Hideki Kamiya

Hideki Kamiya
Born (1970-12-19) December 19, 1970
Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Occupation Video game designer
game director
Years active 1994–present
Website Official blog

Hideki Kamiya (神谷 英樹 Kamiya Hideki, born December 19, 1970) is a video game designer and director working for PlatinumGames.[1] Kamiya was formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio, and founded PlatinumGames in 2006, along with other former Capcom staff.

As a game designer, Kamiya states that he has been most inspired by the games The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Gradius. His favorite action game is the original Castlevania.[2]

Career

Early

Kamiya was born in 1970 in Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture. At a young age he was already a fan of video games thanks to a neighbour who often invited him to play with his Epoch Cassette Vision console. Gaming appealed to Kamiya mainly due to the sounds it produced. During his early years of junior school he got his own first console, Nintendo's Famicom. The first game he bought was Nuts & Milk.[3] When reading an interview from the Family Computer Magazine that featured game creators Shigeru Miyamoto and Masanobu Endo, Kamiya decided he would become a video game developer.[4]

In high school, Kamiya bought a NEC PC-8801 to study programming but ended up playing video games every day.[4] His favorite games that he credits as an influence on his work include Gradius, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Castlevania, Space Harrier, Cybernator, Punch-Out, Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Snatcher, Sorcerian and Star Cruiser.[5] After graduating from college, Kamiya applied for jobs at various game developers. He was turned down by Sega and had an application accepted by Namco. However, Namco wanted him to be an artist rather than a game designer.[6]

Resident Evil

Kamiya joined Capcom as a designer in 1994. His early works included planner of the original Resident Evil.

The development of Resident Evil 2 was carried out by a 40- to 50-person group that would later be part of Capcom Production Studio 4.[7][8] The game was directed by Kamiya, who led the team, which was composed of newer Capcom employees and over half of the staff from the original Resident Evil.[7][9][10] In the initial stages of development, producer Shinji Mikami often had creative disagreements with Kamiya, and tried to influence the team with his own direction. He eventually stepped back to an overseeing role as producer, and only demanded to be shown the current build once a month.[10]

To fulfill Capcom's sales plan of two million copies, director Kamiya tried to attract new customers with a more ostentatious and Hollywood-like story presentation.[11] As Okamoto did not want to simply enforce the new direction, he had Sugimura discuss the plot revisions with Mikami and the development staff.[10] The planners redesigned the game from the ground up to fit the changes, and the programmers and other remaining members of the team were sent to work on Resident Evil Director's Cut, which was shipped with a playable preview disc of the new Resident Evil 2 version in order to promote the sequel and to apologize to the players for its belated release.[7][12]

Devil May Cry

He was later the director of Devil May Cry. Devil May Cry started out as the earliest incarnation of Resident Evil 4.[13] Initially developed for the PlayStation 2, the game was directed by Hideki Kamiya after producer Shinji Mikami requested him to create a new entry in the Resident Evil series.[14] Around the turn of the millennium,[15] regular series writer Noboru Sugimura[16] created a scenario for the title, based on Kamiya's idea to make a very cool and stylized action game.[17] The story was based on unraveling the mystery surrounding the body of protagonist Tony,[18] an invincible man with skills and an intellect exceeding that of normal people, his superhuman abilities explained with biotechnology.[15] As Kamiya felt the playable character did not look brave and heroic enough in battles from a fixed angle, he decided to drop the prerendered backgrounds from previous Resident Evil installments and instead opted for a dynamic camera system.[14] This new direction required the team to make a trip to Europe where they spent eleven days in the United Kingdom and Spain photographing things like Gothic statues, bricks, and stone pavements for use in textures.[19][20] Though the developers tried to make the "coolness" theme fit into the world of Resident Evil, Mikami felt it strayed too far from the series' survival horror roots and gradually convinced all of the staff members to make the game independent from it.[21] Kamiya eventually rewrote the story to be set in a world full of demons and changed the hero's name to "Dante".[15] The cast of characters remained largely identical to that in Sugimura's scenario,[22] although appearances of the hero's mother and father were written out of the story.[23][24] The game's new title was revealed as Devil May Cry in November 2000.[25]

The game was developed by Team Little Devils, a group of staff members within Capcom Production Studio 4.[26][27] Some of the major gameplay elements were partially inspired by a bug found in Onimusha: Warlords. During a test-play, Kamiya discovered that enemies could be kept in the air by slashing them repeatedly, which led to the inclusion of juggles by gunfire and sword strikes in Devil May Cry.[28] According to the director, Devil May Cry was designed from the ground up around Dante's acrobatics and combat abilities.[29] The decision was made late in the development process to change the game to a more mission-based advancement, instead of the more open-ended structure of the Resident Evil games.[30] Devil May Cry's difficulty was intentional, according to Kamiya, who called it his "challenge to those who played light, casual games."[31]

