Shinji Hashimoto
Shinji Hashimoto (橋本 真司, Hashimoto Shinji, born May 24, 1958) is a Japanese game producer at Square Enix. He currently serves as the Final Fantasy series Brand Manager, as an Executive Officer at Square Enix[1] and he was the Head of Square Enix's Business Division 3 for 6 years.[2] He is also the co-creator of the Kingdom Hearts series. He served as corporate executive of the company's 1st Production Department during its entire existence.[3]
Shinji Hashimoto 橋本 真司 | |
---|---|
Born | May 24, 1958 |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation | Video game producer |
Years active | 1995-present |
Title | Executive producer of Square Enix |
Biography
Early Work
Hashimoto previously worked for the toy company Bandai.[4] He joined Squaresoft (later known as Square Enix) in 1995, which is where he currently works.[5]
Final Fantasy
He was the promotions producer for Final Fantasy VII.[5] When asked at E3 2008 about the possibility of a remake of Final Fantasy VII, he said that Square Enix is aware fans would like that, and that they are very busy making other titles first.[6] As Final Fantasy X-2 and Kingdom Hearts were being completed, the learning experience the team had during the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII project spawned the Fabula Nova Crystallis series which was supposed to build on it.[7]
Kingdom Hearts
When Square was sharing a building in Tokyo with the Disney corporation, Hashimoto found himself conversing in an elevator with a Disney executive, and there they conceived the crossover between Square Enix and Disney called Kingdom Hearts.[8] Hashimoto has stated that the new features in Kingdom Hearts II were the result of the success of the first game and Disney's increased trust in Square Enix to pull off an excellent product.[9]
Other games
While working on Front Mission Evolved, one of the challenges was balancing the speed of the real time battles the wanzers, or mechs, were having so that the game was realistic to the mechs size, but also still fast enough to be engaging.[10]
Priorities
While discussing Final Fantasy XIII, Hashimoto mentioned that Square Enix has been attempting to make localization of their game releases close the release gap between Japan and the rest of the world.[11]
Gameography
As producer
- Front Mission (1995)
- Treasure Hunter G (1996)
- Tobal 2 (1997)
- Front Mission Alternative (1997)
- Chocobo's Dungeon (1997)
- Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
- Chocobo Racing (1999)
- Driving Emotion Type-S (2000)
- Final Fantasy IX (2000)
- The Bouncer (2000)
- Kingdom Hearts (2002)
- Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
- Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
- The World Ends with You (2007)
- Front Mission Evolved (2010)
- Final Fantasy VII (iOS version, 2015)
- Final Fantasy IX (iOS, Android & Windows PC versions, 2016)
- Final Fantasy VII (Android version, 2016)
- World of Final Fantasy (2016)
- Final Fantasy XV (2016)
- Final Fantasy IX (PlayStation 4 version, 2017)
- Left Alive (2019)
As executive producer
- Front Mission: Gun Hazard (1996)
- Tobal No. 1 (1996)
- Final Fantasy IV (PlayStation version, 1997)
- Einhänder (1997)
- Final Fantasy V (PlayStation version, 1998)
- Ehrgeiz (2000)
- Final Fantasy IV Advance (2005)
- Final Fantasy V Advance (2006)
- Final Fantasy VI Advance (2006)
- Final Fantasy (PlayStation Portable version, 2007)
- Final Fantasy II (PlayStation Portable version, 2007)
- The World Ends with You (2007)
- Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (2007)
- Kingdom Hearts coded (2008)
- Chrono Trigger (Nintendo DS version, 2008)
- Yosumin DS (2009)
- Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009)
- Final Fantasy XIII (2009)
- Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010)
- Estpolis: The Lands Cursed by the Gods (2010)
- Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010)
- The 3rd Birthday (2010)
- Final Fantasy Type-0 (2011)
- Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011)
- Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection (2012)
- Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance (2012)
- Final Fantasy III (PlayStation Portable version, 2012)
- Final Fantasy All the Bravest (2013)
- Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix (2013)
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013)
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (2013)
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix (2014)
- Final Fantasy Explorers (2014)
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PlayStation 4 version, 2015)
- Kingdom Hearts χ (2015)
- Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015)
- Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation 4 version, 2015)
- Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (Windows PC version, 2016)
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (2017)
- Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (2017)
- World of Final Fantasy: Meli-Melo (2017)
- Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (2018)
- Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
In other positions
- Kidō Senshi Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble (1986): marketing
- Chrono Trigger (1995): special thanks
- Super Mario RPG (1996): special thanks
- Final Fantasy VII (1997): publicity producer
- Front Mission 2 (1997): project supervisor
- Parasite Eve II (1999): special advisor
- Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (2004): general manager
- Final Fantasy X-2 (2003): sales and marketing producer
- Front Mission 4 (2003): executive manager
- Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel (2003): sales and marketing executive manager
- Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir (2004): executive manager
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (2005): corporate executive
- Project Sylpheed (2006): corporate executive
- Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006): senior vice president
- Dawn of Mana (2006): special thanks
- Space Invaders Extreme (2008): general producer
- The Last Remnant (2008): corporate executive
- Puzzle Bobble Live (2009): general producer and general manager
- Qix++ (2009): general producer
- Final Fantasy VII, Windows PC version (2012): senior executive managing officer
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013): special thanks
- Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (2015): special thanks
- Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius (2015): production executive
- Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (2016): division executive
- Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary (2017) — special thanks
Filmography
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005): producer
- Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (2005): executive producer
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete (2009): producer
- Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016) producer
References
- "Board of Directors". Square Enix. 2016.
- "第3ビジネス・ディビジョン". Square Enix. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
- "「Final Fantasy XIII-2」が2011年発売予定,「Agito」は「Final Fantasy 零式」と名称変更して2011年夏発売。「Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere」をTwitterで実況". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas, Inc. 2011-01-18. Archived from the original on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- Winkler, Chris (2003-09-29). "Radical Subjects". RPGFan. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
- Gantayat, Anoop (2007-04-23). "Ten Years of FFXIII". IGN. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- Ihtsham, Usman (2008-07-18). "Whatifgaming E3-'08: Final Fantasy XIII Sit Down With Shinji Hashimoto". Whatifgaming. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- Luke Smith (2006-06-07). "FFXIII Interview: Nomura, Kitase, Hashimoto and Toriyama: Compilation of games puts new spin on FF series". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- McKinley Noble (2008-01-20). "10 strange facts about the Kingdom Hearts franchise". PC World Australia. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- Jeremy Dunham (2005-03-21). "Hashimoto Talks Kingdom Hearts II". IGN. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- Charles Husemann (2008-10-19). "Front Mission Evolved Interview". Gaming Nexus. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- Shane Bettenhausen (2008-07-16). "E3 2008: One More Final Fantasy XIII Interview". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2013-03-01.