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| john ricciardi's home page - www.nokonoko.net |
I haven't asked anyone in the game industry for an autograph in a long. long time. I used to do it a lot when I was still new to the business, but after a few years, the excitement wore off. I was fortunate enough to meet many of the guys who I considered to be legends in my first two years at EGM when I used to fly out to Japan with Mark and CJ every few months to cover trade shows and press events and whatnot. After that, things cooled off a bit, and I stopped seeking out the almighty sig everywhere I went.
...Until this week.
My good friend Nao is in town on business, finishing up the U.S. versions of Soul Calibur II at Namco, so I asked him to ask the producer of the series, Hiroaki Yotoriyama, if he'd mind signing my copy of the game. My company did a bit of translation work on the U.S. versions (Weapon Master Mode), so I figured maybe he'd cut me a break and offer up the ink. A few days later, I received this:
Pretty cool, eh? Yotoriyama-san is a relative unknown outside of Japan, but hopefully that'll all change once Soul Calibur II hits, because he deserves a LOT more credit than he's received thus far.
As for me, I guess I've still got a bit of fanboy blood left, after all. :) Is that such a bad thing?
Posted by john tv at June 16, 2003 08:15 PMnah. that's super cool.
it's funny, i never do think about the "person behind soul calibur." i've never even read his name before.
i only ask for signatures when i really like the game, honestly. my big, big desire is to get rieko kodama (phantasy star, rayearth, skies of arcadia).
otherwise it's all gravy. well, i'd like a miyamoto, of course.
i've made such pals with the guy from cyberconnect 2 now that i have EVERY game they've ever produced signed. in fact, i have TWO signed silent bombers. one japan, one US.
signed JP:
tail concerto
silent bomber
.hack//INFECTION
signed US:
silent bomber
.hack//MUTATION
i doubt i'll get a signed outbreak. WOE IS ME.
oh, while we're on the topic:
Posted by: ferricide at June 17, 2003 06:00 AMJohn, you're such a dork. No wait, I mean.. you rule!
In fact, I'm a little jealous, because I actually had an impromptu interview with that dude at E3 and was regrettably without an object for him to sign.
ferr - That's a pretty cool idea. I'd like to do something like that, except most of my signed stuff is back in NY. I'm sure I'll get to it someday.
Off the top of my head, the sigs I can remember getting are: Shigeru Miyamoto (once on my FDS Zelda, once on a Spaceworld '97 booklet), Hideo Kojima (once on my FC Metal Gear cart, once on that folder they gave out at the MGS2 unveiling), Yoji Shinkawa (on that same MGS2 folder), Shinji Mikami (on a copy of Dino Crisis for PS1), Yoshiki Okamoto (on an RE3 t-shirt), Yoshitaka Amano (on my FF Collection LE box), Tetsuya Nomura (on an FF8 pamphlet thingy from E3) and Yuji Horii (on my copy of Dragon Quest VII). I know I've got several others, but right now I'm drawing blanks.
In any case, if I ever run into Rieko Kodama, I'll be sure to tell her about you. :)
Posted by: john tv at June 19, 2003 06:04 PM| ©2003 john ricciardi - all rights reserved - the only constant is change. |