Yoshiaki Koizumi: Difference between revisions

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:''"Koizumi-san the romantic … had quite a large influence over the general direction of The Legend of Zelda series."'' - [[Satoru Iwata]]<ref name="Iwata Asks">[http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_-_zelda_handheld_history_15603_15604.html Iwata Asks: Zelda Handheld History]</ref>
{{Infobox|person
| name   = Yoshiaki Koizumi
| image   = [[File:Yoshiaki Koizumi 2007.jpg|200px]]
| dept   = [[Nintendo EAD#Tokyo Development Group No. 2|Tokyo Development Group No. 2]]
| game   = ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]''
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening|Link's Awakening]]''
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]''
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]''
''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]''
| position = Director
}}
 
{{Quote|Koizumi-san the romantic … had quite a large influence over the general direction of The Legend of Zelda series.|[[Satoru Iwata]]{{Ref|name=Iwata Asks|[[Interview:Iwata Asks: The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games|Iwata Asks: The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games]]}}}}
 
'''Yoshiaki Koizumi''' (born April 29th, 1968 in Japan) is the manager and producer of [[Nintendo EAD#Tokyo Development Group No. 2|Nintendo EAD's Tokyo Development Group No. 2]] (EAD Tokyo), overseeing the development of games in the ''Mario'' series. Before moving to EAD Tokyo<!-- in [date][source] -->, he was involved with several ''Zelda'' games and co-directed ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'', and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]''. Several of the [[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|series']] iconic elements, such as [[Z-Targeting]], the [[Three-Day System]], and the [[Moon]], can be attributed in part to Koizumi.
 
==Works==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year || Game || Contribution
|-
| 1991 || ''[[A Link to the Past Staff|A Link to the Past]]'' || Artwork, layout, and story of the manual
|-
| 1993 || ''[[Link's Awakening Staff|Link's Awakening]]'' || Story, script writer, manual writer
|-
| 1998 || ''[[Ocarina of Time Staff|Ocarina of Time]]'' || 3D System Director, story, character design
|-
| 1998 || ''[[Link's Awakening DX Staff|Link's Awakening DX]]'' || Story, script writer, manual writer
|-
| 2000 || ''[[Majora's Mask Staff|Majora's Mask]]'' || Game System Director, story
|-
| 2002 || ''[[The Wind Waker Staff|The Wind Waker]]'' || Assistant Director
|}


'''Yoshiaki Koizumi''' (born April 29th, 1968 in Japan) originally had no interest in video games. He graduated in 1991 from Osaka University of Arts, where he studied film, drama, animation, and storyboarding in the hopes of becoming a film director. His dream was to create characters and tell their stories with dramatic tension as they act toward accomplishment in their own world. Although the Famicom came out when he was in sixth grade, his first experience with video games wasn't until he borrowed one from a friend in college to play ''Super Mario Bros.'' Being inexperienced and not good at action games, Mario was very difficult and he died frequently.  "And it was at that point that it occurred to me, what do first-time players think of games like this? You jump right in and you just die over and over again. I found it a little easier to play [[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|Zelda]], because [[Link]] has three hearts. It’s not like you touch something once and then you’re dead."<ref name="Wired">''[http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/interview-super/ Interview: ''Super Mario Galaxy'' Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto]'', Wired, 4 Dec 2007</ref>
==Early Life==
Koizumi originally had no interest in video games. He graduated in 1991 from Osaka University of Arts, where he studied film, drama, animation, and storyboarding in the hopes of becoming a film director. His dream was to create characters and tell their stories with dramatic tension as they act toward accomplishment in their own world. Although the [[Famicom]] came out when he was in sixth grade, his first experience with video games wasn't until he borrowed one from a friend in college to play ''Super Mario Bros.'' Being inexperienced and not good at action games, Mario was very difficult and he died frequently.  "And it was at that point that it occurred to me, what do first-time players think of games like this? You jump right in and you just die over and over again. I found it a little easier to play ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|Zelda]]'', because [[Link]] has three hearts. It's not like you touch something once and then you're dead."{{Ref|name=Wired|[[Interview:Wired December 4th 2007|Interview: ''Super Mario Galaxy'' Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto]], Wired, 4 Dec 2007}}


