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Yoshio Sakamoto (born July 23, 1959) is a senior officer at Nintendo EPD, better known for his work as producer, director and scenario writer on franchises like Metroid and Famicom Detective Club.
History[]
Sakamoto joined Nintendo in 1982 and initially worked at the R&D1 department. His first video game was Donkey Kong on the Game & Watch where he designed the barrels. Following this, he worked on several Game & Watch games and assisted Shigeru Miyamoto on Donkey Kong Jr.. Later on, he worked on several classic Nintendo Entertainment System games including Metroid and Kid Icarus. For the first two entries of the Famicom Detective Club series (The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind), Sakamoto was in charge of crafting the narrative, marking his debut as scenario writer.
After working on some Game Boy titles, he became very well known after he directed the Super Nintendo Entertainment System classic Super Metroid. He followed up on that game by heading the Virtual Boy title Teleroboxer and the Game Boy Color title Trade & Battle: Card Hero, only to return to the Metroid series later with Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission.
Sakamoto gradually became a producer on the WarioWare series at Nintendo SPD, as well as the Rhythm Heaven and Tomodachi Collection franchises. He also became the main supervisor of the Metroid series, and returned as director and scenario writer on Metroid: Other M.
In late 2011, Sakamoto was promoted from his position as head of Software Planning and Development Group 1, to the Deputy General Manager of the Software Planning and Development Department an later Executive Officer in the Nintendo Entertainment Planning and Development Department. He has kept working as a producer on various titles, including Metroid: Samus Returns on Nintendo 3DS and Metroid Dread on Nintendo Switch.
After the production of the remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club titles on Nintendo Switch with MAGES, Sakamoto produced Emio – The Smiling Man (the first brand-new entry of the franchise in 35 years), where he also wrote the scenario along with Kaori Miyachi.
Games[]
- Donkey Kong (Game & Watch) (1982) - Graphic Designer
- Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) - Graphic Designer
- Snoopy (1983) - Graphic Designer
- Mario's Bombs Away (1983) - Graphic Designer
- Vs. Wrecking Crew (1984) - Graphic Designer
- Donkey Kong Circus (1984) - Graphic Designer
- Balloon Fight (1985) - Graphic Designer
- Wrecking Crew (1985) - Graphic Designer
- Gumshoe (1986) - Director
- Metroid (1986) - Graphic Designer (as Shikamoto)
- Kid Icarus (1986) - Graphic Designer (as Shikao.S)
- Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (1987) - Director
- Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir (1988) - Director, Scenario, Original Work
- Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind (1989) - Scenario, Original Work
- Balloon Kid (1990) - Director
- X (1992) - Director
- Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (1992) - Scenario
- Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) - Testing Player
- Super Metroid (1994) - Director
- Teleroboxer (1995) - Director
- Game & Watch Gallery (1997) - Adviser
- BS Tantei Club: Yuki ni Kieta Kako (1997) - Producer
- Game Boy Camera (1998) - Graphic Designer
- Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind (SFC) (1998) - Original Work, Scenario, Director, Original Staff
- Trade & Battle: Card Hero (2000) - Director, Game Design & Scriptwriter
- Tottoko Hamtaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu (2000) - Director
- Wario Land 4 (2001) - Supervisor
- Metroid Fusion (2002) - Chief Director, Scenario & Story
- Wario World (2003) - Advisor
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (2003) - Supervisor
- Metroid: Zero Mission (2004) - Director
- WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) - Producer
- WarioWare: Touched! (2004) - Producer, Game Design
- Play-Yan (2005) - Producer
- Rhythm Tengoku (2006) - Producer, Game Design
- WarioWare: Smooth Moves (2006) - Producer, Game Design
- Picross DS (2007) - Supervisor
- Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero (2007) - Producer
- Bird & Beans/Paper Airplane Chase (2008) - Producer
- WarioWare D.I.Y. (2009) - Producer
- Tomodachi Collection (2009) - Producer
- Card Hero: Speed Battle Custom (2009) - Producer
- Nintendo DSi Instrument Tuner/Nintendo DSi Metronome (2009) - Producer
- Metroid: Other M (2010) - Producer, Director & Story
- Rhythm Heaven Fever (2011) - General Producer
- Kiki Trick (2012) - Supervisor
- Game & Wario (2013) - Game Design, Producer
- Tomodachi Life (2013) - Producer
- Rhythm Heaven Megamix (2015) - General Producer
- Miitomo (2016) - Producer
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force (2016) - Special Advisor
- Metroid: Samus Returns (2017) - Producer
- Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir (Switch) (2021) - Original Game Design, Scenario, Supervision, Producer
- Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (Switch) (2021) - Original Game Design, Scenario, Supervision, Producer
- Metroid Dread (2021) - Producer
- Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (2024) - Original Game Design, Scenario, Production, Producer
Special Thanks[]
- Hello Kitty World (1992)
- Galactic Pinball (1995)
- Tetris Attack (Game Boy) (1996) (Japanese Version)
- Dokodemo Taikyoku: Yakuman Advance (2001)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) - Original Game Staff (Game Design: Metroid)
- Metroid Prime (2002)
- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)
- Metroid Prime Pinball (2005)
- Metroid Prime Hunters (2006)
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) - Supervisor (Original Games)
- New Play Control! Metroid Prime (2009)
- New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2009)
- Metroid Prime Trilogy (2009)
- Pushmo (2011)
- Nintendo Land (2012)
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition (2012) - Collaboration Contents Advisor
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014) - Supervisor (Original Games)
- Bayonetta 2 (2014)
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Original Game Supervisor
- Metroid Prime Remastered (2023)
Interviews[]
- Nintendo Dream Famicom Disk System Interview
- Iwata Asks: WarioWare: Smooth Moves
- Iwata Asks: Metroid: Other M
- Iwata Asks: Kiki Trick (translated by NintendoWorldReport)
- Iwata Asks: Hironobu Sakaguchi x Yoshio Sakamoto
- Iwata Asks: Game & Wario
- Q&A: Metroid Creator’s Early 8-Bit Days at Nintendo (Wired)
- Miitomo interview with Shigesato Itoi
- Balloon Fight Developer Interview - NES Classic Edition
- Metroid Developer Interview - NES Classic Edition
- Super NES Classic - Super Metroid
- Ask the Developer Vol. 12, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club