Hironobu Sakaguchi

Infobox Person
name = Hironobu Sakaguchi

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image_size = 180px
caption = At the Japan Expo in Paris, France (2007)
birth_date = birth date and age|1962|11|25
birth_place = Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan
death_date =
death_place =
education =
occupation = Founder of Mistwalker
Game designer, producer and director
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spouse =
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nationality = Japanese
website = nihongo|Hironobu Sakaguchi|坂口 博信|Sakaguchi Hironobu (born November 25, 1962) is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is famous around the world as the creator of the "Final Fantasy" series, and he has had a long career in gaming with over 80 million units of video games sold worldwide. He left Square Enix and founded a studio called Mistwalker in 2004.

Biography

Early years

Sakaguchi was born in Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan. He is a graduate student of Mito Senior High School. He went on to study electrical engineering while attending Yokohama National University, but dropped out of the university along with Hiromichi Tanaka mid-course in 1983.

quare

On leaving the university, Sakaguchi became a part-time employee of Square, a newly formed branch of Denyūsha Electric Company founded by Masafumi Miyamoto.cite paper | first = Daiji | last = Fujii | title = Entrepreneurial choices of strategic options in Japan's RPG development | publisher = Faculty of Economics, Okayama University | date = January 2006 | url = http://www.e.okayama-u.ac.jp/~dfujii/Option.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2008-04-26] When Square became an independent company, he became a full-time employee as the Director of Planning and Development. The company's first games were very unsuccessful. Sakaguchi then decided to create his final work in the game industry with the rest of Square's money, and appropriately named it "Final Fantasy", which he claimed -- given Square's uncertain future at the time-- was an ironic gesture. The game was released in Japan for the Famicom (also known internationally as the Nintendo Entertainment System) on December 18, 1987. The game was successful across Japan. "Final Fantasy" developed into a successful franchise under Sakaguchi's watchful eye, which spans from stand alone stories to spin-offs to direct sequels. In 1991, following the release of "Final Fantasy IV" for the Super Famicom (also known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System), he was honoured with the position of Executive Vice President.Fact|date=March 2007 His mostly hands-on involvement became a bit more lax following "Final Fantasy VI", which was released on April 2, 1994 (for which he was the game producer, before that, he was the game director of all the "Final Fantasy" games up until "Final Fantasy V")for the Super Famicom and one year later, in 1995, he became President at Square USA, Inc. His final role as game producer was for Final Fantasy IX. In an interview at the time he described it as his favourite Final Fantasy. Fact|date=March 2007 He later went on to serve more as an executive producer of the series, as well as many of Square's other games, including "Vagrant Story", "Parasite Eve" and "Kingdom Hearts".

Hironobu Sakaguchi became the third person inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame on April 5, 2000. His Hall of Fame status was given to him because of the tremendous number of video games he has sold and created.

Time as film director

A long time proponent of bringing together the story-telling vehicle of film and the interactive elements of games, Sakaguchi took the leap from games to film when he made his debut as film director in "", an animated motion picture based on his world-famous "Final Fantasy" series. However, the movie was the second-biggest animated box office bomb in cinema history, losing over $120 million dollars.

Resignation from Square

Sakaguchi voluntarily stepped down from his post as an executive vice president at Square. This event also reduced Square's financial capital. Square later merged with its rival, the Enix Corporation, which led to the creation of Square Enix in 2003. Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker with the financial backing of Microsoft Game Studios.

Mistwalker

In 2001, Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker, which began operation in 2004. In February 2005, it was announced that Mistwalker would be working with Microsoft Game Studios to create two RPGs for the Xbox 360. Still, the company remains independent from console exclusivity. Sakaguchi released the works Blue Dragon in 2006, and Lost Odyssey in 2007 on the Xbox 360, and on the Nintendo DS.

Currently, Sakaguchi is developing "Cry oN".

Games

Hironobu Sakaguchi has been credited, in some capacity, with the following games. [ [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,33334/ MobyGames.com] ]

* "Cry oN"
* "" (2007)
* "Lost Odyssey" (2007)
* "Blue Dragon" (2006)
* "Final Fantasy III (Nintendo DS)" (2006)
* "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" (2003)
* "Final Fantasy X-2" (2003)
* "Final Fantasy XI" (2002)
* "Final Fantasy Origins" (2002)
* "Kingdom Hearts" (2002)
* "Driving Emotion Type-S" (2001)
* "Final Fantasy Chronicles" (2001)
* "Final Fantasy X" (2001)
* "The Bouncer" (2000)
* "Final Fantasy IX" (2000)
* "Vagrant Story" (2000)
* "Chocobo Racing" (1999)
* "Chrono Cross" (1999)
* "Final Fantasy Anthology" (1999)

References

External links

* [http://squarehaven.com/people/Hironobu-Sakaguchi/ Hironobu Sakaguchi] profile, interviews, and photo gallery at the Square Haven People Database
* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,33334/ Hironobu Sakaguchi] profile at MobyGames

Persondata
NAME = Sakaguchi, Hironobu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = 坂口, 博信 (Japanese)
SHORT DESCRIPTION = game designer
DATE OF BIRTH = November 25, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH = Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =