is a Japanese game designer, president of Game Studio and Mobile & Game Studio, and the director of Digital Games Research Association Japan. He formerly worked for

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

, where he created

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s and is best known for '' Xevious'' and '' The Tower of Druaga'', which were important titles in the scrolling shooter and

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...

genres, respectively.

Education

Endō graduated from the Yokohama Suiran High School and from the Department of Information & Image Science at the

Chiba University is a national university in the city of Chiba, Chiba, Chiba, Japan. It offers doctoral degrees in education as part of a coalition with Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, and Yokohama National University. The university was formed in ...

Career

In 1981, Endō joined

. During his time with the company, in 1982 he created the wildly popular

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

game '' Xevious'', single-handedly designing, programming and drawing the graphics for the game. Later he produced '' The Tower of Druaga'' and '' Grobda'', both released in 1984. ''Xevious'' set the template for vertical scrolling shooters, while ''The Tower of Druaga'' laid the foundations for

s. After that he became independent, founding his own company called the Game Studio, where he continued to produce games in the Babylonian Castle Saga such as '' The Return of Ishtar'', '' The Quest of Ki'', and '' The Destiny of Gilgamesh'' (aka ''The Blue Crystal Rod''). In addition, he produced '' Family Circuit'' and '' Tenkaichi Bushi Keru Nagūru'' for Namco, '' Kidō Senshi Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble'' for

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

and '' Airs Adventure'' on the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

. Furthermore, he entered the mobile phone game market at an early stage, creating titles such as Sangokushi Nendaiki, Kētai Shachō, Unō Paradise, Beach Volley Girl Shizuku among others. He supervised the production of the anime reboot '' The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk'' and the

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

'' The Tower of Druaga: The Recovery of BABYLIM''. When the final episode of the anime was broadcast on GyaO Jockey, he appeared on TV as a guest commentator with the name , explaining that it was his on-screen character.

References

External links

Masanobu Endō's blog

Masanobu Endō's official site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Endo, Masanobu Japanese video game designers Japanese video game producers Japanese video game directors 1959 births Living people Chiba University alumni