japanese video game interior designer, film director and manufacturer
Shinji Mikami ( 三上 真司, Mikami Shinji, born August 11, 1965 ) is a japanese video recording game designer, director, and producer. Starting his career at Capcom in 1990, he went on to direct many of the company ‘s biggest titles. He directed the first episode of the Resident Evil series in 1996 and the first gear installation of the Dino Crisis serial in 1999, both being survival horror games. He returned to Resident Evil to direct the remake of the first game in 2002 and the third-person shooter Resident Evil 4 in 2005. In 2006, he directed his final Capcom game God Hand, a beat ’em up natural process game. Mikami worked at PlatinumGames to direct the third-person shooter Vanquish in 2010. The lapp year, he founded his own studio apartment Tango Gameworks which has since been acquired by the american party ZeniMax Media. Under his studio apartment, he directed the third-person repugnance game The Evil Within in 2014. He has besides served the roles of producer and executive manufacturer for many games .

early life and department of education [edit ]

Mikami grew up in the Yamaguchi Prefecture of Honshū island. As a child, Mikami wanted to be a Formula One driver. [ 1 ] He was besides “ obsessed ” with the repugnance genre and films, such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Evil Dead. As a adolescent, he studied karate and kendo. Mikami graduated from Doshisha University, where he majored in the study of merchandise. [ 2 ]

career [edit ]

early years ( 1990–1993 ) [edit ]

Mikami attended a meet-and-greet for college graduates hosted by Capcom, and was interested in the presentation enough to apply. His application was initially rejected, then he was hired by Capcom a week late “ out of the blue, ” according to Mikami. [ 2 ] He joined Capcom in 1990 as a junior game designer, and soon after created his first championship there, a quiz crippled for the Game Boy titled Capcom Quiz: Hatena? no Daibōken. The game took over three months to develop. [ 2 ] His following three games were all based on Disney -licensed properties : [ 2 ] Who Framed Roger Rabbit for the Game Boy, and Aladdin and Goof Troop for the Super NES. [ 3 ] Aladdin was his first gear hit, selling over 1.75 million units cosmopolitan. [ 2 ] [ 4 ] Mikami besides worked on Super Lap, an unreleased F1 racing game for the Game Boy that was scheduled to be released in 1992, but was canceled after eight months of development. [ citation needed ]

Resident Evil and Dino Crisis ( 1993–1999 ) [edit ]

After the release of Goof Troop, Mikami began development in 1993 of a horror -themed adventure game for the PlayStation set in a haunt sign of the zodiac, called Resident Evil, [ 5 ] originally conceived as a remake of Sweet Home ( an earlier Famicom bet on by Capcom based on the japanese horror film of the same appoint ). [ 6 ] Resident Evil was initially conceived by Sweet Home director Tokuro Fujiwara ; he entrusted Mikami, who was initially reluctant because he hated “ being scared ”, with the project, because he “ understood what ‘s frightening. ” [ 7 ] Mikami said that Resident Evil was a response to his disappointment with Zombi 2, a gory 1979 movie by italian director Lucio Fulci ; Mikami was determined to make a bet on with none of the failings of the movie. The result game became Biohazard, an action-adventure game which combined 3D polygonal characters and objects with pre-rendered backgrounds and featured zombies ( among other monsters ) heavily influenced by George A. Romero ‘s Dead films. [ citation needed ] The crippled was retitled Resident Evil during its english localization under Capcom USA ‘s suggestion and was released in Japan and North America on March 22, 1996, and became one of the PlayStation ‘s first successful titles. It was the first plot to be dubbed a survival horror, a term Capcom coined to promote the game. [ 8 ] It was belated ported to the Sega Saturn. Resident Evil was considered the defining title for survival repugnance games and was responsible for popularizing the genre. Its see scheme becoming a staple of the writing style, and future titles would imitate its challenge of rationing highly limited resources and items. [ 9 ] The game ‘s commercial success is credited with helping the PlayStation become the dominant game console, [ 10 ] and besides led to a series of Resident Evil films. Mikami had creative dominance over the screenplay and handwriting of the first movie being dubbed a creative adviser. They had Mikami in this military position to make certain fans of the games would be glad. He then dropped out of the late movies because he believed that the movies were heading in the amiss direction. many games have tried to replicate the successful formula seen in Resident Evil, and every subsequent survival repugnance game has arguably taken a stance in sexual intercourse to it. [ 11 ] After the success of Resident Evil, Mikami was promoted from planner to producer. As producer, he oversaw the development of Resident Evil’s sequel, Resident Evil 2, which he intended to tap into the classical notion of horror as “ the ordinary made foreign, ” thus rather than setting the game in a creepy sign of the zodiac no one would visit, he wanted to use companion urban settings transformed by the chaos of a viral outbreak. The game sold over five million copies, proving the popularity of survival repugnance. Following its passing in 1998, he oversaw the development of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and besides directed another survival horror deed Dino Crisis, both of which released in 1999. [ 12 ]