Despite the success of the original Devil May Cry, the sequel was not created by Hideki Kamiya or Team Little Devils.[32][33] The first notice Kamiya's team was given about any sort of sequel occurred during localization of Devil May Cry in North America and Europe, a move which greatly surprised Kamiya. Instead, Hideaki Itsuno was appointed as the director of the sequel.[34] Since the game's release, Kamiya has expressed disappointment that he was not called on by his superiors at Capcom to direct Devil May Cry 2.[35]

Clover Studio

Main article: Clover Studio

He directed the original Viewtiful Joe. The game was conceived as a "staff-focused project" aimed at increasing the skill of its creators, specifically director Kamiya.[36] Kamiya provides the voice for Six Machine in the game.[37]

In 2006, Kamiya worked as the director for Ōkami. Ōkami resulted from the combined ideas of Clover Studio.[38] The game was originally built around "depict[ing] a lot of nature", but had no central concept or theme, according to lead designer Hideki Kamiya.[39] Kamiya eventually created a minute-long demonstration movie showing a wolf running about a forest, with flowers blossoming in its wake, but still lacked any gameplay. Kamiya and other members of the team introduced ideas around the nature aspect and eventually led to the game's initial prototype, which Kamiya admitted was "incredibly boring to play".[39] Eventually, they settled onto the gameplay found in the final product, With the core feature of allowing the player to pause the gameplay at any time to draw on the landscape to affect the world around them.[39]

The gameplay style is a mix of action, platform, and puzzle gaming genres, and has been noted by many reviewers to have numerous similarities in overall gameplay style to The Legend of Zelda series,[40] an inspiration that director Hideki Kamiya, a self-proclaimed Zelda-fan, has admitted has influenced his general game design.[41]

Clover Studio was closed by Capcom in late 2006.[1]

PlatinumGames

Main article: PlatinumGames

PlatinumGames was founded under the name Seeds, Inc. on August 1, 2006 by Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba and Hideki Kamiya.[1][42]

In May 2008, the company, now renamed to PlatinumGames, announced a four-game deal with publisher Sega.[43] The games involved in the development and publishing deal included Bayonetta, a "stylish action game" for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 directed by Kamiya. The game was considered as the successor of Devil May Cry with Kamiya having used its latest sequel Devil May Cry 4 as part of his research.[44] First announced at E3 2012, Kamiya directed The Wonderful 101 for the Wii U, which was released in September 2013. He also supervised production on the sequel to Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2,[45] released on the Wii U in October 2014.

Kamiya has stated he is interested in making a new Star Fox game, and due to a lot of fans asking him on Twitter over and over again, he was encouraged to submit ideas to Nintendo without success. Eventually, Platinum Games did end up working with Nintendo on the next installment of the Star Fox series, entitled Star Fox Zero, and its companion game Star Fox Guard, both of which were released in April 2016.[46] Kamiya is currently working on Scalebound, a new game for Microsoft Studios.[47]

Works

Game Year Publisher Role
Arthur to Astaroth no Nazomakaimura: Incredible Toons 1996 Capcom planner
Resident Evil 1996 Capcom system planner
Resident Evil 2 1998 Capcom director
Devil May Cry 2001 Capcom director
Resident Evil Zero 2002 Capcom original game design
Viewtiful Joe 2003 Capcom director
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations 2004 Capcom voice actor for Godot in the Japanese version
Viewtiful Joe 2 2004 Capcom story
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! 2005 Capcom story
Ōkami 2006 Capcom story, director
Bayonetta 2009 Sega story, director
The Wonderful 101[48] 2013 Nintendo story, director
Bayonetta 2[49] 2014 Nintendo supervisor, story
Scalebound 2017 Microsoft Studios director

