Hiroyuki Takahashi (, born October 30, 1957) is the president of the video game development studio Camelot Software Planning. He has participated in most of the company's projects as a game designer, producer, and writer.
Career Hiroyuki Takahashi started his career in video game production as an employee at Enix, where his work on the Dragon Quest franchise included roles as assistant producer on Dragon Quest IV and executive producer for the North American release of Dragon Warrior II."Be Mega hot menu special: Special interview talking about Shining and the Darkness", 「BEメガ・ホットメニューSPECIAL 特別インタビュー シャイニング＆ザ・ダクネスを語る」, Beep! MegaDrive (ビープ！メガドライブ), December 1990 Edition (in Japanese). SoftBank, 1990-12-01.
Takahashi left Enix and in April 1990 founded the game development studio Climax Entertainment alongside Kan Naito, the chief programmer of Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest IV at Chunsoft. (Translation by Shmuplations )"Shining and Darkness: Sudden announcement of an RPG in which Sega has great confidence", 「シャイニング＆ダクネス セガ最大の自信作RPGの速報」, Mega Drive Fan (メガドライブFAN), November 1990 Edition (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, 1990-11-15, pp. 6–9. Takahashi and Naito were also joined by two former Enix freelancers, artist Yoshitaka Tamaki and programmer Yasuhiro Taguchi."Yoshitaka Tamaki interview—Animeland", VGDensetsu. Originally published in Animeland, issue 71. 2001-05. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09."Behind the Scenes: Shining Force", 25 Greatest Sega Games. GamesTM, 2009, pp. 22–27. Climax's first project was Shining in the Darkness for the Sega Mega Drive, a game which Takahashi wrote and produced.
On June 12, 1991, Takahashi registered a new game company, Sonic! Software Planning, with an 85 percent investment from Sega Enterprises to develop further role-playing games for the Mega Drive. The studio was named after Sonic the Hedgehog, a Sega mascot character whose first game would release that month."Investment by Climax and Sega!! Game development and market research!!", 「クライマックスとセガが出!! ゲームの企画や市場調査!!」, Mega Drive Fan (メガドライブFAN), November 1991 Edition (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, 1991-11-15, p. 98.
Sonic supported Climax in the development of the first Shining Force, for which Takahashi has design, production, and writing credits. After Climax's departure from the series, Sonic became the primary developer of subsequent Shining games, which Takahashi would continue to produce.
In April 1994, Hiroyuki Takahashi's brother, Shugo Takahashi, founded Camelot Software Planning as an independent studio to develop games for Sony's PlayStation starting with Beyond the Beyond."My history with golf, vol. 22: Camelot Co., Ltd., president and CEO Hiroyuki Takahashi and executive vice president Shugo Takahashi",「わたしのゴルフ履歴書〜Vol.22〜株式会社キャメロット 高橋宏之代表取締役社長、高橋秀五代表取締役副社長」. Gridge. Da-Bird, 2020. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Camelot would also support Sonic in the development of games in the Shining series including Shining Wisdom and Shining the Holy Ark. After the release of the latter, Sega merged its investment in Sonic into its subsidiary Nextech, and Hiroyuki Takahashi moved to Camelot, where he became president during the development of Shining Force III."Historical Record", Nex Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05.Shining series history, Camelot Software Planning. Yasuhiro Taguchi. Archived from the original 2000-07-07.
In late 1998, Sega began focusing their resources on the Dreamcast, leaving Sonic with its last scenario for Shining Force III for the Sega Saturn in jeopardy. After the project was complete, Camelot formed a partnership with Nintendo.
Since working with Nintendo, Camelot has developed many Mario sports games, mainly related to golf and tennis. They have also developed the Golden Sun series of role-playing games.
Ludography Year Title Role1990 Dragon Quest IVAssistant producerDragon Warrior IIExecutive producer1991Shining in the Darkness Producer, scenario1992 Shining ForceProducer, game designer, scenario Shining Force GaidenProducer, scenario1993 Shining Force: The Sword of HajyaShining Force II Producer, programmer1995Shining Wisdom Producer, map designer, scenario1996Shining the Holy Ark Producer, game designer 1997 Shining Force III Scenario 1Producer, game designer, scenario1998Shining Force III Scenario 2Shining Force III Scenario 31999Mario Golf Producer, lead game designer2000 Mario Tennis 2001 Golden SunProducer, game designer, scenario2002 Golden Sun: The Lost Age2003Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Producer, lead game designer2004Mario Golf: Advance TourProducer, game designer, scenarioMario Power Tennis Producer, lead game designer2005Mario Tennis: Power Tour Producer, lead game designer, scenario2007We Love Golf!Producer, lead game designer 2010Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Producer, game designer, scenario2012Mario Tennis Open Producer, lead game designer2014 Mario Golf: World Tour Producer, lead game designer, scenario2015 Mario Tennis: Ultra SmashProducer, lead game designer2017 Mario Sports Superstars2018 Mario Tennis Aces2021Mario Golf: Super Rush2026 Mario Tennis Fever
References
External links