Koichi Hayashida is a Japanese video game developer who has worked as a director, producer, and programmer on multiple games from Nintendo, notably the Super Mario series. He was the director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Super Mario 3D Land (2011), Super Mario 3D World (2013, with Kenta Motokura), NES Remix (2013), and NES Remix 2 (2014). He was the producer of Super Mario 3D World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014), and Super Mario Odyssey (2017).
Koichi Hayashida | |
|---|---|
 Hayashida wearing clothing promoting the cat theme of Super Mario 3D World | |
| Occupation | Video game designer |
Game design
editHayashida began programming in fifth grade on the Commodore VIC-20. He began programming at Nintendo while the company was developing for the NES. He notably programmed for Super Mario Sunshine (2002). He was an assistant director on Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (2004), and the level design director for Super Mario Galaxy (2007).[1]
Hayashida was the director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010).[2] Hayashida and Shigeru Miyamoto developed a four-step process for the game's levels to teach a new game mechanic, titled "kishōtenketsu", which derives from Chinese and Japanese poetry and manga writing. In the game version of kishōtenketsu, a game mechanic is introduced in a level, then evolves to let players grow their skills, given a twist that makes the players think of the concept in a different way, and finally wrapped up using everything learned before.[3][4][5]
Hayashida was then the director of Super Mario 3D Land (2011).[6] To help his development team, he gave them "Miyamoto's Teachings": a book of quotations by Shigeru Miyamoto, a more experienced designer who had begun to lessen his role at Nintendo.[7] To make the game more approachable for less experienced players, Hayashida decided the game would technically end at its halfway point, when the story was over and the credits rolled, but there was a whole other half of more challenging levels. The game's development was delayed because of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.[8] To motivate the game's developers, who were previously separated by their different trades, Hayashida moved everyone into a common area to work more collaboratively.[9]
Hayashida was a co-director and producer for Super Mario 3D World (2013), directing alongside Kenta Motokura.[10][11][12] He was the director of NES Remix (2013) and NES Remix 2 (2014). These games were first made for Wii U instead of the 3DS, partially because Hayashida was more familiar with the Wii U's architecture.[13][14] He was the producer of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014)[15] and Super Mario Odyssey (2017).[16] He worked on the design of Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023).[17]
References
edit- ^ "The Structure of Fun: Learning from Super Mario 3D Land's Director". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "The secret to Mario level design". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Phillips, Tom (2015-03-17). "Nintendo's "kishōtenketsu" Mario level design philosophy explained". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Anatone, Richard (October 1, 2023). "Kishōtenketsu as Leitmotif: Storytelling and Musical Meaning in the Main Theme to Final Fantasy VII". University of California Press. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "This is why 'Mario' levels are brilliant". Engadget. 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Drake, Audrey (2012-03-12). "Making Mario Magic - The Interview". IGN. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Life, Nintendo (2014-02-28). "Super Mario 3D World Director Koichi Hayashida Explains The Origin Of "Miyamoto's Teachings"". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "How Do You Make a Super Mario Game At a Time of National Tragedy?". Kotaku. 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Kohler, Chris. "How Super Mario Survived the Quake". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Nunneley-Jackson, Stephany (2013-06-14). "Super Mario 3D World's camera feature explained in video". VG247. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "The official home of Super Mario™ – News". mario.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "Directors, Producer Talk Development of Super Mario 3D World - News". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "Nintendo: 'SNES Remix a possibility'". Digital Spy. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ Life, Nintendo (2014-04-21). "Koichi Hayashida Explains Absence of NES Remix 1 & 2 on 3DS". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "Nintendo Reveals the Toads' Gender Secret". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "The official home of Super Mario™ – News". mario.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
- ^ "Ask the Developer Vol. 11, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Chapter 1 - Nintendo". www.nintendo.com. Retrieved 2024-08-19.