Hiroshi Minagawa

Hiroshi Minagawa
Native name 皆川 裕史
Born 1970 (age 4546)
Nationality Japanese
Other names Nigoro
Occupation Video game artist, designer and director

Hiroshi Minagawa (皆川 裕史 Minagawa Hiroshi, born 1970), also known by the nickname Nigoro, is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director.[1]

Career

Minagawa had worked at Quest Corporation alongside his colleagues Yasumi Matsuno and Akihiko Yoshida before they all decided to switch to Square in 1995. He continued collaborating with his coworkers as the art director of Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story.[1][2] For the Final Fantasy XII project, he was originally the graphics and real-time visual director.[3] However, when the original director Matsuno left the company due to an illness, Minagawa was put in charge of directing the game in cooperation with Hiroyuki Ito.[4] He felt that the pressure of working on a Final Fantasy installment helped him and influenced his decisions. Minagawa most enjoyed the period in which the team continued to come up with new ideas, but he ultimately had to decide to abandon many features in order to finish the game.[5]

Following the remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, a decision was made to remake Quest's Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Minagawa directed the game and took on the laborious task of assembling the original 1995 staff members—including Matsuno—who were now working at different companies.[6] Upon finishing his work on the project, Minagawa was asked to join the Final Fantasy XIV team as the lead user interface and web designer. This was part of a plan to salvage the game after its initial negative reception by critics and players. Director Naoki Yoshida considered the fact that one of the Final Fantasy XII directors was now solely responsible for one aspect of Final Fantasy XIV an indication of how serious Square Enix was about improving the game.[7][8]

Works

Hiroshi Minagawa (right) and Akitoshi Kawazu (left) at the Final Fantasy XII London Launch Event at HMV in 2007.
Release Title System Credit(s)
1991 Magical Chase PC Engine Director, game design, art direction, CG design[1]
1993 Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen Super Nintendo Entertainment System Art direction, main graphics design, image effects[1]
1995 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Super Nintendo Entertainment System Art direction, system CG design[1]
1997 Final Fantasy Tactics PlayStation Art direction, event direction[1]
2000 Vagrant Story PlayStation Art direction, character model supervisor, artistic supervisor of menu and layout
2000 Final Fantasy IX PlayStation Special thanks
2003 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Game Boy Advance Artistic supervisor
2006 Final Fantasy XII PlayStation 2 Director, visual design, character texture supervisor
2007 Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions PlayStation Portable Original staff: Art director, event director
2007 Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System PlayStation 2 Director, visual design, character texture supervisor
2007 Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Nintendo DS Visual design supervisor
2009 Gyromancer Xbox 360, Windows Special thanks
2009 Final Fantasy XIII PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Crystal Tools development staff
2010 Final Fantasy XIV Windows Special thanks: Crystal Tools
2010 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together PlayStation Portable Director
2013 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Mac OS X Lead UI artist, lead web designer[8]
2015 Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Mac OS X Lead UI artist
2016 Dragon Quest Builders PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Supervisor
2017 Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age PlayStation 4 Supervisor[9]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hiroshi Minagawa.
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vagrant Story: from the Development Team". Square. 2000. Archived from the original on 2002-08-08.
  2. "Square Completes Acquisition of Quest". IGN. 2002-06-19. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  3. Nickel, Thomas (2006-11-05). "Interview with Hiroshi Minagawa". G wie Gorilla. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  4. Niizumi, Hirohiko (2005-08-01). "FFXII producer steps down". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  5. "Final Fantasy XII Director Interviews". Square Enix. 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  6. Richards, Kim (2011-01-18). "Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Hands On". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  7. Nobu (2010-12-28). "プレイヤーとの約束は必ず守ります。新体制への刷新が行われた「FINAL FANTASY XIV」緊急インタビュー。FFXIVを託された吉田氏はどんな人物なのか". 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  8. 1 2 Wada, Yoichi; Yoshida, Naoki; Tanaka, Hiromichi (2012-12-10). "An Important Announcement for Final Fantasy XIV Fans". Square-Enix. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  9. "The "FFXII" turned into HD "FFXII the Zodiac Age" will be released in 2017 in the PS4". Famitsu. 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
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