==Career==
==Career==
[[Nintendo]] was close to his university, and gave him an opportunity to work for them after he graduated. At this time, he embraced video games as an interesting way to create unique dramas that couldn't be expressed as films.
[[Nintendo]] was close to his university, and gave him an opportunity to work for them after he graduated. At this time, he embraced video games as an interesting way to create unique dramas that couldn't be expressed as films.{{Ref|name=Wired}}


===A Link to the Past===
===A Link to the Past===
Koizumi's first assignment at Nintendo was to put together the artwork and layout of the manual for ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]''. The drawing and writing involved in this project made it just the right fit for him. As he worked, the lack of any solid Zelda mythos became evident. Game elements had no meaning, and there was no peripheral story to create the feeling of a believable Zelda universe. Needing a backstory to put in the manual, Koizumi was responsible for creating many of the now traditional and well-known Zelda legends, including that of the [[Golden Goddesses]] and that of the [[Triforce]]. The Triforce had existed since the first game, but its origins were not explained until ''A Link to the Past'', and repeated in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]''.   
Koizumi's first assignment at Nintendo was to put together the artwork and layout of the manual for ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]''. The drawing and writing involved in this project made it just the right fit for him. As he worked, the lack of any solid Zelda mythos became evident. Game elements had no meaning, and there was no peripheral story to create the feeling of a believable Zelda universe. Needing a backstory to put in the manual, Koizumi was responsible for creating many of the now traditional and well-known Zelda legends, including that of the [[Golden Goddesses]] and that of the [[Triforce]]. The Triforce had existed since the first game, but its origins were not explained until ''A Link to the Past'', and repeated in ''Ocarina of Time'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]''.   


:''"Though [[Kensuke Tanabe|Tanabe]] is usually credited as being most directly responsible for Zelda's storyline during these early years, it was actually Koizumi, with his background in film and storyboarding and a desire to bring powerful drama to video games, who did much of the heavy lifting."''
{{Quote|Though [[Kensuke Tanabe|Tanabe]] is usually credited as being most directly responsible for Zelda's storyline during these early years, it was actually Koizumi, with his background in film and storyboarding and a desire to bring powerful drama to video games, who did much of the heavy lifting.|Mike Damiani{{Ref|[http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/19004/reset-demystifying-zeldas-chronology Reset: Demystifying Zelda's Chronology], GameTrailers, 5 Mar 2011}}}}
::-Mike Damiani<ref>[http://www.gametrailers.com/users/MikeGT/gamepad/?action=viewblog&id=554326 GameTrailers]</ref>


One of these stories that Koizumi developed, likely in conjunction with Tanabe who was in charge of the game script, was the [[Imprisoning War]]. This particular story becomes arguably the most pivotal series of events in the entire [[Timeline|Zelda chronology]] as well as the basis of an entire game in whose development he would play a major role just five years later.  Unfortunately, the story was not written with future games in mind.  ''A Link to the Past'' being only the third Zelda game, [[Shigeru Miyamoto|Miyamoto]] and the rest of the [[Adventure of Link Staff|developers]] had not yet learned of the series' future success and the importance of leaving stories ambiguous enough that they can be expanded upon in future games.  Because of this, the Imprisoning War story faces a lot of inconsistencies and possible retcons as more stories are built around it. The positive outcome then is of course that theorists have the opportunity to come up with clever ways of making sense out of it.
One of these stories that Koizumi developed, likely in conjunction with Tanabe who was in charge of the game script, was the [[Imprisoning War]]. This particular story becomes one of the most pivotal series of events in the entire [[Timeline|Zelda chronology]] as well as the basis of ''Ocarina of Time''{{Ref|[[Interview:Ocarina of Time Development - Ganondorf|Ocarina of Time Development - Ganondorf]], Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, 26 Nov 1998|The story in Ocarina of time isn't actually original, it deals with the Sages' Imprisoning War from the Super Famicom's ALttP.|[[Satoru Takizawa]]}}{{Ref|[[Interview:Total RPG February 22nd 1999|Total RPG]], 22 Feb 1999|Basically, the events in Ocarina of Time are the "Imprisoning War" described in the SNES version's story.|[[Dan Owsen]]}}.


