Difference between revisions of "Masaaki Somaki"

Revision as of 11:36, 27 March 2024

Masaaki Somaki

Employment history: Sega Enterprises Divisions: Sega CS5 Sega AM2 Sega Software R&D Dept. 2 AM2 of CRI Sega-AM2 Hitmaker
Role(s): Designer, artist, director

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Masaaki Somaki (杣木昌明), also known as Rei, is a Japanese video game developer who has worked for Sega, Hitmaker, Genki and Pyramid. At Sega, he is best-known for his work as an assistant designer on Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira, as a background artist on Virtua Fighter 3, and an assistant director on Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz. Some of his well-known post-Sega works include the PS2 game Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix and DariusBurst: Another Chronicle.

Career

Masaaki Somaki began his video game career as a high score achiever in what was then-called Furukawa City in Miyagi prefecture^[1]. He would enter his name as Spream-Rei or simply Rei ^[2]^[1]. He moved to Tokyo in 1986 to work as a clerk at a Shinjuku arcade which was affiliated with Namco^[3]^[1].

In 1992 he also began working as a part-time game designer for Sega's CS2 and CS5 departments which developed Game Gear titles, such as Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira (with Somaki assisting Ryushin Hamada). After CS5 was dissolved in 1995, he was one of its members of joined AM2, alongside the likes of Takako Kawaguchi and Masaru Nakamura. Somaki took on a role as a 3D model graphic designer beginning with the Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series, and would create background models for games like Virtua Fighter 3, Fighting Vipers 2 and Outtrigger. He and several other developers involved with the Shenmue series, such as Wataru Sakomura and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, moved to Hitmaker in 2000, where he became the assistant director of Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz (under Nobuyuki Yamashita).

After leaving Sega, Somaki worked on Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix for Genki, before moving to Pyramid Inc. where he was a game designer for the Patapon and Darius franchises^[4].

Production history

Games

Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear; 1993) — Special Thanks to^[5] (as Rei)
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Master System; 1993) — Special Thanks to^[6] (as Rei)
Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck (Game Gear; 1993) — Special Thanks to^[7] (as Rei)
Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck (Master System; 1994) — Special Thanks to^[7] (as Rei)
Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (Game Gear; 1994) — Thanks^[8] (as R.Somaki)
Ninku (Game Gear; 1995) — Special Thanks (as M.Somaki)
Pro Striker Final Stage (Mega Drive; 1995) — Special thanks to^[9] (as 杣木昌明)
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 6 Lau Chan (Saturn; 1995) — CG Designer^[10]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 5 Wolf Hawkfield (Saturn; 1995) — CG Designer^[11]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series The Final Dural (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[12]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 7 Shun Di (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[13]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 8 Lion Rafale (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[14]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 10 Jeffry McWild (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[15]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 9 Kage Maru (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[16]
Virtua Fighter 3 (Model 3; 1996) — Stage Design, Modeling
Virtua Striker 2 (Model 3; 1997) — Designers
Virtua Fighter 3tb (Model 3; 1997) — Stage Design, Modeling
Fighting Vipers 2 (Model 3; 1998) — Stage Designers
Virtua Fighter 3tb (Dreamcast; 1998) — Stage Design, Modeling
Outtrigger (NAOMI; 1999) — Stage Designers
Shenmue (Dreamcast; 1999) — Debug Management
Fighting Vipers 2 (Dreamcast; 2001) — Stage Designers^[17]
US Shenmue (Dreamcast; 2001) — Debug Management
Shenmue II (Dreamcast; 2001) — System Planners
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz (PlayStation 2; 2003) — Assistant Director

Videos

Sega Super Game 6 (VHS; 1987) — Game Player

External links

Profile on Hitmaker (backup)

References

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230820114341.2Fhttps:.2F.2Figcc.jp.2Fkenjo-03-01.2F-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 https://igcc.jp/kenjo-03-01/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-08-20 11:43)

[Sega_Super_Game_6-2] Sega Super Game 6

[http:.2F.2Fbackup.segakore.fr.2Fhitmaker.2Fsite.2Fcolumnpast.2Fcolumn128.html-3] ttp://backup.segakore.fr/hitmaker/site/columnpast/column128.html

[https:.2F.2Fwww.mobygames.com.2Fperson.2F84962.2Fmasaaki-somaki.2F-4] ttps://www.mobygames.com/person/84962/masaaki-somaki/

[:File:Land_of_Illusion_GG_credits.pdf_p-5] File:Land of Illusion GG credits.pdf

[:File:Land_of_Illusion_SMS_credits.pdf_p-6] File:Land of Illusion SMS credits.pdf

