Akihiro Hino's interview with Hino

Was the uncompromising character developed as a child?

Fukuoka prefecture? Damoutian city. Akihiro Hino was born in a prosperous southern city in Fukuoka Prefecture. "When I lived there, I still liked the countryside and used traditional educational methods." Akihiro Hino said. Primary school is an era of "climbing trees and picking persimmons as snacks". There used to be a tall water tower nearby, which supplied water for the surrounding families, so he often climbed up to play. "He said with a smile that the oldest part of his life was the moment he was born.

"I am a very serious premature baby. It was born three months ahead of the scheduled production date. At that time, it looked so small that it could only be wrapped in an ordinary towel when it was asleep. The doctor also said he didn't know if he could save this life. However, after a month's breastfeeding, grandma was finally out of danger.

After that, it began to thrive. Hino's parents are both working, and he is loved by his grandmother who saved his life with milk. Hino, who thrived under the care of his family, looked back and said with a wry smile, "I am a veritable teenager. So, I also played a lot of practical jokes. Although there is no malice, I have no idea that there should be a limit to naughty. " In the face of this Hino, my grandmother is still in charge of him.

"My grandmother is a very strict person and won't let me do bad things. So, once I do a practical joke that causes trouble to others, my grandmother will slap me a few times. However, I am spoiled by what I want ... maybe I am loved in a slightly different way (laughs). For example, I spoiled and bought a lot of snacks, because I like them very much, and my grandmother will forgive me for buying them for me. Since then, my character has been a little perfectionist. Even though I bought a lot of those snacks, I was very unhappy when I walked out of the store and found myself buying them after others. It is an out-and-out role (laughs). "

The primary school period determined by a book.

The primary school age of such a naughty Hino boy. There are also many opportunities to go fishing and fly wireless planes, although Hino is proud of playing pranks with friends. ), but he also has a quiet hobby.

"I am often praised for my good painting. I was selected in the painting competition 1 1 times in primary school. I like painting, landscape painting and figure painting. He is a child who likes everything, as long as he creates things. At that time, I was particularly keen on reading Yi Xiong Yi's comics and puzzle books. "

Hino said that he often walks to the bookstore alone to buy books. On one occasion, Hino's eyes stopped at a book in the corner of the bookstore. This is the intersection of his fate and the fate of computer games.

"I began to be interested in computers, also in primary school. I often go to and from the bookstore. When I was in senior three, I found a book called The Wizard. That book is so interesting that I want an Apple computer that can play magic. But the price of AppleII was only a few hundred thousand at that time, so of course you couldn't buy it for me. Because there is really no way, I bought a NEC PC-600 1 with my lucky money from grade six to grade one.

What is the game in Akihiro Hino's memory?

Then, Hino's time was spent in a formal computer career, and junior high school began to write his own programs. 1980s, I spent my youth in Hino, working in high school to earn money, and upgraded my machine to PC-880 1 of NEC. Of course, The Wizard, which first caught Hino's attention, was also immersed in the charm of PC games.

"At that time, everyone may think so. Speaking of games played in PC-600 1 era, they will think of AX series, a software collection released by Mingshu. A set of about 3000 yen, the program is included in the tape, and there are scary instructions I saw today. From the current point of view, the work itself is very simple, but the world view of the game is written in detail in the manual, which makes me immersed. "

Hino's memory is a very memorable fragment for computer users at that time. At the same time, PC games at that time became the origin of Hino's current game production, which should be fully felt in the next dialogue.

The title left in my mind is ... "Black onyx". And T & ampe's soft Star Arthur Legend, Squawell (now Squawell? Ennix's Death Trap and other impressive titles. Wizards have also played many times, but the dark realm is really interesting. If you change clothes for the character, the image will also change, which makes me feel amazing. So in the game I am playing now, this element will definitely not be lacking. "

Famicom appeared in Hino's high school days. What was the situation about consumer games at that time?

"Because I entered the game world through a PC, there are not many FC games that I have been addicted to. The brave fight the dragon III, the battle of SD gundam, Famicom Wars and so on. I have been playing these three works for a long time. Among them, DQ3 changed my life. At that time, it was just a period of worrying about whether to take office. The first time I tasted the works deeply moved by the game was this one. Although I am led by wizards, I have played many RPG games. Of course, some works are moved by the fun of the system, but this is the only game that moves me so much. "

So Hino was also recognized by Yuji Hanei, the biological father of The Brave Fight the Dragon, and participated in the development of The Brave VIII. Received a high evaluation. At that time, Hino teenagers who were crazy about DQ3 probably didn't expect such a shining future. Fate is really an interesting thing.

