Honorable mentions:
Tomonobu Itagaki
Any fan would#DY#ve included Tomonobu
Itagaki in this list, but we had to settle for ten. That, and some statements of
this guy can ruin Thanksgiving for other gamers (don#DY#t worry, we don#DY#t think
Tekken sucks).
Controversial remarks aside, Itagaki has proven his worth as Team Ninja#DY#s
leader by giving us pure dosage of action in Ninja Gaiden and eye-candy babes in
Dead or
Alive. Itagaki#DY#s mantra in developing video games involve violence, sex
appeal, and pushing gaming platforms to the limit - what more can you ask
for?
Yasumi Matsuno
After working on Ogre Battle titles,
Yasumi Matsuno joined Square and directed development of games that garnered
praise from both gamers and critics alike. Two of his projects, Vagrant Story
and Final Fantasy XII,
surprised everyone with fresh mechanics and received perfect 40/40 scores from
Famitsu.
Matsuno#DY#s name isn#DY#t thrown around as often as other Japanese developers, but
those who know him are aware of his genuine ideas and realize how much respect
he deserves. Even Square Enix#DY# premiere series of games, the Ivalice Alliance,
wouldn#DY#t have been possible without Matsuno#DY#s immersive worlds that had
intriguing political twists.
[Editor:cain]
