Naohiro Warama

Naohiro Warama

Employment history: Sega Enterprises (1988^[1] – ) Divisions: Sega R&D 2 Sega R&D 6 Sega PC Smilebit^[1] Amusement Vision Sega Divisions: Sega CS1 Sega Games Divisions: CS Studio 1 Sega (?? – 2024^[2])
Role(s): Designer, Programmer

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Naohiro Warama (藁間直弘), also known as Taro Shizuoka (and Shizuoka Taro), joined Sega as a character designer, best-known for his work on The Revenge of Shinobi^[3]^[4] but later also became a programmer^[5]. He then went into technical support and PC software development^[6]. He was the manager of the Technical Research Department of Smilebit, developing in-house game engines, libraries and conducting research on new technologies they could use to improve development^[6]. He migrated to Amusement Vision in 2003, first as a supervisor for Spikeout: Battle Street, and has since worked on the Yakuza franchise, sometimes directly involved with game development, but most often programming the main libraries and physics engines^[7].

Production history

Games

Space Harrier II (Mega Drive; 1988) — Monster Design^[8] (as Shizuoka Taro)
Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (Mega Drive; 1989) — しずおかたろう^[9] (as Sizuokataro)
The Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive; 1989) — Chief Designer^[10] (as Taro Shizuoka)
ESWAT: City Under Siege (Mega Drive; 1990) — Special Thanks to^[11] (as Taro Shizuoka)
Strider (Mega Drive; 1990) — Chief Designer / Graphic Coordinator^[12] (as Taro.S☻)
Pro Yakyuu Super League '91 (Mega Drive; 1991) — Main Design^[13] (as しずおかたろう)
Seima Densetsu 3x3 Eyes (Mega-CD; 1993) — デザイン^[14] (as 静岡太郎)
J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! (Saturn; 1996) — スペシャルサンクス^[15] (as 藁間直弘)
Daytona USA Deluxe (Windows PC; 1997) — Programmers
Virtua Cop 2 (Windows PC; 1997) — Technical Advisors
Sega Rally 2 (Dreamcast; 1999) — Technical Advisors
Sega Rally 2 (Windows PC; 1999) — Technical Advisors
Virtua Cop 2 (Dreamcast; 2000) — Program Director
Virtua Cop 2 (Dreamcast; 2000) — Graphic Designers
Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast; 2000) — スペシャルサンクス (as ワラマナオヒロ)
Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast; 2000) — Special Thanks
De La Jet Set Radio (Dreamcast; 2001) — Special Thanks
Hundred Swords (Dreamcast; 2001) — Technical Supports (as 藁間直弘)
Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox; 2002) — Special Thanks
Gunvalkyrie (Xbox; 2002) — Technical Advisor
Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox; 2002) — Technical Advisor
Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! 2 (PlayStation 2; 2003) — スペシャルサンクス (as 藁間直弘)
J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 3 (PlayStation 2; 2003) — スペシャルサンクス (as 藁間直弘)
Ollie King (Chihiro; 2003) — Special Thanks
Spikeout: Battle Street (Xbox; 2005) — Supervisor
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (PlayStation 3; 2008) — テクニカルサポート (as 藁間直弘)
Yakuza 4 (PlayStation 3; 2010) — System Programming
Yakuza: Dead Souls (PlayStation 3; 2011) — Physics Programming
Rise of Nightmares (Xbox 360; 2011) — Technical Support
Binary Domain (Xbox 360; 2012) — Physics Engine
Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin! (PlayStation 3; 2014) — フレームワークチーム (as 藁間直弘)
Ryu ga Gotoku: Ishin! (PlayStation 4; 2014) — フレームワークチーム (as 藁間直弘)
Yakuza 0 (PlayStation 3; 2015) — Technical Support
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PlayStation 4; 2016) — Programmers
Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PlayStation 4; 2017) — Technical Support
Judgment (PlayStation 4; 2018) — Technical Support
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PlayStation 4; 2020) — Technical Support
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Xbox One; 2020) — Technical Support
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Steam; 2020) — Technical Support
Lost Judgment (PlayStation 4; 2021) — Technical Support
Lost Judgment (PlayStation 5; 2021) — Technical Support
Lost Judgment (Xbox One; 2021) — Technical Support
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (Steam; 2023) — Dragon Engine Development Team
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (PlayStation 5; 2023) — Dragon Engine Development Team
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (Xbox One; 2023) — Dragon Engine Development Team

Music

Gunvalkyrie Official Soundtrack (CD; 2002) — Technical Advisor

Magazine articles

Main article: Naohiro Warama/Magazine articles.

Interviews

Yakuza 4: Mitsunori Fujimoto, Koji Tokieda & Naohiro Warama interview by Infinite-Ideas (July, 2010)

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Naohiro Warama

References

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230916150547.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fcedec.cesa.or.jp.2F2003.2Fsession.2Fdetails.2Fr42.html-1] 1.0 ^1.1 https://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2003/session/details/r42.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-16 15:05)

[https:.2F.2Fx.com.2FYutakaIto_RGG.2Fstatus.2F1796510593928888591-2] @YutakaIto_RGG on X

[https:.2F.2Fwww.sega-16.com.2F2016.2F04.2Fbehind-the-design-the-revenge-of-shinobi.2F-3] ttps://www.sega-16.com/2016/04/behind-the-design-the-revenge-of-shinobi/

[https:.2F.2Fwww.kickstarter.com.2Fprojects.2Fdarrenwall.2Fsega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works-reprint-4] ttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-mega-drive-genesis-collected-works-reprint

[https:.2F.2Fwww.marubeni-sys.com.2Finfinite-ideas.2Fchousen.2Fsega.2F-5] ttps://www.marubeni-sys.com/infinite-ideas/chousen/sega/

[https:.2F.2Fcedec.cesa.or.jp.2F2003.2Fsession.2Fdetails.2Fr42.html-6] 6.0 ^6.1 https://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2003/session/details/r42.html

[https:.2F.2Fcedec.cesa.or.jp.2F2016.2Fsession.2FENG.2F2190.html-7] ttps://cedec.cesa.or.jp/2016/session/ENG/2190.html

[:File:Space_Harrier_II_MD_credits.pdf_p-8] File:Space Harrier II MD credits.pdf

[:File:Ozaki_Naomichi_no_Super_Masters_MD_credits.pdf_p-9] File:Ozaki Naomichi no Super Masters MD credits.pdf

[:File:Revenge_of_Shinobi_MD_credits.pdf_p-10] File:Revenge of Shinobi MD credits.pdf

[:File:ESWAT_MD_credits.pdf_p-11] File:ESWAT MD credits.pdf

[:File:Strider_MD_credits.pdf_p-12] File:Strider MD credits.pdf

[:File:Pro_Yakyuu_Super_League_91_MD_credits.pdf_p-13] File:Pro Yakyuu Super League 91 MD credits.pdf

[:File:Seima_Densetsu_MCD_credits.pdf_p-14] File:Seima Densetsu MCD credits.pdf

[:File:J.League_Pro_Soccer_Club_o_Tsukurou.21_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-15] File:J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! Saturn credits.pdf

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