Re-recognize the road that high school likes.

Rewind the conversation a little. After a period of enthusiasm for PC games in junior high school, Hino entered the local high school. Then he changed a little.

"Although I like computers, it hasn't changed, but since I entered high school, I began to have a sense of youth (laughs). CHECHERS (a local band of seven in Fukuoka) was popular at that time, and I learned to get the same hairstyle. At that time, I went to school by bike. In order not to let the hairstyle that I have been fiddling with at home be blown away, I have to consider the wind direction while riding a bike. I want to keep my hairstyle perfect when I get to school (laughs). To say that I care most about girls' eyes is the most serious time in my career. I didn't care after that (laughs). "

Speaking of the fragments of student days, Hino had an experience closely related to the present.

"About learning, my brain is completely scientific. Simple rote memorization is still quite annoying to me, like the historical year number or something. Speaking of shame, our company recently produced Joan of Arc. As for me, before this proposal was put on the table as a plan, I always thought Joan had something to do with the French Revolution (laughs). Ah, I think many people think so. If you are as bad at history as I am, please play with Joan of Arc and learn about the Hundred Years' War (laughs). "

Become a programmer through strength

In order to enrich his favorite computer knowledge and cultivate his programming ability, Hino entered a special school. Staring at the future, Hino studied very hard. So finally, it's time to take office. What was the situation in Hino at that time?

"The graduates of our school generally aim to become SE (System Engineer, Non-party Enix). But I think something is wrong. I always feel so bored. I just want to join a game company. That's true, but at that time, no game company ever recruited people from computer science schools. After careful consideration, I decided to draw an RPG myself and sell myself to a local company in Fukuoka, System Soft, which is famous for its grand strategic series.

At that time, System Soft was a company that could be located in Tokyo. Lichuan, a PC game development company with Xanadu (the second work of the Dragon Slayer series) and Falcom of Japan, which are comparable to the Yi-Su series. However, it is said that to enter this company, you must have considerable contacts. The high-level game independently produced by Hino Research Institute unexpectedly recommended itself, which moved the company and made him take the entrance examination. Only three people were adopted in those years, one of whom was Hino.

but ...

"I want to enter the company, I can make a big strategy. As a result, the company's policy is not like this. It seems that they don't want me to be a programmer, but let me be the planning manager of the management development team. At that time, I thought that only programmers were the makers of games. If they don't write programs, the job will be meaningless. As a result, I resigned from the company in the fourth month (wry smile). Now that I think about it, it is really a stubborn and inflexible character. "

Then Hino took aim at River Hill Soft, also located in Fukuoka. "I never thought about going to a company in Tokyo," Hino said. Holding the idea that "the location is not important, as long as he can write programs every day, he will be very happy", he has been looking for local companies.

"In Hehai Soft, I became the chief programmer in the second year of my company, and I felt that what I did was really meaningful. There seems to be as many works as 10 ... The first job as a programmer is to transplant the D.C. collection to PC-880 1. Next is the original Bly of Iijima Keno. Then there was a long silence (laughter). So, one day, I suddenly wanted to play 3D games. I have been paying attention to overseas games since the Wizard. 1980 In the second half of the year, overseas PC games led by simulated flight have entered the 3D era. In Japan at that time, 2D was still the mainstream. However, it is not difficult to think that Japan will soon enter the 3D era, so I will frankly tell the president to study 3D games. "

Through the development and realization of blood, this is expected in the 3D era.

Then Hino's small room was filled with development equipment, and one began to study the 3D engine tirelessly.

"I am the only 3D expert in the company. I usually do things about systems and programming. I am very happy to be able to do what I like. So when the brand-new "PS" that can compute 3D modeling appeared, I was really happy. Up to now, down-to-earth work has finally come into play. I like to explore areas that others have not reached and do things that others can't. There is a saying, "What can I do!" "imposing manner. Indeed, most programmers are unwilling to give up. Even so, I am ambitious. "

Make full use of Hino's 3D engine, which is a popular 3D sci-fi adventure game Over Blood series at the dawn of PS. Hino served as the chief programmer in the first work, and as the planner, director and chief programmer in the second work, becoming the core figure of the leading team.