[:File:Deep_Duck_Trouble_GG_credits.pdf_p-7] 7.0 ^7.1 File:Deep Duck Trouble GG credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_Triple_Trouble_GG_credits.pdf_p-8] File:Sonic Triple Trouble GG credits.pdf

[:File:Pro_Striker_Final_Stage_MD_credits.pdf_p-9] File:Pro Striker Final Stage MD credits.pdf

[:File:VFCGP06_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-10] File:VFCGP06_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP05_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-11] File:VFCGP05_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:Virtua_Fighter_CG_Portrait_Series_The_Final_Dural_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-12] File:Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series The Final Dural Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:VFCGP07_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-13] File:VFCGP07_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP08_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-14] File:VFCGP08_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP10_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-15] File:VFCGP10_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP09_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-16] File:VFCGP09_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:Fighting_Vipers_2_Dreamcast_credits.pdf_p-17] File:Fighting Vipers 2 Dreamcast credits.pdf

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@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 | company=[[Hitmaker]]
 }}
-| role=Designer, director
+| role=Designer, artist, director
 | education=
 }}
-{{sub-stub}}'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (杣木 昌明) is a former designer and assistant director at [[Sega]]. After graduating high school, he worked part-time at an arcade in Shinjuku named Spream-Rei. In 1992 he also began working as a part-time game designer for Sega's [[Sega CS2|CS2]] and [[Sega CS5|CS5]] departments which developed [[Game Gear]] titles, such as ''[[Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira]]'' (with Somaki assisting [[Ryushin Hamada]]). After CS5 was dissolved in 1995, he was one of its members of joined [[AM2]], with Somaki taking on a role as a stage graphic designer, most notably ''[[Virtua Fighter 3]]''. He and several other developers involved with the ''[[Shenmue]]'' series, such as [[Wataru Sakomura]] and [[Takenobu Mitsuyoshi]], then moved to [[Hitmaker]], where he became the assistant director of ''[[Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz]]'' (under [[Nobuyuki Yamashita]]).
+{{sub-stub}}'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (杣木 昌明), also known as '''Rei''', is a Japanese video game developer who has worked for [[Sega]], [[Hitmaker]], [[Genki]] and Pyramid. At Sega, he is best-known for his work as an assistant designer on ''[[Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira]]'', as a background artist on ''[[Virtua Fighter 3]]'', and an assistant director on ''[[Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz]]''. Some of his well-known post-Sega works include the [[PS2]] game ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'' and ''DariusBurst: Another Chronicle''.
-After leaving Sega, Somaki worked on ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'' for [[Genki]], before moving to Pyramid Inc. where he worked on the ''Patapon'' and ''Darius'' franchises.
+==Career==
+{{PAGENAME}} began his video game career as a high score achiever in what was then-called Furukawa City in Miyagi prefecture{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230820114341/https://igcc.jp/kenjo-03-01/}}. He would enter his name as '''Spream-Rei''' or simply '''Rei''' {{intref|Sega Super Game 6}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230820114341/https://igcc.jp/kenjo-03-01/}}. He moved to Tokyo in 1986 to work as a clerk at a Shinjuku arcade which was affiliated with [[Namco]]{{ref|http://backup.segakore.fr/hitmaker/site/columnpast/column128.html}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230820114341/https://igcc.jp/kenjo-03-01/}}.
-He goes by '''SPREAM-REI''' or simply '''REI''' in high score entries{{intref|Sega Super Game 6}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20230820114341/https://igcc.jp/kenjo-03-01/}}.
+In 1992 he also began working as a part-time game designer for Sega's [[Sega CS2|CS2]] and [[Sega CS5|CS5]] departments which developed [[Game Gear]] titles, such as ''[[Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira]]'' (with Somaki assisting [[Ryushin Hamada]]). After CS5 was dissolved in 1995, he was one of its members of joined [[AM2]], alongside the likes of [[Takako Kawaguchi]] and [[Masaru Nakamura]]. Somaki took on a role as a 3D model graphic designer beginning with the ''Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series'', and would create background models for games like ''[[Virtua Fighter 3]]'', ''[[Fighting Vipers 2]]'' and ''[[Outtrigger]]''. He and several other developers involved with the ''[[Shenmue]]'' series, such as [[Wataru Sakomura]] and [[Takenobu Mitsuyoshi]], moved to [[Hitmaker]] in 2000, where he became the assistant director of ''[[Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz]]'' (under [[Nobuyuki Yamashita]]).
+After leaving Sega, Somaki worked on ''Racing Battle: C1 Grand Prix'' for [[Genki]], before moving to Pyramid Inc. where he was a game designer for the ''Patapon'' and ''Darius'' franchises{{ref|1=https://www.mobygames.com/person/84962/masaaki-somaki/}}.
 ==Production history==