Junko Kawano (河野 純子, Kawano Junko) is a Japanese game designer, game director and writer. She helped Yoshitaka Murayama create the Suikoden series of role-playing video games.[1] Initially a character designer and illustrator, she helped the series for Konami following Murayama's departure in 2002, writing and producing Suikoden IV and its spinoff title Suikoden Tactics.
Junko Kawano | |
|---|---|
| Born | Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation(s) | Game designer and producer |
Biography
editA newly hired artist at Konami in 1993, Kawano was assigned to create an RPG along with writer Yoshitaka Murayama, another newcomer to the company. The project was initially intended for an internally developed video game console, which was scrapped, but it was later reopened to be included as one of Konami's first games for Sony's upcoming PlayStation console.
Kawano was not directly involved with the following two entries to the series, instead writing, producing and designing her own title, the adventure game Shadow of Memories[2] (titled Shadow of Destiny in North America). It was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001 to generally positive reviews, and later ported to Windows/PC, Xbox and PSP. Kawano took creative control of the series following departures from the Suikoden team in July 2002, including series creator Murayama, just a month before the release of Suikoden III. Kawano wrote and designed Suikoden IV in 2004[3] and the spinoff Suikoden Tactics in 2005,[4][5] with plans for further installments on the PlayStation 3 that were never realized.[6]
She made a successor to Shadow of Memories in 2008, titled Time Hollow,[7][8] and the adventure puzzle game Zack & Ombra: The Phantom Amusement Park in 2010,[9] both for the Nintendo DS.
Works
edit| Game | Role | Release | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suikoden | Designer | 1995 | PlayStation, Saturn, Windows |
| Suikoden II | Other (Ending Theme "La passione commuove la storia")[10] | 1998 | PlayStation, Windows, Mobile |
| Twinbee RPG | Planner[11] | 1998 | PlayStation |
| Shadow of Memories | Writer, director, Character Designer, Voice Actress (Cat[12]) | 2001 | PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox, PSP |
| Suikoden IV | Writer, producer, designer | 2004 | PlayStation 2 |
| Suikoden Tactics | Writer, producer, designer | 2005 | PlayStation 2 |
| Suikoden V | Special Thanks | 2006 | PlayStation 2 |
| Time Hollow | Writer, designer | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Zack & Ombra: The Phantom Amusement Park | Writer, director | 2010 | Nintendo DS |
References
edit- ^ Nowakowski, Kasper & Kudo, Takashi. (August 2009) "I goda vänners lag" LEVEL #41
- ^ "Loading.se Spel". Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "TGS: New Suikoden V, Rhapsodia Tidbits Revealed". Archived from the original on 16 December 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "GameSpy: Suikoden Tactics - Page 2". Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ Karlin, David. "Suikoden Tactics Producer Interview". 1up. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Suikoden 5 och 6 under utveckling - Suikoden V - Gamereactor". Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Junko Kawano talks to us about Time Hollow". Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Time Hollow - Konami". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ "Konami walks in a top-hatted shadow with 'Zack & Ombra'". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ "Mobygames - Junko Kawano Credits". Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ Hoffman, Chris (March 2001). "Building a Mystery: Behind the Scenes at Shadow of Destiny". Gamers' Republic. No. 34. p. 55.
- ^ Ending credits