Akitoshi Kawazu

Akitoshi Kawazu (河津 秋敏, Kawazu Akitoshi, born November 5, 1962) is a Japanese game producer and game designer. He is best known for his work on Final Fantasy[1] and SaGa franchise of role-playing video games. He was the majority shareholder for The Game Designers Studio, a shell corporation founded in June 1999 by Square and re-purposed in 2002 to exploit a loophole with the company's exclusivity deal to develop for Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation consoles.[2]

Akitoshi Kawazu
河津 秋敏
Kawazu at the Final Fantasy XII London HMV Launch Party in 2007
Born (1962-11-05) November 5, 1962
Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationVideo game designer, producer
Years active1987–present
Notable work
Final Fantasy
SaGa

Biography

Joining Square

Kawazu studied ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Kawazu was invited by a friend to work at the gaming magazine published by Softbank called "Beep".[3] He stated that he had always been interested in board games, and after a time joined Square Co. in 1985.[1][3]

Early years

His first game at Square Co. was Rad Racer, creating the ending sequence showing a player's accomplishments.[3]

Final Fantasy

He and Hironobu Sakaguchi had wanted to make a role playing game for a long time, and were fans of Wizardry and Ultima, but were concerned it would not sell.[3] After the success in Japan of Dragon Quest, and the popular desire for an RPG proven, development began.[3] Kawazu took over the development of the battle sequence and system, and tried to model it as much after Dungeons and Dragons as he could.[3] Part of the development was to add western fantasy gaming rules, such as a fire monster being vulnerable to ice, which at the time were not features of Japanese gaming.[3]

Later games

Production on The Last Remnant began after the remake of Romancing SaGa for the PlayStation 2 was completed.[4] Kawazu was also involved in the development of "It's New Frontier" (sic).[5] During the development of Final Fantasy XII, Yasumi Matsuno, who was the lead on the game, left half way through, and Kawazu took over.[6]

Game style

Board games such as Avalon Hill and Dungeons & Dragons influence a lot of Kawazu's development process.[3] When creating a new game, he examines the elements like a board game and makes that the working foundation.[3]

Gameography

References
  1. Winkler, Chris; Eve C. (2003-03-02). "Creator's Talk Interview #1: Akitoshi Kawazu". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  2. "IGN - Sony buys stake in Square". IGN.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
  3. Jeremy Parish (September 21, 2012). "What's the Deal with Square Enix's Akitoshi Kawazu?". 1up.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  4. Doerr, Nick (June 2, 2007). "Some news on Last Remnant -- SaGa Frontier 3, almost". PS3FanBoy.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  5. Spencer (August 25, 2009). "It's New Frontier, It's A New Square Enix Sim Game". Siliconera.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  6. Fahey, Rob (October 31, 2006). "This Great Fantasy". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  7. Parish, Jeremy (November 6, 2014). "Gaming Auteurs: Akitoshi Kawazu". US Gamer. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  8. Nutt, Christian (May 26, 2005). "Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  9. Oxford, Nadia (December 19, 2017). "SaGa Director Akitoshi Kawazu Talks About the Romancing SaGa 2 Remake, the Future of the Nintendo Switch, and More". Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  10. Doolan, Liam (October 30, 2019). "Romancing SaGa 3 HD Remaster Launches On The Switch eShop Next Month". Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  11. Gill, Charles P. (July 27, 2017). "Rudra no Hihou". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  12. Dunham, Jeremy (September 17, 2005). "TGS 2005: Code Age Commanders". IGN. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  13. Boyes, Emma (October 26, 2006). "Q&A: Final Fantasy XII producer Akitoshi Kawazu". GameSpot. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  14. Mielke, James (2007-05-15). "Interviews on Final Fantasy's Nintendo DS, Wii Assault". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-03. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  15. Siliconera Staff (December 18, 2009). "Akitoshi Kawazu Discusses Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers". Siliconera. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  16. Sato (July 1, 2019). "Imperial SaGa Eclipse Announced as a Sequel to Imperial SaGa". Siliconera. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  17. Wallace, Kimberley (November 11, 2019). "The SaGa Series Dares To Be Different, And That's Why It's Special". Game Informer. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
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