A Sense of Fun: Anybody could be your Player 1 In April 1983 Masaya formed the band PSY'S (pronounced "Size") and the band pushed the frontiers of computer music for the time. After nine hit albums, PSY'S disbanded in August 1996. That same year, Masaya took Japan by storm with the release of "PaRappa The Rapper" for PS1. The game won the 1996 CECA Award, the Japan Software Award, and was also named Japan's “Game of the Year“ for 1997. Masaya’s 1999 release, "vib-ribbon" (PS1), was another gaming revolution, generating gameplay from the player’s own favorite music CDs. In 2003, Masaya produced and composed sounds for the new Aibo "ERS-7" robot dog, and also released "mojibribbon"(PS2), a game unique in both gameplay and visual style. 2005 saw the release of "Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop" (Nintendo DS) which sold more than a million copies in Japan alone. The game’s runaway success led to acclaimed sequels in 2006 and 2007. Continuing his desire to broaden the appeal of games, this year Masaya also masterminded the release of “musika” for the iPod. He is also the first and only Japanese Emeritus member of the Advisory Board for the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) in The United States.
|