Capcom Production Studio 4 ( 1999–2002 ) [edit ]

curtly after the liberation of Resident Evil 3 in Japan, Capcom Production Studio 4 was established in 1999. The studio apartment ‘s staff were chiefly the key developers in the company ‘s survival horror projects. Mikami was appointed as the cosmopolitan coach of the studio, and worked as administrator producer for respective games, including the original Devil May Cry ( primitively conceived as a Resident Evil game ). [ 13 ] In 2000, Mikami became involved as producer of a new Resident Evil crippled. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica. This game was designed from the establish improving for the Dreamcast. Being a much more brawny console than the PlayStation, the Dreamcast allowed the team behind the game to add for the first base time, 3D environments rather of the usual pre-rendered backgrounds. Resident Evil Code: Veronica was released in 2000 and went on to sell 1,140,000 units. That same class, Mikami ‘s Dino Crisis 2 was released, selling 1,190,000 copies worldwide. [ 14 ] In 2001, an inflate version of Code: Veronica was released for the Dreamcast entirely in Japan, aboard a PlayStation 2 port that was released global. This version of the game, titled Biohazard – Code: Veronica Complete Edition in Japan and Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X overseas, added ten-spot minutes of raw cutscenes not in the original secrete. The PS2 version, which initially came packaged with a test translation of Devil May Cry, went on to sell 1,400,000 units, according to Capcom ‘s sales data for March 2006. [ citation needed ] In 2001, in what was to be one of his most controversial occupation decisions, Mikami formed an exclusivity agreement with Nintendo in which the independent Resident Evil games would be sold merely for the GameCube. The GameCube would receive, in addition to ports of former PlayStation and Dreamcast installments, three new number entries in the series : a remake of the original Resident Evil, Resident Evil Zero, and Resident Evil 4. Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero were both released in 2002. [ citation needed ] The remake of Resident Evil was released in Japan on the sixth anniversary of the release of the original, on March 22, 2002. The remake was billed as the authoritative translation of the game, selling 490,000 copies in the US and 360,000 copies in Europe. In full, Resident Evil managed to sell 1,250,000 units during its first year of secrete. The remake ‘s sales datum was made public by Capcom during its Financial Review Report for 2002. [ citation needed ] On November 12, 2002, Resident Evil Zero was released. Gaming site gamefront.de reported that 138,855 copies of the bet on were sold on its first day of free. Capcom expected Resident Evil Zero to sell 1.42 million copies, but sold merely 1.12 million. The fact that Resident Evil Zero did not match or surpass the remake ‘s sales figures, spread fear among Capcom executives and share holders. They worried that Resident Evil 4 would not sell well adequate on GameCube. [ citation needed ]

Capcom Five, Resident Evil 4, and Capcom split ( 2002–2004 ) [edit ]

In hurt of Resident Evil Zero ‘s underwhelming sales, Mikami remained confident in his corroborate for Nintendo and announced four exclusive titles for the GameCube under development by Production Studio 4 in accession to Resident Evil 4 ; P.N.03, Viewtiful Joe, killer7 and Dead Phoenix. This lineup became known as the Capcom Five. [ citation needed ] The first base of these games to be released was the Mikami-directed P.N. 03. The game was both a commercial and critical failure, [ 8 ] receiving halfhearted reviews from the crusade and sell below expectations. As a leave, Mikami stepped down angstrom director of Production Studio 4, while remaining as one of the head producers within the team. [ citation needed ] After his bankruptcy with P.N.03, Mikami decided to concentrate alternatively on the creative aspects of the Capcom 5. He finally took over directorial duties for Resident Evil 4 from previous conductor, Hiroshi Shibata. Under his direction, Resident Evil 4 went through some substantial changes. Resident Evil 4 was released in 2005 [ 15 ] and was one of the GameCube ‘s top-selling titles, selling 1,250,000 units worldwide within a year. The game was critically praised, winning many game of the year awards. [ citation needed ] Resident Evil 4 is regarded as one of the most influential games of the 2000s ten, due to its influence in redefining at least two video game genres : the survival horror and the third-person taw. [ 16 ] Resident Evil 4 attempted to redefine the survival repugnance genre by emphasizing reflexes and preciseness drive, [ 17 ] frankincense broadening the gameplay of the series with elements from the wider military action game genre. [ 18 ] It helped redefine the third-person shot writing style by introducing a “ reliance on offset television camera angles that fail to obscure the action. ” [ 19 ] The “ over the shoulder ” point of view introduced in Resident Evil 4 has immediately become criterion in third-person shooters, including titles ranging from Gears of War to Batman: Arkham Asylum. [ 16 ] It has besides become a standard “ preciseness calculate ” sport for action games in general, with examples ranging from Dead Space and Grand Theft Auto to the Ratchet & Clank Future series. [ 20 ] Mikami touted the game as a GameCube exclusive. In an interview with a japanese magazine, Mikami even said that he would “ commit harakiri “ if it came out on another platform. [ 21 ] This was loosely translated as Mikami claiming to “ cut [ his own ] capitulum ” and later parodied in God Hand, which featured a race frank named “ Mikami ‘s Head ”. In a 2017 interview, he apologized for Resident Evil 4 going multiplatform. [ 22 ]

