Masaaki Somaki

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

World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (Mega Drive; 1992) — Special Thanks to^[5] (as Rei)
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Game Gear; 1993) — Special Thanks to^[6] (as Rei)
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Master System; 1993) — Special Thanks to^[7] (as Rei)
Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (Game Gear; 1994) — Thanks^[8] (as R.Somaki)
Royal Stone: Hirakareshi Toki no Tobira (Game Gear; 1995) — Plan
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. 5 Wolf Hawkfield (Saturn; 1995) — CG Designer^[10]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 6 Lau Chan (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. 10 Jeffry McWild (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[14]
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol. 9 Kage Maru (Saturn; 1996) — CG Designer^[15]
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^[16]
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

Magazine articles

Main article: Masaaki Somaki/Magazine articles.

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:World_of_Illusion_MD_credits.pdf_p-5] File:World of Illusion MD credits.pdf

[:File:Land_of_Illusion_GG_credits.pdf_p-6] File:Land of Illusion GG credits.pdf

[:File:Land_of_Illusion_SMS_credits.pdf_p-7] File:Land of Illusion SMS 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:VFCGP05_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-10] File:VFCGP05_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP06_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-11] File:VFCGP06_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:VFCGP10_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-14] File:VFCGP10_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:VFCGP09_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf_p-15] File:VFCGP09_Saturn_JP_SSEnding.pdf

[:File:Fighting_Vipers_2_Dreamcast_credits.pdf_p-16] File:Fighting Vipers 2 Dreamcast credits.pdf

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