Naoto Ohshima

Naoto Ōshima

Place of birth: Osaka, Japan
Date of birth: 1964-02-26 (age 60)
Employment history: Sega of Japan Divisions: Sega R&D 2 Sega CS3 Sega Software R&D Dept. 8 Sonic Team (company) Artoon Arzest (2010 – )
Role(s): Artist, Character Designer, Director
Education: Kyoto Seika University (1986)

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Naoto Ōshima (大島直人) is a Japanese artist and former Sega of Japan and Sonic Team developer, artist, and director, most known as the original designer of the characters Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman. Ohshima gained notoriety at Sega for creating characters and playing integral roles in the development of games like Phantasy Star, NiGHTS into Dreams, and Sonic Adventure. After leaving Sonic Team, he co-founded (and later became president of) an independent game company called Artoon. There he went on to work on such games as Pinobee and Blinx the Time Sweeper. In 2010, Ohshima and other key Artoon members left the company to form Arzest, another video game development company. Ohshima currently holds the title of Executive Vice President.

Career

Production history

Games

Phantasy Star (Master System; 1987) — Design^[1] (as Rockhy Nao)
Space Harrier 3D (Master System; 1988) — Art Designer (as Bigisland)
Super Racing (Master System; 1988) — Title Screen Artist
Kujaku Ou (Master System; 1988) — Designer (as Big Island)
Phantasy Star II (Mega Drive; 1989) — Designers^[2] (as BigIsland)
Super League (Mega Drive; 1989) — Fielder Designer^[3] (as Big Island)
Altered Beast (Master System; 1989) — Artist
Hokuto no Ken: Shin Seikimatsu Kyuuseishu Densetsu (Mega Drive; 1989) — Art Director^[4] (as BigIsland)
SpellCaster (Master System; 1989) — Designer (as Big Island)
Fatal Labyrinth (Mega Drive; 1990) — Designer^[5] (as Big Island)
Sonic Eraser (Mega Drive; 1991) — Special Thanks^[6] (as BigIsland)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive; 1991) — Character Design^[7] (as BigIsland)
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Mega-CD; 1993) — Director^[8] (as Naoto Oshima)
SegaSonic the Hedgehog (System 32; 1993) — Special Thanks (as N.Ohshima)
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (Mega Drive; 1993) — Sound Test Sprite (Japan-only)
Game no Kanzume Vol. 2 (Mega-CD; 1994) — Designer^[5] (as Big Island)
Chaotix (32X; 1995) — Original Character Concept^[9]
NiGHTS into Dreams (Saturn; 1996) — Director^[10]
NiGHTS into Dreams (Saturn; 1996) — NiGHTS Designer^[10]
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Windows PC; 1996) — Director^[11]
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Mega Drive; 1996) — Advisors (SOJ)^[12] (as Naoto Oshima)
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams (Saturn; 1996) — Director
Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams (Saturn; 1996) — Visual Designers
Sonic Jam (Saturn; 1997) — Supervisor^[13]
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Windows PC; 1997) — Advisors (SOJ) (as Naoto Oshima)
Sonic R (Saturn; 1997) — Graphic Advisors^[14] (as Naoto Oshima)
Burning Rangers (Saturn; 1998) — Director^[15]
Burning Rangers (Saturn; 1998) — Graphic Artist^[15]
Burning Rangers (Saturn; 1998) — Character Designer^[15]
Sonic R (Windows PC; 1998) — Graphic advisors (as Naoto Oshima)
Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Saturn; 1996) — Advisors (SOJ)^[16] (as Naoto Oshima)
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (Game Boy Advance; 2006) — Character Design^[17] (as BigIsland)
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Xbox 360; 2011) — Director
Sonic the Hedgehog CD (PlayStation 3; 2011) — Director
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Nintendo 3DS; 2016) — Supervisor
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 4; 2023) — Development Producer
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 5; 2023) — Development Producer
Sonic Superstars (Nintendo Switch; 2023) — Development Producer
Sonic Superstars (Epic Games Store; 2023) — Development Producer
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 4; 2023) — Game Designers
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 5; 2023) — Game Designers
Sonic Superstars (Nintendo Switch; 2023) — Game Designers
Sonic Superstars (Epic Games Store; 2023) — Game Designers
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 4; 2023) — Character Designer for Trip
Sonic Superstars (PlayStation 5; 2023) — Character Designer for Trip
Sonic Superstars (Nintendo Switch; 2023) — Character Designer for Trip
Sonic Superstars (Epic Games Store; 2023) — Character Designer for Trip
Fighting Circus: Elandoll (Saturn; unreleased) — Director
Iri-san (Dreamcast; unreleased) — Designer

