Hiroyuki Ito
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, is a Japanese
game producer A video game producer is the top person in charge of overseeing development of a video game. History The earliest documented use of the term ''producer'' in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Ar ...
, director and
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
who works for
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 '' ...
. He is known as the director of ''
Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ser ...
'' (1994), ''
Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...
'' (2000) and ''
Final Fantasy XII is a 2006 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in March 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series ...
'' (2006) and as the creator of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system in the ''
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 fanta ...
'' series.


Biography

After graduating from Tokyo Zokei University, Ito joined
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
in 1987. He initially worked on ''
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 fanta ...
'' and '' Final Fantasy II'' as a
debugger A debugger is a computer program used to test and debug other programs (the "target" programs). Common features of debuggers include the ability to run or halt the target program using breakpoints, step through code line by line, and display ...
but first became genuinely involved with game development while creating sound effects for '' Final Fantasy III''. His next major role was as the designer of the Active Time Battle system for '' Final Fantasy IV''. Square filed a Japanese
patent application A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claim (patent), claims stated in a formal document, including necessary officia ...
related to the ATB system on 16 July 1991 and a corresponding US application on 16 March 1992. One Japanese patent (JP2794230) and two US patents (US5390937 and US5649862) were granted based on these applications. For ''
Final Fantasy V is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square. It is the fifth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainmen ...
'', Ito designed the fully customizable Job system. He also created the 'Chicken Knife or Brave Blade' choosing event. ''
Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ser ...
'' marked the first time that Ito became a director on a game. For this title, he was in charge of all battle aspects. He was also responsible for the battle systems in ''
Final Fantasy VIII is a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the eighth main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Set on an unnamed fantasy world with science fiction elements, the game follo ...
'' and '' Final Fantasy Tactics'' before he once more took on the role of director with ''
Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...
''. Ito had the idea to make its protagonist Zidane Tribal flirtatious towards women. In mid-2005,
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 '' ...
announced that
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 ...
had left the company due to an illness but would be acting as a supervisor on ''
Final Fantasy XII is a 2006 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in March 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series ...
''. Ito was appointed as the director of the game. Matsuno apologized for the long development time of the project but guaranteed players that it was "progressing in its development under the hands of excellent staffs". Ito created the License Board of ''Final Fantasy XII'' with the intention to give the player much freedom in developing characters to their liking without becoming too complicated. At the Square Enix Party 2007 pre-conference meeting in May 2007, he was introduced on stage as the producer and director of the newly announced ''Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System''. He stated later that he considered the game design and battle system of ''Final Fantasy XII'' a "definitive contribution to the gaming lexicon" and that it had "the potential to shine in future games". In about 2012, Ito was tasked by producer Shinichi Tatsuke with the creation of a battle system for a new game. However, the plan changed and he was told a week later that there was a different project to consider. Tatsuke now requested a concept for a social game which he felt was an interesting opportunity to have Ito work on, given his experience with simple Nintendo Entertainment System game systems. This concept became '' Guardian Cross''. In September 2012, Ito said that he would work on another ''Final Fantasy'' game if the company's president wished for it. The corporate executive of Square Enix's 1st Production Department, Shinji Hashimoto, mentioned in July 2013 that Ito was "planning and doing some proposals for a new project" and "putting some ideas together".


Game design and impact

As the
game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...
of a ''
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 fanta ...
'' game, Ito tries to balance the story and event scenes with the gameplay. When he begins his work on a title, he does not consider the story at hand but rather adapts his game system to it as closely as possible over the time. He thinks that it is his job to smoothly implement a game so the people in charge of the stories do not have to worry about this aspect. He also believes that the most important factor of the ''Final Fantasy'' series is the player's feeling of accomplishment after beating the game and seeing "The End" on the screen. Professional sports were the primary inspiration behind Ito's battle systems. The monsters in ''Final Fantasy IV'' and the Gambit system in ''Final Fantasy XII'' resemble aspects of the NFL in that their actions are based on the most likely outcome of a specific situation. The Active Time Battle system was similarly inspired by
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
, as Ito had the idea to give characters different speed values after seeing a race in which the cars passed each other. These values would then become the basis for the battle system and dictate when it will be a character's turn. At the CESA 2006 Japan Game Awards held on 22 September 2006, Ito accepted the "Grand Award" and "Award for Excellence" for ''Final Fantasy XII''. He thanked the development team, longtime fans and new players alike and said that the team was grateful for the awards as they could not possibly think about the game's reception during its creation. His comment at the ceremony was: "I did my best to bring new and innovative elements to this work. I'm very happy that something like this, which was one of the more challenging games to create in the Final Fantasy series, has received this award. To return the favor to the users who've played this game and who regard it so highly, I'm determined to continue creating by always reminding myself of the need to rise to new challenges."
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 F ...
considers Ito one of his four "seniors" at the company and a likely influence on his battle planning. He also stated that he was taught the basics of game design by Ito.


Works


References


External links


Famitsu interview about ''Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Hiroyuki Living people Final Fantasy designers Japanese video game designers Japanese video game directors Japanese video game producers Square Enix people Year of birth missing (living people) Tokyo Zokei University alumni