Clover Studio and God Hand ( 2004–2007 ) [edit ]

After the success of Resident Evil 4, Mikami left Studio 4 and was transferred over to and originally established Clover Studio in July 2004, which employed an all-star batting order of Capcom development talent, including Atsushi Inaba ( producer of Steel Battalion and Viewtiful Joe ), and Hideki Kamiya ( Devil May Cry director ). At Clover, Mikami directed God Hand, a beat ’em up drollery game that parodies American and japanese pop polish. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2006, and on October 10, 2006 in North America. After Clover Studio closed in 2007, Mikami joined Seeds Inc, immediately known as PlatinumGames, the newly formed successor of his former studio. PlatinumGames is composed of several of Mikami ‘s former Capcom colleagues, including Hideki Kamiya, Atsushi Inaba, Yuta Kimura, Nao Ueda, Mari Shimazaki and Masami Ueda .

PlatinumGames and Vanquish ( 2007–2010 ) [edit ]

Mikami formed a private development studio called Straight Story in 2006. The name of the studio is taken from David Lynch ‘s 1999 film. [ 2 ] Their works are under the PlatinumGames stigmatize and he is a compress employee ( “ external board member ” ) of PlatinumGames. He besides collaborated with Grasshopper Manufacture ‘s Goichi Suda on Shadows of the Damned using the Unreal Engine 3 and published by EA. [ 23 ] Mikami revealed that Straight Story will close once development of Vanquish is completed. Straight Story will be replaced with Mikami ‘s new studio, Tango, which has already been established. [ 24 ] much like Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4 before it, the third-person gunman game Vanquish, released in 2010, has proven to be an influential title for action games. [ 25 ] It significantly improved upon the cover system, where in contrast to previous cover-based shooters, the cover in Vanquish is easily destructible, with much a one film from a robotic enemy being enough to blast away the wall the musician was hiding behind. The game besides penalizes the player ‘s rank for the numeral of times they have taken cover, though its most important invention is the power-slide automobile mechanic that allows the player to slide into and out of cover at high speeds, or in bullet clock when the musician ‘s health is humble. [ 26 ] The game was given GameSpot ‘s Best Original Game Mechanic award for its rocket-sliding game machinist, which acts as both a defensive evasion and an offensive frame-up, opening up new gameplay possibilities for shooter games and increasing the pace significantly. [ 27 ] The game has set a new course, with its influence seen in other first-person shooters that have incorporated like slide mechanics, including Bulletstorm, Crysis 2, [ 25 ] and Killzone 3. [ 28 ] Vanquish was itself inspired by Tatsunoko ‘s 1970s zanzibar copal series, Casshern. [ 29 ]

Tango Gameworks and The Evil Within ( 2010–present ) [edit ]

A tormenter web site opened on March 18, 2010, titled “ Mikami Project ” with a countdown attached. The web site changed into a subcontract employment page, for Mikami ‘s fresh studio, “ Tango ”. [ 30 ] On October 28, 2010, ZeniMax Media, rear ship’s company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, announced Mikami joined ZeniMax after it acquired Tango Gameworks. [ 31 ] An April 2012 Famitsu interview with Mikami revealed the codename claim of Zwei for the company ‘s survival repugnance crippled The Evil Within, with Mikami directing. The crippled was released October 2014. [ 32 ] The game is published by Bethesda on Xbox 360, PS3, personal computer, PS4 and Xbox One. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] Mikami stated that this will be the last game he directs. [ 31 ] He stated that it will be a “ true ” survival horror game, “ one in which the actor confronts and overcomes fear ”, [ 35 ] because he was disappointed by recent survival horror games becoming action horror games. [ 36 ] In 2019, it was announced at E3 that his studio apartment is working on a newfangled stick out titled Ghostwire: Tokyo. [ 37 ]

Works [edit ]

References [edit ]