Videos

Sonic the Hedgehog (VHS; 1996) — Production Directors (as Naoto Oshima)
Sonic the Hedgehog (DVD; 1999) — Production Directors (as Naoto Oshima)
Sonic 30th Anniversary Symphony () — Special Thanks

Music

NiGHTS Original Soundtrack (CD; 1996) — Supervisor
Burning Rangers Sound Track (CD; 1998) — Supervisor
Burning Rangers Sound Track (CD; 1998) — Cover Illust
Burning Rangers Sound Track (CD; 1998) — Creative Director
Sonic Team "PowerPlay" (CD; 1998) — Special Thanks
Sonic The Hedgehog "Passion & Pride" Anthems with Attitude from the Sonic Adventure Era (CD; 2014) — Thanks to (as Naoto Oshima)

Sonic the Hedgehog (anime) (1996) — Supervisor
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (3DS version) (2016) — Supervisor (Arzest Corp.)

Magazine articles

Main article: Naoto Ohshima/Magazine articles.

Interviews

Some or all of the following content should be mirrored on Sega Retro (or Retro CDN).

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Naoto Ohshima

External links

Naoto Ohshima at Twitter
Naoto Ohshima at Instagram
Sega Stars: Naoto Ohshima article by Ken Horowitz at Sega-16

References

[:File:Phantasy_Star_SMS_credits.pdf_p-1] File:Phantasy Star SMS credits.pdf

[:File:Phantasy_Star_II_MD_credits.pdf_p-2] File:Phantasy Star II MD credits.pdf

[:File:Super_League_MD_credits.pdf_p-3] File:Super League MD credits.pdf

[:File:Hokuto_no_Ken_MD_credits.pdf_p-4] File:Hokuto no Ken MD credits.pdf

[:File:Fatal_Labyrinth_MCD_credits.pdf_p-5] 5.0 ^5.1 File:Fatal Labyrinth MCD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_Eraser_MD_credits.pdf_p-6] File:Sonic Eraser MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_the_Hedgehog_MD_credits.pdf_p-7] File:Sonic the Hedgehog MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_CD_MCD_JP_credits.pdf_p-8] File:Sonic CD MCD JP credits.pdf

[:File:Chaotix_32X_good_ending_credits.pdf_p-9] File:Chaotix 32X good ending credits.pdf

[:File:NiGHTS_into_Dreams_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-10] 10.0 ^10.1 File:NiGHTS into Dreams Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_CD_PC_DirectX_good_ending_credits.pdf_p-11] File:Sonic CD PC DirectX good ending credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_3D_Blast_MD_credits.pdf_p-12] File:Sonic 3D Blast MD credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_Jam_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-13] File:Sonic Jam Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_R_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-14] File:Sonic R Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:Burning_Rangers_JP_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-15] 15.0 ^15.1 ^15.2 File:Burning Rangers JP Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:Sonic_3D_Blast_Saturn_credits.pdf_p-16] File:Sonic 3D Blast Saturn credits.pdf

[:File:SonicGenesis_GBA_US_manual.pdf_p18-17] File:SonicGenesis GBA US manual.pdf, page 18

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