Nameless NES programmers...

GradualGames · Post by **GradualGames** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:27 am

So, we all know the names of some game designers, such as Shigeru Miyamoto, Keiji Inafune, etc. some composers such as Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, etc. But what about the programmers? It seems like we don't know the names of all the talented programmers who made the classic games. Or, perhaps I don't. Which is more likely. It'd be fun if they would make an appearance on this website and tell us a few things.

Post by **tepples** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 9:37 am

End credits became much more common during the 16-bit era due in part to an emphasis on "completion" over "high scores" and a larger ROM size, but some NES games had room for end credits (e.g. TMNT 2 and 3). EA games from the ■●▲ era, such as Skate or Die 2, put credits front and center: Bunch/Knopp/Kosaka. But i'd expect that most programmers of 8-bit games published by Capcom/Konami/Nintendo are either native speakers of Japanese or bound by non-disclosure agreements or both.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:43 am

Well we know about Nasir Gibelli who programmed 3D Worldrunner, Rad Racer, Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II (he later made a comeback at square for Secret of Mana).

Many games shows pseudonymes instead of actual names as credits (Mega Man comes in mind), but there is plenty of them who actually have full credits like Contra.

GradualGames · Post by **GradualGames** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:47 pm

I guess what I meant was not so much that we don't even know their names...I more meant how come we don't know their names practically as a household word like Shigeru Miyamoto. Where are all the interviews? I'd love to hear all those guys ramble about code, it would be just as interesting to us as game design and music stuff is to the general public.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 2:07 pm

I more meant how come we don't know their names practically as a household word like Shigeru Miyamoto.

Well I didn't know his name either and I probably won't remember it anyways. Uematsu and Mitsuda are probably the only japanese names I remember probably because they show up on so many albums I bought, I wouldn't remember them only by looking at Rad Racer 2's credits trough.

ironfist61 · Post by **ironfist61** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 2:15 pm

Speaking of Shigeru Miyamoto, I remember there was a section in a state test involving him when I was in high school.

I was slightly surprised. It talked about his life aside from VG's. It said stuff about how he plays a banjo and explored streams and hills and such.

koitsu · Post by **koitsu** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 4:19 pm

ironfist61 wrote:Speaking of Shigeru Miyamoto, I remember there was a section in a state test involving him when I was in high school.

I was slightly surprised. It talked about his life aside from VG's. It said stuff about how he plays a banjo and explored streams and hills and such.

Reminds me of Bruce Dickinson -- everyone knows him as the vocalist for Iron Maiden, but what a lot of people/fans don't know is that he's a pilot, fences, and is an avid train enthusiast. I suppose all of that's well-known now with Wikipedia and all, but "back in the day" it was always something you'd hear from some roadie or something.

I knew about the first two things, but not his interest in trains -- until one day while watching a multi-hour segment on locomotives on the Discovery Channel, they started interviewing Bruce. I was amazed.

strat · Post by **strat** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 9:10 am

Did Nasir Gebeli do FF single-handedly? I'm asking because I remember someone here believing the battle system to be the work of different programmers who didn't know 6502 that well.

naI · Post by **naI** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:54 pm

strat wrote:Did Nasir Gebeli do FF single-handedly?

AFAIK, yes he did. I have a vague memory of a chance-meeting with someone in the metro-Detroit area, who claimed to be Nasir. He asked me if I knew of Final Fantasy, and if I recalled the first bridge. When I responded positively, he then said that he, indeed, was Nasir. I was amazed, especially since I assumed that all that work would have to have been done by an entire company (named NASIR for some reason

). My memory is extremely vague because I can't have been ten at the time. From what I remember, he may indeed have been Iranian-American, and was probably bald at the time. I can't remember many details, but I would like to think that I actually shook hands with the guy who brought life to a world that captured my imagination as a child.

EDIT: Or maybe it was someone else who was involved with FF... I just get confused when I try to remember more details.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:51 am

Yes I guess Nasir was Iranian and one of the only non japanese guy involved at square. It would have been amazing if you meet him. Just read the wikipedia article on him.

strat · Post by **strat** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:33 am

Geez, Square must have been good to their employees if he can live off a handful of games.

ccovell · Post by **ccovell** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:40 pm

There are a couple of pictures of him on the 'net, and several in the Japanese magazines that interviewed him when FFIII (Famicom) was released.

I don't think he was bald at the time...

naI · Post by **naI** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:05 am

ccovell wrote:I don't think he was bald at the time...

It would have been somewhere around 1999-2000. If it was him.