Yoshinori Kitase
| Yoshinori Kitase | |
|---|---|
 At the E3 in Los Angeles, California in 2009 | |
| Born |
23 September 1966 Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Nihon University |
| Occupation | Video game producer |
| Employer | Square Enix |
Yoshinori Kitase (北瀬 佳範 Kitase Yoshinori, born 23 September 1966) is a Japanese former game director and current game producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of Final Fantasy VI (1994), Chrono Trigger (1995), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Final Fantasy VIII (1999), and Final Fantasy X (2001).
Since becoming a producer, he's been more recently known as the producer of the Final Fantasy X series (2001–2004), the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series (2004–2009), the Final Fantasy XIII series (2009–2014) and the forthcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake series (TBA).
Kitase is a corporate executive and manages Square Enix's Business Division 1.[1]
Biography
In July 1978, at the age of 12, Kitase watched the movie Star Wars for the first time and was deeply impressed with it. He later examined the making-of video to it and became interested in the creative process of the film industry. Kitase decided to attend the Nihon University College of Art and studied screenwriting and filmmaking. Although he enjoyed filming, he showed a much greater passion for post-production editing as he felt it allowed him to give the footage a completely new meaning and to appeal to the viewers' feelings. In his first year after the graduation, Kitase worked at a small animation studio that produced animated television programs and commercials. When he played Final Fantasy for the first time, he considered a switch to the game industry as he felt that it had potential when it came to animation and storytelling. Despite having no software development knowledge, he applied at the game development company Square and was hired in 1990. In the ten years to follow, he gathered experience as an "event scripter", directing the characters' movements and facial expressions on the game screen as well as setting the timings and music transitions. He has compared this work to directing film actors.[2]
When many players responded to the sci-fi world of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII by requesting a "simple fantasy world", Kitase tried to expand the definition of the word "fantasy" beyond that of a medieval European setting. This led to Southeast Asia being the backdrop for Final Fantasy X.[3] Kitase referred to Final Fantasy VII and its protagonist Cloud Strife as his favorite game and character, respectively.[4] In an interview, he said that he loves first-person shooters.[5]
Works
| Release | Title | System | Credit(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Final Fantasy Adventure | Game Boy | Game design, scenario |
| 1992 | Romancing SaGa | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Field map design |
| 1992 | Final Fantasy V | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Field planner, event planner, scenario writer[6] |
| 1994 | Final Fantasy VI | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Director, event planner, scenario writer[6] |
| 1995 | Chrono Trigger | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Director, scenario writer[7] |
| 1997 | Final Fantasy VII | PlayStation, Windows | Director, scenario writer |
| 1998 | Ehrgeiz | PlayStation | FF VII staff |
| 1999 | Final Fantasy VIII | PlayStation, Windows | Director, story, system designer, event director[8][9] |
| 2001 | Final Fantasy X | PlayStation 2 | Producer, chief director, scenario writer[10][11][12] |
| 2002 | Kingdom Hearts | PlayStation 2 | Co-producer |
| 2003 | Final Fantasy X-2 | PlayStation 2 | Producer |
| 2004 | Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII | Mobile phone | Executive producer |
| 2004 | Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories | Game Boy Advance | Producer |
| 2005 | Final Fantasy VII: Technical Demo for PS3 | PlayStation 3 | Supervisor[13] |
| 2005 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | DVD-Video, UMD | Producer |
| 2005 | Kingdom Hearts II | PlayStation 2 | Co-producer |
| 2006 | Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII | PlayStation 2 | Producer |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy V Advance | Game Boy Advance | Supervisor |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy VI Advance | Game Boy Advance | Supervisor |
| 2006 | Dawn of Mana | PlayStation 2 | Special thanks |
| 2007 | Heroes of Mana | Nintendo DS | Special thanks |
| 2007 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII | PlayStation Portable | Executive producer, event planner[14] |
| 2008 | Sigma Harmonics | Nintendo DS | Producer |
| 2008 | Dissidia: Final Fantasy | PlayStation Portable | Producer |
| 2009 | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete | Blu-ray Disc | Producer |
| 2009 | Final Fantasy XIII | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Producer, Crystal Tools development staff |
| 2010 | The 3rd Birthday | PlayStation Portable | Producer |
| 2011 | Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy | PlayStation Portable | Special thanks |
| 2011 | Final Fantasy Type-0 | PlayStation Portable | Producer |
| 2011 | Final Fantasy XIII-2 | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Producer |
| 2012 | Theatrhythm Final Fantasy | Nintendo 3DS | Special thanks |
| 2013 | Final Fantasy: All The Bravest | iOS | Special thanks |
| 2013 | Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Producer |
| 2013 | Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster | PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita | Producer |
| 2014 | Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call | Nintendo 3DS | Special thanks |
| 2014 | Final Fantasy VII G-Bike | iOS, Android | Executive producer[1] |
| 2015 | Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster | PlayStation 4 | Special thanks |
| 2015 | Mobius Final Fantasy | iOS, Android | Producer |
| TBA | Final Fantasy VII Remake | PlayStation 4 | Producer |
References
- 1 2 "【インタビュー（完全版）】『ファイナルファンタジーVII Gバイク』 いま明かされる開発秘話". Famitsu. 2014-06-27. Retrieved 2015-05-26.
- ↑ 「ハリウッド映画に負けていますか？」 スクウェア・エニックスプロデューサー北瀬 佳範 (in Japanese). Kodansha. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ↑ "Beyond FINAL FANTASY – Interviews". FINAL FANTASY X Bonus DVD. Square Enix Co., Ltd. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
Yoshinori Kitase: For Final Fantasy VII and VIII, the setting was sci-fi and many players responded by saying that they preferred a simple fantasy world. They seemed to have a fixed notion of what fantasy means to them, and to them, it consisted of a medieval European world. I wanted to change that idea. I wanted to expand the definition of what the players thought the word "fantasy" implied.
- ↑ "Yoshinori Kitase on FFXIII, FFVII and Dissidia". VideoGamer.com. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
- ↑ Cheng, Justin (19 May 2005). "E3 2005: Yoshinori Kitase Interview". IGN. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- 1 2 Parish, Jeremy (2010-02-24). "Final Fantasy: Kitase's Inside Story". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ↑ "Procyon Studio: Interview with Masato Kato". Cocoebiz.com. November 1999. Archived from the original on 2009-08-10. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
- ↑ "Interview with Nomura, Kitase and Naora". Shūkan Famitsu. ASCII Corporation. 1998-06-05. Archived from the original on 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ↑ Studio BentStuff. Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). Square Enix. p. 464.
- ↑ "Interview: Final Fantasy X". Core Magazine. 6 March 2001. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001.
- ↑ "Interview with Final Fantasy X Developers". The Madman's Cafe. 19 January 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ↑ Studio BentStuff. Final Fantasy X Ultimania Omega (in Japanese). Square Enix. pp. 192, 476.
- ↑ "FFX producer developing PS3 Final Fantasy?". GameSpot. 8 June 2005.
- ↑ Martin, Joe (26 April 2008). "Crisis Core: Interviewing Yoshinori Kitase". Interview. bit-tech. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
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