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Square Enix people: stories to listen to | HearLore
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Square Enix people
Koichi IshiiKoichi Ishii is the name behind the creation of the Mana series, a franchise that has defined action role-playing games for decades.
Shinji HashimotoIn the late 1990s, a chance conversation in a Tokyo elevator between a Square executive and a Disney representative birthed one of the most successful video…
Mitsuto SuzukiMitsuto Suzuki's musical journey began not in a conservatory, but in the living room of his home during the early 1980s, when his older brother purchased a…
Naoshi MizutaNaoshi Mizuta was born in Kōchi, Japan, in 1972, but his path to becoming one of the most influential video game composers of his generation was anything but…
Yoshinori KitaseYoshinori Kitase was eleven years old when he watched Star Wars for the first time in July 1978, an experience that fundamentally altered his perception of…
Hiroyuki ItoHiroyuki Ito was the man who turned video game battles into a race against time, a concept that fundamentally changed how players interact with digital…
Daisuke WatanabeDaisuke Watanabe once wrote an entire section of a video game in a single night, a feat that would become a defining moment in his early career.
Masashi HamauzuBorn in Munich, Germany, on the 1st of January 1971, Masashi Hamauzu entered the world into a family where music was not merely a hobby but the very language…
Yusuke NaoraYusuke Naora stood in the sun-drenched streets of Bali in the early 2000s, watching locals hand out tropical flowers to visitors, and that single observation…
Akihiko YoshidaAkihiko Yoshida joined Square in 1995, a pivotal year that marked the beginning of a career defined by the fusion of traditional art techniques with emerging…
Junya NakanoJunya Nakano was born in Kyoto, Japan, but his musical journey began not with a symphony, but with the clatter of an electronic organ at the age of three.
Hiroshi MinagawaHiroshi Minagawa, known to colleagues and fans by the nickname Nigoro, has spent three decades shaping the visual soul of some of the most iconic video games…
Hitoshi SakimotoHitoshi Sakimoto was only sixteen years old when he composed his first professional video game soundtrack, a feat that would launch a career spanning decades…
Kumi TaniokaKumi Tanioka was born in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1974, a city whose history of destruction and rebirth would later echo in her own musical philosophy of…
Hironobu SakaguchiHironobu Sakaguchi was once a geology enthusiast who spent his childhood collecting rock samples in a local quarry, a hobby that would ironically lead him to…
Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomura was born on the 19th of October 1967 in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, but her destiny was not sealed until she sat at a piano at the age of four or…
Kazuko ShibuyaKazuko Shibuya was born in 1965, the same year that the first video game arcade machines began appearing in Japan, yet her path to defining the visual…
Naoki YoshidaNaoki Yoshida was born in 1973 in Hakodate, Japan, into a family with very little money, which meant his childhood was defined by the need to work for play.
Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsu began playing the piano at the age of twelve without ever taking a single formal lesson, a decision that would eventually redefine the sonic…