===Link's Awakening===
===Link's Awakening===
The next game that Koizumi worked on did not have this problem.  For ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening|Link's Awakening]]'', fellow writer Tanabe was given by the game's director, [[Takashi Tezuka]], a list of things not to include in the game: there would be no [[Hyrule]], no Triforce, and no [[Princess Zelda|Zelda]]. This gave him and Koizumi a lot more freedom to implement their superb story ideas without the burden of keeping the [[Canon|canon]] in mind. Tanabe explains, "I recall having a lot of trouble with storyline consistency in ALttP, and this meant I could leave out the stuff that got bottlenecked. … I then wrote a script that fit my vision of an egg hatching on a mountaintop ending the world with Koizumi's 'Your dream? Or someone else's dream?' Koizumi worked on the main thread of the story and I did the odd characters."<ref name="LA Questionaire">[http://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-questionnaire Link's Awakening DX Developer Questionaire], via GlitterBerri, scans by Lavacopter</ref>
For ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening|Link's Awakening]]'', fellow writer Tanabe was given by the game's director, [[Takashi Tezuka]], a list of things not to include in the game: there would be no [[Hyrule]], no Triforce, and no [[Zelda]]. This gave him and Koizumi a lot more freedom to implement their superb story ideas without the burden of keeping the canon in mind. Tanabe explains, "I recall having a lot of trouble with storyline consistency in {{Tt|A Link to the Past|ALttP}}, and this meant I could leave out the stuff that got bottlenecked. … I then wrote a script that fit my vision of an egg hatching on a mountaintop ending the world with Koizumi's 'Your dream? Or someone else's dream?' Koizumi worked on the main thread of the story and I did the odd characters."{{Ref|name=LA Questionaire|[[Interview:Shogakukan Link's Awakening DX Guide|Link's Awakening DX Developer Questionaire]], translated by GlitterBerri}}
 
Following with most of the early Zelda titles, which were developed gameplay first, story second, they didn't need a writer until later in development. When the time came to work on the [[Link's Awakening Story|story]], they called Koizumi in from another division.{{Ref|name=Iwata Asks}} Like his last Zelda game, he came in to work on the manual, and again, it didn't have much of a story in place, so he had to make it up himself.{{Ref|name=Wired}} ''Link's Awakening'' had a unique development process, which was more like an after-school club than the disciplined teams with well-defined roles that create software today.{{Ref|name=Iwata Asks}} People did whatever work needed to be done, and Koizumi ended up making the story for the entire game. Miyamoto didn't give the team much attention as producer, so Koizumi had almost free reign as long as he didn't push the story too much and make Miyamoto angry.{{Ref|name=Wired}}


Following with most of the early Zelda titles, which were developed gameplay first, story second, Koizumi wasn’t called in from another division to work on [[Link's Awakening Story|''Link’s Awakening'''s story]] until later in development.  Like his last Zelda game, he came in to work on the manual, and again, it didn't have much of a story in place, so he had to make it up himself.  ''Link’s Awakening'' had a unique development process, which was more like an after-school club than the disciplined teams with well-defined roles that create software today.  People did whatever work needed to be done, and Koizumi ended up making the story for the entire game.  Miyamoto didn't give the team much attention as producer, so Koizumi had almost free reign as long as he didn't push the story too much and make Miyamoto angry.
{{Quote|So when it came to Link's Awakening, I wanted to make something that, while it would be small enough in scope to easily understand, it would have deep and distinctive characteristics.|Takashi Tezuka{{Ref|name=Iwata Asks}}}}
:''"So when it came to Link's Awakening, I wanted to make something that, while it would be small enough in scope to easily understand, it would have deep and distinctive characteristics."''
::-Takashi Tezuka<ref name="Iwata Asks" />


