Ryutaro Sugiyama

From Sega Retro

Not to be confused with Ryuichi Hattori, also known as Ryuuchan
RyutaroSugiyama LoiLo.png
Ryutaro Sugiyama
Employment history:
Sega Enterprises (1999-03[1] – )
Divisions:
Role(s): Artist
Education: Nihon University College of Art(Cinema, 1999)[1]
Twitter: @loiloryu

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Ryutaro Sugiyama (杉山 竜太郎), affectionally known as Ryuuchan (りゅうちゃん[3][4]) is a Japanese artist and educator previously employed by Sega and United Game Artists between 1999 and 2007. He left Sega to be the COO of LoiLo[1]. His younger brother Koichi Sugiyama, the CEO of LoiLo[5], worked as a programmer for Namco[4].

In his personal life while at UGA, Sugiyama was known for backpacking travels, travelling to India several times with his wife, despite hating it, seeing it as an obligation instead of something he enjoys.[3]

Career

Sega

Before working at Sega, Ryutaro Sugiyama studied cinema at the Nihon University College of Art and made an independent film themed around festivals.[3] He also spent a few months working for TV Asahi.[6] Sugiyama and his younger brother Koichi had experience being in a video jockey unit who performed at clubs, which he made use of when he joined Sega Enterprises in 1999 and was assigned to work on 3D CG and video effects.[4] His work on the opening movie for the game Space Channel 5 was well received for its unconventional abstract feel, earning him a reputation as "Ryuuchan, the guy who makes cool visuals".[4]

At the same time, Sugiyama continued to work with his younger brother Koichi in a VJ unit, working for Sega on weekdays and the VJ scene on weekends.[4] Through their VJ unit, the Sugiyama brothers created a groundbreaking software product in 1999 called "Ecou"[6] (回向[4]) or "Ecouengine". This software was linked to a video camera to add real-time effects to live images on a large screen, and employed a new technology called General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit or GPGPU.[7] This enabled innovative visual effects like those in the movie The Matrix, and the his activities expanded from club events to video performances. He was once invited over to France to participate as a VJ at a private party for the descendants of Louis XVI[4].

Things took a turn for the worse in 2003, when UGA was dissolved and merged with Sonic Team. This led Sugiyama to move into The Innovation Village, a facility for fostering entrepreneurs on the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. He began to search for a way to start his own business in order to bring "Ecou" to the world, which would be through his new company LioLo. To do this, he had to quit his job at Sega and ask his younger brother to quit his job at Namco as well, which Koichi didn't respond well to, leading Ryutaro Sugiyama to stress about the loss of a stable job[4].

LioLo

Production history

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.facebook.com/ryutaro.sugiyama/about_work_and_education
  2. ↑ http://www.u-ga.com/jp/company/list_staff.php?HID_EMP_NO=J01006 (Wayback Machine: 2003-04-04 10:20)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.u-ga.com/jp/company/list_staff.php?HID_EMP_NO=J01009 (Wayback Machine: 2003-04-04 10:32)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 https://type.jp/s/e/mve/0902/index2.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-10-20 13:31)
  5. ↑ https://loilo.inc/en/company
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://archive.ph/E8r6M#selection-1359.218-1359.228
  7. ↑ https://www.heavy.ai/technical-glossary/gpgpu
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Ryutaro_Sugiyama&oldid=930104"