Jake Kazdal

From Sega Retro

JakeKazdal.jpg
Jake Kazdal
Employment history:
Boss Game Studios (1996-07[1] – 1998-09[1])
Sega of Japan (1999-01[2] – 2000)
Divisions:
United Game Artists (2000 – 2003-04[1])
Zombie VR Studios (2003-08[3] – 2003-12[3])
Electronic Arts (2006-03[3] – )
17-BIT
Role(s): Artist, Executive
Education: Vancouver Film School (Classical Animation, 1996)[4], ArtCenter College of Design (Entertainment/Product Design, 2006)[4]
Twitter: @Jkooza

Jake Kazdal is an American artist originally from Seattle, Washington,[5][6] but who now lives in Kyoto, Japan. He previously worked at Sega of Japan and United Game Artists, later becoming CEO/Creative Director/Art Director of 17-BIT.


Career

Jake Kazdal grew up with a variety of games in the late 70's and early 80's, so naturally entered the games industry, originally as a games counselor at Nintendo of America. He found himself working at several American-based developers/development branches including, Enix, Irem and Lobotomy Software[7]. However, he viewed Tokyo as the "Hollywood of games", moving there despite the language barrier. His first job at a Japanese company was under Sega of Japan, where he worked as a computer graphics designer (influenced by his mother, an artist).[5], and the only foreign artist on his team[1].

Jake Kazdal's photo on the United Game Artists website, showing off his booth made airtight by surrounding cloth.

The particular branch Jake worked at was Sega Software R&D Dept. 9 and its successor United Game Artists, headed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi. He joined this division partially based on a conversation with Kenneth Ibrahim, who could see that Jake was a big Sega fan (the multiple Virtua Fighter toys were a clue), and recommended Tetsuya Mizuguchi in particular as they had worked together on Sega Rally Championship, and Jake had recently read an interview with Mizuguchi published in UK magazine Edge[8][7], further indicating Mizuguchi as the ideal partner. While at Soft R&D 9/UGA, he mainly worked on the Space Channel 5 franchise and Rez (for which he was not only involved in design and animation, but also translated much of the text into English[9][8]), as well as a cancelled adventure game for the Nintendo GameCube for which he served as lead concept artist, texture artist and background modeler, and uncredited modelling and texturing on Astro Boy.[8][2][1]

Not too long after the discontinuation of the Sega Dreamcast, having spent 4 years under Sega[10] and not having high hopes for the UGA/Sonic Team merger[8], Jake left Sega to work in the United States again under Zombie VR Studios. After completing a bachelor's degree in Entertainment/Product Design at the ArtCenter College of Design, he began working at Electronic Arts, where, while developing games such as LMNO and Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight[10], he met several lifelong friends who would also help him develop games at Haunted Temple Studios (later renamed 17-BIT) including their debut game Skulls of the Shogun[7].

Interests

During his time at United Game Artists, Jake Kazdal was known for loving rave parties, the sort that inspired the aesthetics in Rez. However, he disliked clubs that smelled of cigarettes, himself being a non-smoker, as well as a vegetarian and healthy naturalist. During his days off work, he sometimes visited Tokyo's Ueno Park to do some oil painting.[5]

Production history

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://jakekazdal.com/Jake%20Kazdal%20_%20Resume.html (Wayback Machine: 2006-05-05 22:04)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.vg247.com/the-day-the-dreamcast-died
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.jakekazdal.com/Profile_02.html (Wayback Machine: 2008-11-21 11:08)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.facebook.com/jake.kazdal/about_work_and_education
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://www.u-ga.com/jp/company/list_staff.php?HID_EMP_NO=J00128 (Wayback Machine: 2003-04-03 22:56)
  6. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/jake.kazdal/about
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/12/feature_17-bits_jake_kazdal_on_the_journey_from_nintendo_game_counsellor_to_making_games_in_japan
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/go-to-synesthesia-jake-kazdal-s-journey-through-the-heart-of-i-rez-i- (Wayback Machine: 2023-06-23 06:28)
  9. ↑ @Jkooza on Twitter (Wayback Machine: 2023-06-25 10:00)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://www.wired.com/2010/08/indie-games/
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