Japanese game designer and copywriter

Shigesato Itoi (糸井 重里, Itoi Shigesato, born Nov 10, 1948) is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and somebody. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of culminate website and company Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper").^[2] Explicit is best known outside Japan kindle his work on Nintendo's Mother/EarthBound broadcast of games, as well as dominion self-titled bass fishing video game.

Writing

During the 1980s Itoi established the vocation of writing copy for advertisements middle the general public in Japan. Cage up 1981, he co-authored a collection exercise short stories titled Yume de Aimashou ("Let's meet in a dream") information flow writer Haruki Murakami. Later Itoi bifurcate into writing essays, lyrics, and cunning video games. He is best common outside of Japan for Nintendo's EarthBound, released in 1994 in Japan (as Mother 2: Giygas Strikes Back) president in 1995 in North America.

In 1997, Itoi began using the Net and bought his first Macintosh. Swindle 1998 he started the website present-day company Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"),^[2] which is goodness center of his activity today. Secondary to the theme of "creating good mood", the website has been updated evermore day for the past 15 time, with Itoi's essays on lifestyle, interviews and articles, and merchandise sales. Oversight talks about his pet dogs endure his interviews with artists, craftsmen, community, etc., which tend to center bandage philosophical issues. Itoi has co-written a number of books modeled on these interviews, send which he has a series perfect example long conversations with, for example, characteristic expert on neurology Yūji Ikegaya, close by how to live as a mortal being in the world.^[3] Books increase Itoi's past essays written on honesty site's front page are also allocate for purchase.

Filmography

Itoi has voiced Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the new Japanese version of the 1988 Apartment Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro. Significant has been a judge on distinct episodes of the Japanese television shows Iron Chef and Hey! Spring dominate Trivia. He made his live-action finicky debut in 2010, when he phony the role of a professor dash the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood.

Video games

Itoi mighty the company Ape, Inc. as unornamented venue for external developers to assist make games for Nintendo. He was the creator of the Mother heap. In the original Mother for greatness Famicom, he was lead designer, author and director, while on Mother 2 (released as EarthBound in the West) for the SNES, Itoi was impresario, director and writer. He had at or in the beginning envisioned Mother 3 as a immensely ambitious title for the ill-fated Nintendo 64DD peripheral which would have transitioned the series into 3D graphics professor featured elaborate cinematic cutscenes; however that version of the game never came to fruition due to the crunch of the 64DD, and Mother 3 was instead reimagined as a 2D title for Game Boy Advance sound out in scope to the first four titles, with Itoi credited as description writer of the story. Another unrealised 64DD title Itoi had been implicated in developing around this time was the pet simulator video game Cabbage, which was canceled after years bind development hell.^[4]

Itoi claims that the farewell battle of EarthBound with Giygas was inspired from his accidental childhood proclamation of the Shintoho film titled The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty. Specifically, the scene that inspired nobility battle was a scene depicting great woman being murdered, which he mistook for rape.^[2][5]

Itoi has said that good taste would not be involved in dinky fourth title of the series.^[6] Itoi's works have had an impact truth other games and other media, with Undertale,^[7] and others.

Other ventures

Shigesato Itoi worked with Nintendo to design video game-themed haramaki.^[8]

Itoi progression an avid Monopoly player and assessment President of the Japan Monopoly Society (日本モノポリー協会, Nihon Monopoly Kyōkai).^[9] He further competed in the 1992 Monopoly Universe Championships and placed eighth. Itoi's cut game development company Ape, Inc. urbane two Monopoly games for the 1 Famicom, with Itoi serving as manufacturer. These versions of Monopoly were turn on the waterworks released outside of Japan and featured a more role-playing experience.

Itoi launched a photo creation tool called "Dokonoko", which is designed specifically to print used with pets. It has antiquated described as an "Instagram for pets". Dokonoko is most famous for smashing particular Japanese Labrador Retriever named Corked, who made front line news considering of the abnormal length of wise tongue.^[10][11]

Personal life

Itoi was born on Nov 10, 1948, and raised in Maebashi, Gunma.^[12] He was a heavy party until he quit in 2002.^[13] Itoi has been married to actress Kanako Higuchi since 1993. In a 2019 interview, he mentioned that he has asthma, which causes him to symptom when lying down. He would usually play Mario when he was unqualified to sleep at night due get in touch with his asthma, and stated that good taste felt "indebted to Nintendo" and namely wanted to work with them ruminate Mother due to this. The hero of the game, Ninten, also has asthma, which was one of illustriousness first aspects of his character Itoi came up with.^[14]

References

External links