"Over Blood 2 has a development team of more than 30 people. At that time, the PC game team was only about 7 or 8 people, and our team was the largest in the company. Now a team of 35 people is a small team in the industry. The works that looked novel at that time, in retrospect, always feel that there are many unsatisfactory places (laughs). In many ways, you can feel the breath of history. It's really hard to forget. "

Looking back on his time in Heshan, Hino squinted and said, "I am very happy every day in my days as a programmer." Every day is like a child looking forward to hiking tomorrow.

"Lying in bed at night, thinking about tomorrow's work, I am too excited to sleep (laughs). Because there is no work that can be done on your own computer, you can only work hard on the company's system. Therefore, if you want to continue the program you can't finish today and go to the company early, you can't sleep. So when I was 24 or 5 years old, my own skills and what I wanted to do all reached a relatively successful level very smoothly. "

The people who support their independence are ...

Such Hino ushered in a considerable turnaround. Near the second half of 1990, Hino left the rivers and mountains where he worked for nine years and decided to embark on the road of independence with several people with the same ideas. "The biggest reason I want to be independent is because I want to do something new," Hino said. After that, the action he took was to visit SCE, and SCE became very close to him by virtue of the super-blood series.

"At that time, Mr. Sato Ming (now the vice president of SCE board of directors) came to consult with me. In that conversation, I heard for the first time that a new project called "PS2" was being planned. It was released about 1 year and a half ago. What a surprise. Then Mr. Sato asked me,' Do you want to try to develop your work into the first games of PS2?' . "

At that time, Hino was shocked before he thought about it.

"The reason why I went to SCE at that time was to see if SCE could set up a 100% funded subsidiary for us. Although it is independent, it is a bit too difficult to have nothing at first. "

But in the face of Hino's idea,

"Mr. Sato suggested that instead of setting up a subsidiary, SCE should support it and set up a company by itself. Although I don't know why he gave us such advice (laughs), the idea of setting up a company independently has become more firm because of that sentence. Now that I think about it, Mr. Sato's suggestion may be to let us freely develop games that run through our self-awareness without being bound by company rules. "

LEVEL-5 was established. What will happen in the future?

Then in 1998+00, Hino established LEVEL-5. The headquarters is naturally located in Fukuoka, and it has been very kind for many years. The first wave of works was the "PS2" game "Dark Clouds" proposed by Mr. Ito Ming at that time. Later, he continued to develop new works such as Diablo Chronicle, Galactic Ranger and Joan of Arc for the PS family.

"LEVEL-5' s strategy is to play games wholeheartedly. Everyone has a spirit of doing things beyond people's expectations. Headquartered in Fukuoka, because there is a more suitable working environment than noisy Tokyo. The rent is also cheap (laughs). It's inconvenient at all. There is a feeling of making things in your own room. "

When playing games in Fukuoka, Level 5 challenges new attempts that have never been made elsewhere. Joan of Arc, which was released before, is one of the works born from these attempts.

One of the passions of developing Joan of Arc is the idea of "turning Kyushu into Hollywood in the game world". In fact, at present, the "GFF" (Game-Factory's-Friendship, also known as Gate-For-Future) organization, which is chaired by me and participated by nine major game manufacturers in Kyushu, also aims at this. When the new company is about to join, the programmers of grand strategy, who are highly skilled, are widely expected in the soft era of our system and have formulated a cooperation system with us. "

Then, what is interesting is the future development of LEVEL-5. Is "Silent Knight in White" made by Hino for PLAYSTATION 3 under development now?

"Although I have published many works, I want to do it seriously and seriously. In any case, the attitude of challenging new things will not change from now on. I don't always think about this popular idea of stability, but I hope to convey the meaning of making the work itself to everyone. One of the links is the production of "The Story of the Knight in White", aiming at exerting the greater potential of PS3 than others. I think we can certainly realize this idea. The development of "The Legend of the White Knight" is proceeding in an orderly way, and I think the day of releasing new pictures is not far away. "

As a producer, what about Mr hino himself?

"I used to pursue the fun of being a director when I was playing games. Since the establishment of LEVEL-5, I have become more interested in producers. For example, when I used to watch the screen output in front of the monitor to play games, I could feel that the game production was like on-site work, but now I can feel the place outside the on-site work. It's not my character to just leave the scene completely and make plans. Because I used to be a programmer, I was a bit strict with programmers in the company. " We should be able to do better here, shouldn't we? "In this case, maybe the scene will be smoky (wry smile)."