Shin-ichiro Tomie

Shin-ichiro Tomie (冨江 慎一郎, Tomie Shinichirō, born 1961) is a Japanese game director, writer and part of Spike Chunsoft's affiliation. Since 1995, he contributes to the company with the Mystery Dungeon franchise as the main writer for the Shiren the Wanderer, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Prior to his affiliation to the company in 1992, he has also contributed in Tecmo's Tecmo Bowl series of sport games.

Shin-ichiro Tomie
冨江 慎一郎
Born1961 (age 61–62)
Chiba, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationVideo game writer
Years active1985–present
EmployerSpike Chunsoft
Notable workTecmo Bowl
Mystery Dungeon

Career

His hobby is soccer, and the Captain Tsubasa series was his initial source of inspiration.[1]

Tecmo

Tomie joined Tecmo, now known as Koei Tecmo, after graduating from university. During that time, he was engaged in soccer-themed games, such as Tecmo Bowl in 1987 and Captain Tsubasa II in 1990.[2][3] For Tecmo Super Bowl, published in 1991, though Japan had limited NFL coverage overall in the late 1980s, him and programmer Akihiko Shimoji were recording games from NHK satellite TVs to reproduce it in-game. Tomie's passion on sports has also helped the team to work on Tecmo Super Bowl.[3]

Chunsoft

Later in 1992, Tomie was transferred to Chunsoft and consistently worked on the scenario of the Shiren the Wanderer series since its first title in 1995. The reason of working as a writer comes from the company's Sound Novel series, as he was not inspired of Otogiriso, but thought it was an innovative game, in addition to the lack of writers in the company.[2] His hobby for sport games is particularly noticeable in Shiren the Wanderer 2: Shiren's Castle and the Oni Invasion and Shiren Monsters: Netsal, where he oversaw both games as the director.[4][5]

The scenarios present throughout the Mystery Dungeon series were written so they would not interfere too much into the franchise's roguelike genre. The scenario for the Shiren the Wanderer series is smaller but also intriguing for each title as they are mixed with its difficulty.[2] Initially, he has suggested to put the setting of the series in feudal Japan, compared to the earlier Mystery Dungeon title, Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon.[6] In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, the scenario has more presence in the gameplay than the former series and its appeal comes from "their directions and sounds" rather than the scenario alone.[7] Furthermore, the series does not have a linear timeline between the mainline Pokémon franchise and this series so newcomers would be introduced easily into the series and the genre.[8] In an interview held in 2022, Tomie claimed he was not aware of the western fanbase but was able to receive messages from Japanese fans of the series via letters, with some of them claiming Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, and its sister game Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, his "magnum opus".[2]

In 2012, during the first Nico Nico Game Master event, him and Kaoru Hasegawa appeared in the finale of a real-time attack of the first Shiren the Wanderer game.[9] Even if both series have not received a brand new title since 2010 and 2015 respectively, Tomie left a secret message in the 2020 port of Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate, indicating he would still be able to work on the next games if there are enough voices from the fans to green-lit a new Mystery Dungeon game in the company.[10][11]

Works
Year Title Role Ref.
1985 Gridiron Fight Designer [12][13]
Tehkan World Cup Planner, best players [2]
1987 Tecmo Bowl Producer [3]
1990 Captain Tsubasa Vol. II: Super Striker Planner [3]
Tecmo World Cup Soccer Advisor
1991 Tecmo Super Bowl Director [3]
1995 Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer Planner, scenario [2]
BS Shiren the Wanderer: Save Surala [2]
1996 Shiren the Wanderer GB: Monster of Moonlight Village
2000 Shiren the Wanderer 2: Shiren's Castle and the Oni Invasion Director, scenario, storyboard [4]
2001 Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert Scenario
2002 Shiren the Wanderer Gaiden: Asuka the Swordswoman Supervisor
2004 Shiren Monsters: Netsal Director, scenario [5]
2005 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team Scenario [2]
2007 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness [2]
2008 Shiren the Wanderer Supervisor
2009 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Scenario [2]
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventure Squad
2010 Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil's Navel Supervisor
Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate
2012 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity Scenario [2]
2015 Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
2017 Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 Game designer, scenario [14]
2020 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX Director, scenario

