Yūji Horii: Difference between revisions
→Post-graduation Career
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In early 1981 Horii read an article in one of the magazines he wrote for that detailed the then-upcoming rise of microcomputer systems and how they were expected to affect the daily life of the common individual. Having considered himself to be competent at mathematics and not being intimidated by the user-unfriendly campus computer at Waseda, Horii opted to purchase a model for himself. | In early 1981 Horii read an article in one of the magazines he wrote for that detailed the then-upcoming rise of microcomputer systems and how they were expected to affect the daily life of the common individual. Having considered himself to be competent at mathematics and not being intimidated by the user-unfriendly campus computer at Waseda, Horii opted to purchase a model for himself. | ||
After reaching the limits of the built-in word processing program Horii began to explore the capabilities of the machine, teaching himself BASIC as he went along. The idea of creating a game of his own dawned on Horii as he played through various bits of software that | After reaching the limits of the built-in word processing program Horii began to explore the capabilities of the machine, teaching himself BASIC as he went along. The idea of creating a game of his own dawned on Horii as he played through various bits of software that were available at the time, such as an early Nobunaga's Ambition title and a licensed Star Trek game. The most realized of these early efforts was ''Love Match Tennis'' (ラブマッチテニス), which Horii would enter into an [[Enix]]-sponsored programming contest he was reporting on in 1982. Much to his surprise, he discovered his title had placed second when he arrived to report on the awards ceremony. It was there that he met [[Koichi Nakamura]], whose ''DOOR-DOOR'' (ドアドア) had won first place. The two became fast friends, and decided to work together in the growing world of entertainment software. | ||
Horii's first success at Enix was the Portopia serial murder case, a screen-by-screen adventure game that tasked the player with unraveling the mysterious circumstances of a violent murder in the eponymous seaside town. The title proved to be a watershed moment for the young Horii, garnering him well deserved respect at Enix and strengthening his working relationship with top company programmer Koichi Nakamura. Further more, the simple menu-selection system implemented in the game would become a corner stone of the Dragon Quest series' user input. | Horii's first success at Enix was the Portopia serial murder case, a screen-by-screen adventure game that tasked the player with unraveling the mysterious circumstances of a violent murder in the eponymous seaside town. The title proved to be a watershed moment for the young Horii, garnering him well deserved respect at Enix and strengthening his working relationship with top company programmer Koichi Nakamura. Further more, the simple menu-selection system implemented in the game would become a corner stone of the Dragon Quest series' user input. | ||