Square (video Game Company)
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Square (video Game Company)
also known under its international brand name SquareSoft, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, who spun off the computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line construction company owned by his father. Among its early employees were designers Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiromichi Tanaka, Akitoshi Kawazu, Koichi Ishii, artist Kazuko Shibuya, programmer Nasir Gebelli, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Initially focusing on action games, the team saw popular success with the role-playing video game ''Final Fantasy'' in 1987, which would lead to the franchise of the same name being one of its flagship franchises. Later notable staff included directors Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita, designer and writer Yasumi Matsuno, artists Tetsuya Nomura and Yusuke Naora, and composers Yoko Shimomura and Masashi Hamauzu. Initially developing for PCs, then exclusively for Nintendo systems, Square cut ties with Nintendo in ...
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Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and ''Kingdom Hearts'', among numerous others. Outside of video game publishing and development, it is also in the business of merchandise, Arcade game, arcade facilities, and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand. The original Square Enix Co., Ltd. was formed in April 2003 from a mergers and acquisitions, merger between Square (video game company), Square and Enix, with the latter as the surviving company. Each share of Square's common stock was stock swap, exchanged for 0.85 shares of Enix's common stock. At the time, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of the merger, former Square President (corporate title), president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while forme ...
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Kabushiki Gaisha
A or ''kabushiki kaisha'', commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK, is a type of defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", "joint-stock company" or "stock corporation". The term ''kabushiki gaisha'' in Japan refers to any joint-stock company regardless of country of origin or incorporation; however, outside Japan the term refers specifically to joint-stock companies incorporated in Japan. Usage in language In Latin script, ''kabushiki kaisha'', with a , is often used, but the original Japanese pronunciation is ''kabushiki gaisha'', with a , owing to ''rendaku''. A ''kabushiki gaisha'' must include "" in its name (Article 6, paragraph 2 of the Companies Act). In a company name, "" can be used as a prefix (e.g. , ''Dentsu, kabushiki gaisha Dentsū'', a style called , ''mae-kabu'') or as a suffix (e.g. , ''Toyota, Toyota Jidōsha kabushiki gaisha'', a style called , ''ato-kabu''). Many Japanese companies translate the phrase "" in their ...
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Kazuko Shibuya
is a Japanese video game artist. She is best known for her work with Square (now Square Enix), in particular with the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Biography Shibuya was born in 1965. While in middle school, she began creating illustrations and animations inspired by anime series including ''Space Battleship Yamato'' and ''Galaxy Express 999''. As a high schooler she enrolled in a technical school to study animation and worked part-time for animation studios on popular anime including ''Transformers'', ''Area 88'', and ''Obake no Q-taro''. In 1986, as she was losing interest in animation work, she was recruited by video game company Square. Shibuya's first work for Square was providing illustrations for ''Alpha'' game manual and graphics for several games in development. In 1987, prompted by the success of Enix's ''Dragon Quest'' the previous year, Square released ''Final Fantasy''. Shibuya created graphics including characters, spells, monsters, fonts, menus, and the game's openin ...
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Masashi Hamauzu
is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the ''Final Fantasy'' and ''SaGa'' video game series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan. He became interested in music while in kindergarten, and took piano lessons from his parents. Hamauzu was hired by Square as a trainee, and his debut as a solo composer came the following year when he scored '' Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon''. He has collaborated with friend and fellow composer Junya Nakano on several games. After Nobuo Uematsu left Square Enix in 2004, Hamauzu took over as the leading composer of the company's music team. He was the sole composer for '' Final Fantasy XIII''. He has also become a renowned pianist, arranging for several other composers. His music incorporates various styles, although he often uses classical and ambience in his pieces. In 2010, Hamauzu left Square Enix to ...
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Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. Shimomura wrote music for several games there, including '' Final Fight'', '' Street Fighter II'', and '' The King of Dragons''. Shimomura left Capcom and joined Square (now Square Enix) in 1993, with her first project there being '' Live A Live''. There she would compose the music for games such as '' Super Mario RPG'', '' Legend of Mana'', and '' Parasite Eve''. Shimomura would later become better known for writing the music for the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series. She left Square to become a freelancer in 2002, continuing to work with them on later games such as '' The 3rd Birthday'' and '' Final Fantasy XV''. Other well-known games Shimomura has worked on include the ''Mario & Luigi'' series, '' Radiant Historia'', and '' Xenoblade Chronicles''. Her works have been p ...
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Yusuke Naora
(born January 9, 1971) is a Japanese video game art director and character designer who worked for Square Enix (formerly Square). A former member of Toaplan,Translationby Gamengai. by Gaijin Punch. ). Naora served as the art director for several ''Final Fantasy'' and ''Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'' titles. He also served as the producer of the ''Code Age'' franchise. On October 1, 2016 he announced on Twitter that he had left the company, but would continue to contribute to Square Enix games as a freelancer. Biography ''Final Fantasy X'' Naora described the game as a "journey", and the Besaid Village from the game was heavily influenced by his trip to Bali, Indonesia, where he saw seaside towns, temples, people handing out tropical flowers, and distinctive dress. ''Code Age Commanders'' Naora worked on the game ''Code Age Commanders'' for three years, in cooperation with a group he assembled for this project called "War Head". The game was conceived to be a new game, unlike ' ...
