Tokuro Fujiwara

Tokuro Fujiwara
藤原 得郎
Born (1961-04-07) April 7, 1961
Japan
Alma materOsaka Designers' College
OccupationsVideo game designer, director, producer
Years active1982–present
Employer(s)Konami (1982–1983)
Capcom (1983–1996)
Whoopee Camp (1996–2000)

Tokuro Fujiwara (藤原 得郎, Fujiwara Tokurō; born April 7, 1961),[1] sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many 1980s and 1990s Capcom video games. He is notorious for making his titles difficult for the average video game player and strict personality among peers. IGN listed Fujiwara at number 13 in its "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time" list.[2]

Career

Capcom

Fujiwara directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter Commando (1985), the platformers Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985) and Bionic Commando (1987), and the survival horror game Sweet Home (1989). He was also a main producer for the Mega Man series and worked on the CP System arcade game Strider (1989). He also conceived of Resident Evil as a remake of his earlier game Sweet Home and worked on the game as general producer.[3][4][5][6]

Whoopee Camp

Fujiwara left Capcom in 1996 to form his own studio, Whoopee Camp. He was joined at the new company by Harumi Fujita, who had composed music for his games at Capcom in the 1980s and 1990s.[7] The studio was short lived, producing only Tomba and Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return before its closure in 2000. The company had been developing the PlayStation 2 title Extermination before its closure.[8]

Later work

Fujiwara worked as a consultant on Extermination (2001). The game was being developed in the same building as Whoopee Camp's office at the time.[9] Fujiwara has occasionally used the Whoopee Camp name since for his projects including Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection (2021),[10] and Tomba: Special Edition (2024).

Works

Year Game Role
1982 Pooyan Game designer
1983 Roc 'N Rope
1984 Vulgus
Pirate Ship Higemaru
1985 Ghosts 'n Goblins Director
Commando Director
1986 The Speed Rumbler Director
1987 Bionic Commando (Arcade) Director
Tiger Road Director
1988 Bionic Commando (NES)[3] Director
Ghouls 'n Ghosts Director
Mega Man 2 Producer
1989 Strider Adviser
Sweet Home Director
Marusa no Onna Director
Destiny of an Emperor Producer
DuckTales Producer
Willow (NES) Producer
1990 Gargoyle's Quest Producer
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Producer
Adventures in the Magic Kingdom Producer
Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight Producer
Little Nemo: The Dream Master Producer
Mega Man 3 Producer
1991 Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts Producer
The Little Mermaid Producer
Destiny of an Emperor II Director
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge Producer
Mega Man 4 Producer
Mega Man II (Game Boy) Producer
1992 Darkwing Duck Producer
Gargoyle's Quest II Producer
Gold Medal Challenge '92 Producer
TaleSpin Producer
Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse Producer
Mega Man III (Game Boy) Producer
Mega Man 5 Producer
1993 Breath of Fire Producer
DuckTales 2 Producer
Final Fight 2 Producer
Mighty Final Fight Producer
Goof Troop Producer
Mega Man IV (Game Boy) Producer
Mega Man 6 Producer
Disney's Aladdin Adviser
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 Producer
Mega Man X Producer
1994 Mega Man Soccer Producer
The Great Circus Mystery starring Mickey & Minnie Producer
Demon's Crest Producer
X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse Producer
Breath of Fire II Producer
Bonkers Producer
Mega Man X2 Producer
Mega Man V (Game Boy) Producer
1995 Mega Man 7 Producer
Mega Man X3 Producer
Mickey to Donald Magical Adventure 3 Producer
Final Fight 3 Producer
Hanako Sangakita!! Gakkou no Kowai Uwasa Producer
1996 Resident Evil General producer
1997 Tomba! Director, producer, art director
1999 Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Chief producer, game designer
2001 Extermination Executive producer
2003 Hungry Ghosts Director, executive producer
2006 Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins Director, planning
2008 Bionic Commando Rearmed Consultant
2009 MadWorld Original game design
2021 Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection Director, game designer

Interviews

Notes

  1. ^ ゲームセンターCX COMPLETE. Ohta Publishing. 2009. ISBN 978-4-7783-1180-3. 和書.
  2. ^ 13. Tokuro Fujiwara Archived 2016-09-22 at the Wayback Machine, Top 100 Game Creators of All Time, IGN
  3. ^ a b The Man Who Made Ghosts’n Goblins: Tokuro Fujiwara Interview Archived 2018-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, CONTINUE, Vol. 12, 2003
  4. ^ "Resident Evil Was Originally Planned for SNES". 6 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Capcom says Resident Evil was initially in development for SNES". 4 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Resident Evil, and its roots as a SNES game". 5 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Run It Back: Tomba!". SUPERJUMP. 2 September 2023.
  8. ^ IGN staff (November 29, 2000). "New Game from Whoopee Camp?". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  9. ^ "There's Something About SWERY".
  10. ^ "Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrected interview: Tokuro Fujiwara on his return to the series". Shacknews. 26 January 2021.

References

  1. ^ SCEI (1998). "Deep Space Establishment" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2004. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
  2. ^ ASOB book. "Biohazard World of Shinji Mikami". Retrieved June 21, 2007.
  3. ^ Nes Gbgg. "Tokuro Fujiwara Profile". Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  4. ^ Polygon (21 January 2019). "How Resident Evil 2 fell apart, then became one of Capcom's biggest hits". Polygon. Retrieved December 20, 2022.