's inside – it's that sense of wonder and excitement I want players to feel.
Koizumi on his game design philosophy[7]
Koizumi is a protégé of Shigeru Miyamoto and often draws his ideas from real-world influences such as hiking. When creating fictional worlds, he tries to surprise players with visually impressive environments and difficult gameplay mechanics while still ensuring "ease of use", that is effortless navigation and control. He said that most of his time on a video game is spent working on player characters and their abilities in order to strike a balance between "fun and complexity" in control. Koizumi mentioned tempo and rhythm as some of the most important elements of a Mario game, whereas he gave anticipation of the awaiting challenges as a crucial factor in a Zelda title.[7] Unlike Miyamoto, Koizumi often tries to introduce story elements to the video games he works on. He trains his staff by hinting at the direction they should take rather than just giving them the solution to a problem.[5]
Works
References
- ^ "IGN - 25. Yoshiaki Koizumi". IGN. Archived from the original on 2014-04-20. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "ニンテンドーピクチャーズ株式会社 - Nintendo Pictures Co., Ltd". ニンテンドーピクチャーズ株式会社ホームページ. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ a b スーパーマリオギャラクシーを作る。~3Dマリオを作りながら考えてきたコト~ (in Japanese). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ^ "Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary". Nintendo. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kohler, Chris (December 4, 2007). "Interview: Super Mario Galaxy Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto". Wired. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Biographies: Yoshiaki Koizumi" (PDF). Nintendo. June 11, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Interview: Nintendo's Unsung Hero". Edge. Future plc. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008.
- ISBN 4-09-102679-6.
- ^ a b c "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 2: Original Development Staff - Part 1 – 2. The Legend of Zelda with Chanbara-style Action". Nintendo. June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ Nintendo (September 26, 1996). Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64). Scene: Staff credits.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 5: Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto – 1. Ganon's Castle as the Only Setting?". Nintendo. July 29, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 2: Original Development Staff - Part 1 – 3. "Let's Go to Toei Kyoto Studio Park!"". Nintendo. June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 2: Original Development Staff - Part 1 – 4. Where the Name "Navi" Came From". Nintendo. June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 2: Original Development Staff - Part 1 – 8. Thirteen Years Later". Nintendo. June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 5: Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto – 2. Many Characters, Many Roles". Nintendo. July 29, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ a b "Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – Vol. 2: Original Development Staff - Part 1 – 1. The Game that Changed Destinies". Nintendo. June 27, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g ゼルダの伝説 ~ムジュラの仮面~」第1回 (in Japanese). Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun. May 17, 2000. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ East, Thomas (July 5, 2011). "Zelda: Majora's Mask came to me in a dream - Koizumi". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks – 1. We Felt As Though We'd Given Our All". Nintendo. December 4, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ "Iwata Asks: Super Mario Galaxy – Volume 1: The Producer and Director – 1. How Super Mario Galaxy Was Born". Nintendo. October 19, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
- ^ Rad, Chloi; Otero, Jose (September 14, 2015). "Nintendo Reveals Restructuring Plans". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^ Peckham, Matt (February 6, 2017). "The 8 Most Interesting Things Nintendo Told Us About Switch". Time. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ^ Frank, Allegra (April 13, 2017). "Nintendo Direct's new host has already won over fans". Polygon. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (January 12, 2017). "Watch the Nintendo Switch presentation here". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
- ^ "会社の沿革 | 1-UP Studio Inc". 1-up-studio.jp. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ Koizumi, Yoshiaki; Shimizu, Takao (2012). "How Super Mario Was Born" (Interview). Interviewed by Satoru Iwata. Retrieved July 30, 2019.