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Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game artist, designer, producer, and director working for Square Enix. He was hired by Square initially as a monster designer for ''Final Fantasy V'' (1992), before being shifted towards secondary Character design of Final Fantasy, character designer alongside Yoshitaka Amano for ''Final Fantasy VI'' (1994). ''Final Fantasy VII'' (1997) had him working in the original story alongside Hironobu Sakaguchi, and marked his debut as the lead character designer, a capacity he would retain for several future installments of the series, as well as other Square Enix titles such as The Bouncer (video game), ''The Bouncer'' and ''The World Ends with You''. He also created the characters Cactuar, Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy), Gilgamesh, and Tonberry. Additionally, Nomura created and has led the development as director of the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series since its inception in 2002 and has been creative producer in ''The World Ends with You'' series. He has also directed the 20 ...
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Yasumi Matsuno
is a Japanese video game designer and writer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcade game, arcades while waiting for the train, and first played ''Space Invaders'' and ''Xevious'' there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out, and after working for a time as an economic reporter, he joined Quest Corporation. As an employee at video game companies Quest in 1989 and later Square (video game company), Square in 1995, Matsuno became well known for his work in the tactical role-playing game genre, specifically the ''Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, Ogre Battle'' (1993) and ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' (1997) series, in addition to ''Vagrant Story'' (2000) and ''Final Fantasy XII'' (2006). After disruptions from staff leaving his development team, he resigned from Square Enix due to prolonged illness. During a freelance period, he worked on games for Nintendo's Wii such as ''MadWorld'' (2009). He joined Level-5 (company), Level-5 in 2011 ...
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Takashi Tokita
(born 24 January 1965) is a Japanese video game developer working for Square Enix. He has worked there since 1985, and has worked as the lead designer for ''Final Fantasy IV'' as well as the director of ''Live A Live'', ''Parasite Eve'' and ''Chrono Trigger''. Career Tokita joined Square in 1985 as a part-time employee, not becoming full-time until the development of ''Final Fantasy IV''. For the first three ''Final Fantasy'' games, he worked on graphic design, testing, and sound effects, respectively, before becoming lead designer of ''Final Fantasy IV'' in 1991. Tokita wanted to make a career as a theater actor, but working on ''Final Fantasy IV'' made him decide to become a "great creator" of video games. He was one of only 14 people working on the game. Tokita feels that ''Final Fantasy IV'' is the first game in the series to really pick up on drama, and the first Japanese RPG to feature "such deep characters and plot". He also felt that ''Final Fantasy IV'' was so good beca ...
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Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game director and producer working for Square Enix. He is known as the director of ''Final Fantasy VI'', ''Chrono Trigger'', ''Final Fantasy VII'', ''Final Fantasy VIII'' and '' Final Fantasy X'', and the producer of the ''Final Fantasy X'' and ''Final Fantasy XIII'' series. He is currently the head of Square Enix's Creative Studios I and II, the ''Final Fantasy'' series Brand Manager, an executive officer at Square Enix and a member of the board of directors at both Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings. He was the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit 1 as well as Business Division 1 during their entire respective existences as well as a Corporate Executive. He is also part of the ''Final Fantasy'' Committee that is tasked with keeping the franchise's releases and content consistent. Biography In July 1978, at the age of 11, Kitase watched the movie ''Star Wars'' for the first time and was deeply impressed with it. He later examined the making ...
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Final Fantasy
is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy role-playing video games. The Final Fantasy (video game), first game in the series was released in 1987, with 16 numbered main entries having been released to date. The franchise has since branched into other video game genres such as tactical role-playing game, tactical role-playing, action role-playing game, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing game, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing video game, racing, third-person shooter, Fighting game, fighting, and Rhythm game, rhythm, as well as branching into other media, including films, anime, manga, and novels. ''Final Fantasy'' is mostly an anthology series with primary installments being stand-alone role-playing games, each with different settings ...
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Final Fantasy (video Game)
is a 1987 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It is the first game in Square's ''Final Fantasy'' series, created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. Originally released for the NES, ''Final Fantasy'' was remade for several video game consoles and is frequently packaged with '' Final Fantasy II'' in video game collections. The first ''Final Fantasy'' story follows four youths called the Warriors of Light, who each carry one of their world's four elemental crystals which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces, restore light to the crystals, and save their world. ''Final Fantasy'' was originally conceived under the working title ''Fighting Fantasy'', but trademark issues and dire circumstances surrounding Square as well as Sakaguchi himself prompted the name to be changed. The game was a great commercial success, received generally positive reviews, and spawned many successful sequels and supplementary titles ...
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