The conditions were just right to allow Koizumi to use his imagination and present to us a unique and captivating story. It was the first of its kind in Zelda, as [[Eiji Aonuma|Aonuma]] comments: "It wasn't until ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' that the series started having a proper plot."<ref name="Iwata Asks" /> Previous games had some backstory and progressive objectives, but Koizumi considers themes like "save the princess" to be ''goals'', not ''story''. For ''Link’s Awakening'', he was able to add [[:Category:Link's Awakening Characters|characters]] to interact with and continue the story throughout the game. Even the [[Nightmare]]s whose behaviors he designed were directly related to the story and had dialog to show it.
The conditions were just right to allow Koizumi to use his imagination and present to us a unique and captivating story. It was the first of its kind in Zelda, as [[Eiji Aonuma]] comments: "It wasn't until ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'' that the series started having a proper plot."{{Ref|name=Iwata Asks}} Previous games had some backstory and progressive objectives, but Koizumi considers themes like "save the princess" to be ''goals'', not ''story''.{{Ref|name=Wired}} For ''Link's Awakening'', he was able to add [[:Category:Link's Awakening Characters|characters]] to interact with and continue the story throughout the game. Even the [[Nightmare]]s whose behaviors he designed were directly related to the story and had dialog to show it.


===Ocarina of Time===
===Ocarina of Time===
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===The Wind Waker===
===The Wind Waker===
==Works==
{{Works
|year1=1991 |game1=''[[A Link to the Past Staff|A Link to the Past]]''
|contrib1=Artwork, layout, and story of the manual
|year2=1993 |game2=''[[Link's Awakening Staff|Link's Awakening]]''
|contrib2=Story, script writer, manual writer
|year3=1998 |game3=''[[Ocarina of Time Staff|Ocarina of Time]]''
|contrib3=3D System Director, story, character design
|year4=1998 |game4=''[[Link's Awakening DX Staff|Link's Awakening DX]]''
|contrib4=Story, script writer, manual writer
|year5=2000 |game5=''[[Majora's Mask Staff|Majora's Mask]]''
|contrib5=Game System Director, story, creator of the "Three-Day System"
|year6=2002 |game6=''[[The Wind Waker Staff|The Wind Waker]]''
|contrib6=Assistant Director
}}


==Trivia==
==Trivia==


==References==
{{References}}
<references />


==Resources==
==Resources==
#[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/ds/zelda/0/0 Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks]
#[[Interview:Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks|Iwata Asks: Spirit Tracks]]
#[[Interview:Iwata Asks: The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games|Iwata Asks: The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games]]
#[[Interview:Wired December 4th 2007|Interview: ''Super Mario Galaxy'' Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto]]
#[[Interview:Edge February 6th 2008|Interview: Nintendo's Unsung Star]]
#1101: OoT Animations*
#1101: OoT Animations*
#OoT - Half Done By Mario*
#OoT - Half Done By Mario*
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#3-day system*
#3-day system*
#z-target, epona*
#z-target, epona*
#[http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_-_zelda_handheld_history_15603_15604.html Iwata Asks: Zelda Handheld History]
#[http://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-list-interview Link's Awakening Staff interview]
#[http://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-list-interview Link's Awakening Staff interview]
#[http://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-questionnaire Link's Awakening DX Staff Questionaire]
#[http://www.glitterberri.com/links-awakening/staff-questionnaire Link's Awakening DX Staff Questionaire]
#''[http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2007/12/interview-super/ Interview: ''Super Mario Galaxy'' Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto]'', Wired, 4 Dec 2007.
#''[http://www.next-gen.biz/features/interview-nintendo%C3%ADs-unsung-star Interview: Nintendo's Unsung Star]'', Edge, 6 Feb 2008.
#[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/1/1 Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D]
#[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/1/1 Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time 3D]
#''[http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/28529/zelda-majoras-mask-came-to-me-in-a-dream-koizumi/ Zelda: ''Majora's Mask'' came to me in a dream - Koizumi]''
#''[http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/28529/zelda-majoras-mask-came-to-me-in-a-dream-koizumi/ Zelda: ''Majora's Mask'' came to me in a dream - Koizumi]''
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==Further Reading==
==Further Reading==
*http://www.gametrailers.com/users/MikeGT/gamepad/?action=viewblog&id=554326
*[http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/19004/reset-demystifying-zeldas-chronology Reset: Demystifying Zelda's Chronology] - GameTrailers
*http://kyoto-report.blogspot.com/2010/11/nintendo-ead-tokyo-software-development.html
*[http://www.n-sider.com/personnelview.php?personnelid=124 Yoshiaki Koizumi] - N-Sider
*http://www.n-sider.com/personnelview.php?personnelid=124
 


{{Cat|Game Staff}}
{{Cat|Game Staff}}

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