Yoshio Sakamoto, Director of the the majority of Nintendo-developed Metroid games, will speak at the Game Developers Conference this year. Sakamoto also happens to be the Director of my favourite Metroid game, and the game that (if pressed) I might call my favourite game of all time: Super Metroid.
The Metroid Database has an extensive feature article about Yoshio Sakamoto:
Sakamoto has become a kind of enigmatic director at Nintendo to outsiders, being overshadowed by the work of Miyamoto and Miyamoto’s apprentice, Eiji Aonuma (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess). In some cases, Sakamoto’s role has been overlooked or underemphasized and credited to Gumpei Yokoi, who served mainly as the producer or supervisor of Sakamoto’s games rather than as a creative director. So Sakamoto is Nintendo’s ‘other’ director, one of the most creative men in the company, yet also one of the least known, considering his body of work. As such, he has not been as widely sought out by the press, but his recent work with Other M is likely to change that, catapulting him into the spotlight.
The in-depth article details Sakamoto’s many years of experience at Nintendo, design philosophies and approaches, and discusses the background of Super Metroid‘s development. It’s a really interesting read, particularly since Sakamoto is not as high profile a creative director as other Nintendo luminaries.
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I have a huge collection of nintendo games. but I never knew Yoshio Sakamoto and Metroid games. interesting info for me.
Our family loves Nintendo. Congratulations to Yoshio!
Thanks for your comments, risang and Isabelle. :-)
it’s good to see this information in your post, i was looking the same but there was not any proper resource, thanx now i have the link which i was looking for my research.
Yes I know Yoshio Sakamoto he wants to live up to public expectations of Nintendo to deliver products similarly unique to those of his youth, describing WarioWare, Inc. as a prime example of this effort. Regarding his professional relationship with Shigeru Miyamoto, he believes his own mission is not to compete but to “always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do”.
Attending on Another Even Year: GDC 2010
In several days, I shall be flying down to San Francisco to attend the Game Developers Conference. I’ll again be a behind-the-scenes volunteer as I was in 2006 and 2008. This means I’ll spend the vast majority of the week…
I have always loved the Metroid series, and i’m thrilled to see that Other M is going to delve more into who Samus is. Shes a great, strong character, and it would be great to see her more fleshed out.