Hidemaro Fujibayashi (藤林 秀麿, Fujibayashi Hidemaro, born October 1, 1972) is a Japanese video game designer at Nintendo.[1] He has directed several games in the Legend of Zelda series, including Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.[1][2] Fujibayashi worked at Capcom prior to joining Nintendo in 2005.
Hidemaro Fujibayashi | |
|---|---|
| 藤林 秀麿 | |
.jpg) Fujibayashi in 2017 | |
| Born | October 1, 1972 |
| Occupation(s) | Video game designer, director |
| Employers | |
Career
editBefore he entered the video game industry, Fujibayashi had designed layouts of haunted attractions for Japanese theme parks.[2] At that time, he had considered finding an occupation involving production, and came upon a job opening from a company that developed video games.[2] He was fascinated with the fact that his application for employment had to include a sample of his work that would be inspected directly upon transmittal, and he became enamored with the idea of being a game designer.[2] Fujibayashi joined Capcom in 1995, where he gained experience as planner for the interactive movie Gakkō no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!! and the mahjong game Yōsuke Ide Meijin no Shin Jissen Maajan.[2][3] He became part of the company's Production Studio 1, and designed and directed the puzzle game Magical Tetris Challenge.[2]
Fujibayashi's first involvement with the Zelda series was with the Game Boy Color games The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages.[2] In the initial development stages, he acted as sort of a clerk, who gathered all staff ideas and created presentations to propose the game concepts to producer Shigeru Miyamoto.[3] Fujibayashi eventually became the director, participated as planner and scenario writer, and devised a system to link the two games for consecutive playthroughs.[3] During his time at Capcom, he also directed the Game Boy Advance games The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and The Minish Cap.[4][5] Following his switch to Nintendo, Fujibayashi was assigned to The Legend of Zelda team and became the subdirector and story writer for Phantom Hourglass.[1][6] He has since directed Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kingdom.[7][8][9] According to Fujibayashi, the most important aspect of game design is making the fundamental rule set of a video game absolutely clear to a player.[2]
Works
edit| Year | Game | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Gakkō no Kowai Uwasa: Hanako-san ga Kita!! | Designer[3] |
| 1996 | Ide Yousuke Meijin no Shin Jissen Mahjong | Designer[3] |
| 1998 | Magical Tetris Challenge | Director, designer[3] |
| 2001 | The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages | Director, designer, scenario writer[3] |
| 2002 | The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords | Director, designer |
| 2004 | The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap | Director, designer, writer |
| 2007 | The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass | Subdirector, story writer,[1] multiplayer director[10] |
| 2011 | The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword | Director, writer[7] |
| 2017 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Director |
| 2023 | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Director |
References
edit- ^ a b c d "ゼルダの伝説 夢幻の砂時計 開発スタッフインタビュー". Nindori.com (in Japanese). Kabushiki-gaisha Ambit. August 2007. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "クリエイターズファイル 第106回". Gpara.com (in Japanese). March 17, 2003. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g "任天堂マガジン表紙 (No.30) – インタビュー3 ディレクター インタビュー" (in Japanese). Nintendo Co., Ltd. February 2001. Archived from the original on 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
- ^ Nintendo Co., Ltd.; Capcom Co., Ltd (December 2, 2002). The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords. Nintendo of America Inc. Scene: Four Swords staff credits.
- ^ Capcom Co., Ltd (January 10, 2005). The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Nintendo of America Inc. Scene: staff credits.
- ^ "ゼルダの伝説 夢幻の砂時計 開発スタッフインタビュー". Nindori.com (in Japanese). Kabushiki-gaisha Ambit. September 2007. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Harris, Craig (June 16, 2010). "E3 2010: Eiji Aonuma's "Trapped in the Zelda Cage"". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
- ^ Otero, Jose. "E3 2016: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Might Be The Open World Zelda We Always Wanted". IGN. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ Shea, Brian (11 June 2019). "Breath Of The Wild's Director Is Returning For The Sequel". Game Informer. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ^ "任天堂 VS 週刊ファミ通 『ゼルダの伝説 夢幻の砂時計』通信対戦の模様を動画でお届け！ - ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-11-03.