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sinclair, Brendan (February 14, 2007). "Clover vets reunite, form Seeds". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  2. ↑ Mielke, James (August 18, 2006). "The Kamiya Touch: An Interview with Clover's Hideki Kamiya". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  3. ↑ "Iwata Asks". Nintendo. p. 1. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Iwata Asks". Nintendo. p. 2. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ Hideki Kamiya, Hideki Kamiya's Blog - A Self-Introduction, Facebook
  6. ↑ Kato, Matthew (December 2009). "Action Hero: An Interview With Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya". Game Informer. GameStop: 11.
  7. 1 2 3 "Resident Evil 2: New In-Depth Interview!". Tips & Tricks. LFP, Inc. (37). January 1998.
  8. ↑ "Production Studio 4" (in Japanese). Capcom Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005.
  9. ↑ Hodgson, David (1997). Resident Evil 2 Survival Guide. Gamefan Books. pp. 106A–108A.
  10. 1 2 3 Research on Biohazard 2 final edition (in Japanese). Micro Design Publishing Inc. September 1, 1998. ISBN 978-4-944000-77-7.
  11. ↑ Devil May Cry Graphic Edition (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. December 2001. ISBN 978-4-04-707071-4.
  12. ↑ Bio Hazard Perfect Guide: Inside of Bio-Hazard (in Japanese). ASCII Corporation. March 1997. ISBN 4-89366-659-2.
  13. ↑ Kevin Gifford, Mark MacDonald (April 2005). "Afterthoughts: Resident Evil 4". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis Media Inc. (190): 51–52.
  14. 1 2 Hideki Kamiya (July 2001). "新しいバイオ". Devil May Cry Column. Capcom. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  15. 1 2 3 Hideki Kamiya (July 2001). "シナリオの話". Devil May Cry Column. Capcom. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  16. ↑ Minoru Funatsu (11 April 2001). "カプコン、深作欣二監督を招き「クロックタワー3」を制作". Game Watch. Impress Watch Corporation. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  17. ↑ Devil May Cry Graphic Edition. Kadokawa Shoten. December 2001. ISBN 978-4-04-707071-4.
  18. ↑ Hideki Kamiya (19 September 2010). "Twitter". Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  19. ↑ Hideki Kamiya (July 2001). "背景". Devil May Cry Column. Capcom. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  20. ↑ James Mielke (18 August 2006). "Retro/Active: Hideki Kamiya -- The Okami Family Tree". 1UP.com. UGO Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  21. ↑ Douglass C. Perry (17 May 2001). "E3 2001: Interview with Shinji Mikami". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  22. ↑ Hideki Kamiya (22 September 2010). "Twitter". Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  23. ↑ Hideki Kamiya (19 September 2010). "Twitter". Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  24. ↑ Hideki Kamiya (20 September 2010). "Twitter". Archived from the original on 19 October 2010.
  25. ↑ "New From Capcom: Devil May Cry". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. 15 November 2000. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  26. ↑ Capcom (October 17, 2011). Devil May Cry. Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Scene: staff credits.
  27. ↑ "Production Studio 4" (in Japanese). Capcom. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005.
  28. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, December 2001 issue, pg. 56
  29. ↑ Mielke, James (2006-08-18). "The Kamiya Touch". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  30. ↑ Ike Sato, Yukiyoshi (2001-05-24). "Capcom changes Devil May Cry gameplay". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  31. ↑ "Greatest 200". 1UP. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  32. ↑ Team Little Devils (17 October 2001). Devil May Cry. Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Scene: staff credits.
  33. ↑ Kristan Reed (20 February 2003). "The Devil's in the detail". Eurogamer. Eurogamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  34. ↑ Capcom (25 January 2003). Devil May Cry 2. Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Scene: staff credits.
  35. ↑ Mielke, James (2006-08-18). "The Kamiya Touch". Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  36. ↑ Sheffield, Brandon (11 March 2005). "Postcard from GDC 2005: Lessons from Viewtiful Joe: Making a Creatively and Financially Successful New Game". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  37. ↑ Production Studio 4 (7 October 2003). Viewtiful Joe. Capcom Entertainment, Inc. Scene: staff credits.
  38. ↑ McGarvey, Sterling (23 February 2006). "Running with the Wolves: Atsushi Inaba talks Ōkami". Gamespy. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  39. 1 2 3 Grifford, Kevin (4 November 2009). "Platinum Games' Kamiya Reflects on Bayonetta, Okami". 1UP.com. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
  40. ↑ Totilo, Stephen (10 October 2006). "GameFile: 'Ōkami' Goes Green; Official Wii Word; 'Idol' Launch And More". MTV. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  41. ↑ Mielke, James (18 August 2006). "The Kamiya Touch: An Interview with Clover's Hideki Kamiya". 1up. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  42. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (2007-02-15). "Clover Reborn". IGN. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  43. ↑ "PlatinumGames Partner For Four-Title Deal".
  44. ↑ Ramsay, Randolph (April 8, 2009). "Q&A: Hideki Kamiya on Bayonetta". GameSpot. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  45. ↑ "Bayonetta 2 joins The Wonderful 101 on Wii U". Platinumgames.com. 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  46. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20121225010312/http://andriasang.com/comjmb/hideki_kamiya_starfox/
  47. ↑ Dyer, Mitch (September 16, 2014). "Platinum Games Has Never Made A Game Like Scalebound". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  48. ↑ http://I//www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-05-p-100-from-platinum-games-coming-to-wii-u|
  49. ↑ http://I//www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/09/13/bayonetta-2-will-be-a-wii-u-exclusive-published-by-nintendo/
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