References
  1. 『街』への想いから昨今のインディーゲームまで――チュンソフト30周年のすべてを中村光一氏と振り返るロングインタビュー【後編】. Famitsu (in Japanese). June 9, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2022. 中村　これは、開発にサッカー好きのメンバーがいたんですよ。『シレン』のシナリオを担当している冨江（冨江慎一郎氏）がサッカー大好きで、以前テクモ（現コーエーテクモゲームス）に務めていたのですが、そのころに『キャプテン翼』を作っていた人物なんですね。サッカーを語らせると、うるさいんです（笑）。
  2. Seafoamgaming (April 18, 2022). "The Meeting of Destiny: An Interview with Shinichiro Tomie from SPIKE CHUNSOFT". Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  3. Lou (February 26, 2016). "The Fathers of Tecmo Super Bowl". Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  4. チュンソフト開発者インタビュー (in Japanese). Nintendo. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  5. インタビュー『ネットサル』『HOMELAND』 - 電撃オンライン. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  6. 『風来のシレン』の制作陣が語る！　新世代ローグライクゲーム『世紀末デイズ』の魅力とは. Famitsu (in Japanese). July 19, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2022. 長谷川 いえ、最初はぜんぜん決まっていなくて、『トルネコの大冒険』に引き続き、西洋の世界観をイメージしていました。『風来のシレン』が和風になったのは、シナリオを担当していた冨江（慎一郎氏）というスタッフの提案がきっかけです。
  7. Satoru Iwata. "Iwata Asks : Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity : An Impossible Combination". Nintendo. p. 2. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  8. Rédaction (July 9, 2008). "Pokémon Donjon Mystère : interview Kunimi Kawamura & Shinichiro Tomie". JeuxVideo.com (in French). Retrieved April 20, 2022. Shinichiro Tomie : Il n'y a pas de références spécifiques ou d'indices cachés dans Donjon Mystère. Au contraire, le jeu a été conçu comme un titre indépendant afin qu'une personne qui n'aurait jamais touché à un jeu Pokémon précédemment puisse se lancer sans problème.
  9. 最速のシレンは誰だ！　第1回“ニコニコゲームマスター”本戦の模様をリポート. Famitsu (in Japanese). November 18, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  10. Keiichi, Yokoyama (December 3, 2020). 『風来のシレン5plus』Nintendo Switch/Steam版には、新作を思い悩む開発者のメッセージが秘められている。とあるアイテムが示す、ファンへの願いの言葉. Automation (in Japanese). Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  11. Tomie: ...! Hey! Did you just push the switch on my back!? You're supposed to read the item description before you use it! Every wanderer knows that! It clearly says "DO NOT PUSH"! Geez, how did you make it this far? ...Well, might as well say my piece since you're here. My name is Tomie. I'm an old hand at Spike Chunsoft. So old that I'm nearly retirement age. Shiren the Wanderer, Banshee's Last Cry... I've seen some titles in my day. We devs got along good over the years. Old, young, age doesn't matter... They work us to the bone, all the same. Hasegawa... You may not know the name, but you know his art. His version of Shiren is iconic! And Nagahata, he's the only know who knows what to tweak under the hood to keep the game balanced. Then there's me, worrying about making a new Shiren the Wanderer. I gotta consider the budget and the needs of the company. Can we do it? More importantly, should we do it? I'm too wishy-washy to take the first step. If only... If only someone gave me a push. ...? Wait, didn't somebody just do exactly that? Ah, I'm going senile... Can you give me one more push? ...No? You can't? In that case... Can you make your voice heard? If all the Shiren fans across the world speak out, surely someone will hear... Who knows, your voices might make it all the way to the people in charge. Wouldn't be the first time our overlords got fired up over fan demand. Anyway, if a sequel gets green-lit, you can bet I'll give it my all. The series has a reputation to live up to. And the fans expect nothing less than the best! I won't let them down. Ah, this is all hypothetical, of course. But it's nice to think about, isn't it? Until we meet again, I'll be here, dreaming... Of a new Shiren the Wanderer title. - F A R E W E L L - (Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate)
  12. "Tehkan World Cup (set 1)". Mini MAWS. MAME. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  13. "Talking Game Design with Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji". Gamest (in Japanese). 1989.
  14. 『世界樹と不思議のダンジョン２』Ｑ＆Ａ！ その２. Atlus. April 7, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.