Yoshio Sakamoto

Yoshio Sakamoto
Yoshio Sakamoto
坂本賀勇
	Sakamoto at the 2010 Game Developers Conference
Born	July 23, 1959 (age 64); Nara Prefecture, Japan
Alma mater	Osaka University of Arts
Occupation(s)	Video game designer, director, producer
Years active	1982–present
Employer	Nintendo
Notable work	Metroid; Famicom Detective Club; WarioWare; Rhythm Heaven
Title	Manager at Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1 (2004-2012); Deputy Manager at Nintendo SPD (2012-2015); Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD (2015-present)

Yoshio Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本賀勇, Hepburn: Sakamoto Yoshio) (born July 23, 1959) is a Japanese video game designer, director, and producer. He has worked at Nintendo since 1982. He has directed several games in the Metroid series. He is one of the most prominent members of Nintendo's former Research and Development 1 division, along with Gunpei Yokoi and Toru Osawa.

Career

Sakamoto is a key member in the development of the Metroid series. Sakamoto grew up with Nintendo toys, which he felt were inventive.^[1] The company hired him in 1982, when he graduated from art college. His first projects at Nintendo were the design of pixel art for the Game & Watch handheld Donkey Kong, and the arcade game Donkey Kong Jr.^[2] He turned to the Nintendo Entertainment System afterward, for which he designed the games Wrecking Crew, Balloon Fight and Gumshoe. Sakamoto also was the lead scenario writer and creator of Famicom Detective Club with its two entries, one of the most influential visual novel in Japan in the 80s.^[2]

Sakamoto created characters for Metroid (under the alias 'Shikamoto'), and was a game designer on Kid Icarus.^[3]^[4]^[5] He also directed Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Metroid: Other M, and was the producer for Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread.^[6]^[7] Sakamoto's design work is also found in Nintendo games including Balloon Kid (1990), Game & Watch Gallery (1997), Wario Land 4 (2001), and WarioWare.

Philosophy

Sakamoto has stated that he wants to live up to public expectations of Nintendo to deliver products similarly unique to those of his youth, describing WarioWare, Inc. as an example. Regarding his professional relationship with Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto, he believes his mission is not to compete with but to "always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do".^[1]

Works

Year	Game title	Role
1982	Donkey Kong	Graphic designer
1982	Donkey Kong Jr.
1983	Snoopy
1983	Mario's Bombs Away
1984	Balloon Fight
1984	Wrecking Crew	Designer
1986	Gumshoe
	Metroid
	Kid Icarus	Game designer
1987	Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School	Director, game designer, scenario
1988	Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir	Game designer, scenario
1989	Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind	Game designer, scenario
1990	Balloon Kid	Director
1992	X	Director
1992	Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru	Scenario
1994	Super Metroid	Director
1995	Teleroboxer	Director
1997	Game & Watch Gallery	Advisor
1998	Game Boy Camera	Additional staff
2000	Trade & Battle: Card Hero	Director, game designer, scenario
2001	Wario Land 4	Supervisor
2002	Metroid Fusion	Chief director, scenario, story
2003	Wario World	Advisor
2003	WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!	Supervisor
2004	Metroid: Zero Mission	Director
	WarioWare: Twisted!	Producer
	WarioWare: Touched!	Producer, game designer
2006	Rhythm Tengoku
2006	WarioWare: Smooth Moves
2007	Picross DS	Supervisor
2007	Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero	Producer
2008	Rhythm Heaven	General producer
2009	WarioWare D.I.Y.	Producer
2009	Tomodachi Collection	Producer
2010	Metroid: Other M	Director, producer, story
2011	Rhythm Heaven Fever	General producer
2012	Kiki Trick	Supervisor
2013	Game & Wario	Producer, game designer
2013	Tomodachi Life	Producer
2015	Rhythm Heaven Megamix	General producer
2016	Miitomo	Producer
2016	Metroid Prime: Federation Force	Special advisor
2017	Metroid: Samus Returns	Producer
2021	Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir	Producer, scenario, supervisor
	Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind	Producer, scenario, supervisor
	Metroid Dread	Producer