The man behind what is arguably the most prolific videogame RPG series of all time will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by his peers at the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards next month.
According to the tales, Hironobu Sakaguchi was at a crossroads when he created Final Fantasy at Square Company, Ltd.: if the game did not sell well, he would leave the game development industry. His departure, of course, did not happen, but it's hard to imagine Sakaguchi could have predicted the multitude of sequels and spin-offs that would erupt from his "last chance" at the time, or that the series would sell more than 110 million copies.
Sakaguchi served as the director of Final Fantasy's sequels up until the fifth installment, after which he would serve as a producer and executive producer for the series. He was also part of the three-member "Dream Team" that designed the hit Chrono Trigger (you can even see his caricature in the Developers' Ending). In 2004, Sakaguchi left what was now SquareEnix to found Mistwalker, the development studio behind more games including The Last Story.
The Game Developers Choice Awards will be held 4th March during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The ceremony will be viewable live on Twitch and GameSpot.com. Those interested can visit the official rewards site for more information.
What do you feel is Sakaguchi's greatest contribution to gaming? Let us know below.
[source gdconf.com]
Comments 33
Never really played 'em, but they're all so prolific!
Awesome! Loved all the Final Fantasy's that I played (up to #10) plus Last Story and Blue Dragon.
I do much prefer the old feel of the Final Fantasy worldbuilding (which was wonderfully revisited in Bravely Default), but I'm still a fan of the series. SO much so that Final Fantasy XV is probably what will make me take the plunge and get a PS4.
Either way, the man certainly deserves the recognition.
Man deserves it, really hoping he makes another action RPG soon.
And more people should try playing Terra Battle. Even if you hate mobile games (like the majority of Nintendites here do), it's a good game that should get more downloads.
Besides, if it reaches 2 million downloads, Mistwalker will port the game to consoles.
Lifetime achievement?! Wow, that's pretty awesome!
Sakaguchi-heika is God of the JRPG. I don't think I would have ever been such a huge enthusiast of the genre were it not for him, and from my experiences playing games from the Final Fantasy series as well as Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and The Last Story: He's always pushing the envelope when it comes to narrative and gameplay. New titles, new mechanics, and so seldom does he rely on the cliched narrative tropes - TLS being the most recent to come to mind in that regard. I worship him and all his work. This award was long overdue.
Now Nobuo Uematsu should get some prestigious awards as well if he hasn't already. lol
Played number 6, awesome.
I kind of wish we'd go back to turn based. Action RPGs seen a little.....something I don't live asuch. Still getting xenoblade x though
Never played any final fantasy game and never will.
For being the man behind FFIV-VI and Chrono Trigger, he definitely deserves recognition! Too bad FF went way downhill after he left Square...
@97alexk k
@97alexk
Nice to know your opinion. We know it's so necessary to know that
Lifetime Achievement Unlocked!
That's great! I still have yet to play the older Final Fantasies. Good on him.
This man deserves it. He created Chrono Trigger, possibly one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Never played a Final Fantasy game, though, despite wanting to. If I ever get a PS and I find a Final Fantasy game, I'll at least try it out.
He created a Legend.... to bad Square is putting the nails in the coffin for the series.
@PKNoUsernameHere
Personally, they are worth it, I'd say try VI, it is my all time favourite and I think the story for it is far superior to VII despite what everyone says about it. I think you can get it on the Wii E-shop channel.... unless they took it down.
I wish I had been born in the generation that played the FF games when they first came out. Now I can't really get into them because...I don't know. I just can't. And don't think it's cuz I'm a "young 'un" and I'm spoiled and I don't appreciate the olden golden days. Of course I respect those days. The time when JRPGs were king and revolutionary storytelling was so prominent. I try playing older games as much as possible, but something about the old FFs keeps me from playing them. (In general I like older stuff a lot. I like Casablanca, It's a Wonderful Life, and To Kill a Mockingbird. So I do appreciate the old classics of games/movies/tv shows/books, etc.)
But, at least I got to enjoy the Last Story quite a lot. That was a great game.
Thanks for Final Hallway XIII, and thanks for all the fish. Sarcasm aside though, I never really got into more than the music of the FF series, I prefer Enix's Dragon Quest series. Square's 'other' RPG series' are much more interesting, like the Mana series, Parasite Eve, Front Mission, the Chrono games and of course Super Mario RPG.
@AshFoxX You should know Sakaguchi left Square Enix like six years before XIII hit the shelves, so that sarcasm might have been taken as deliberate trolling. lol
He definitely deserves it. I absolutely love Final Fantasy and while I haven't played his other titles like Chrono Trigger, it's too hard not to see how much they are loved by the gaming community.
Final Fantasy just isn't the same without Sakaguchi.
@ikki5
Oh FF VI is so great - I do like all IV, V and VI, but even with all sadness and madness (and refers to nazis IMHO), the story is just. Wonderful. And makes you laugh every now and then (yay for Edgar!) - and it has my all time fave villain : Ultros
My FF games have stopped at X
My main maaaan! This guy is responsible for certain games I cannot live without. And he achieved that in his lifetime. Well played sir, and well deserved. Might have to go a'hunting for some DS Final Fantasy remakes.
@ikki5
Yeah, poor Final Fantasy T_T. Luckily a lot of games he made since have been great (Last Story and Lost Odyssey are some of the few recent JRPGs I've enjoyed...but without the name recognition they won't be going anywhere anytime soon).
I think FFVII has more nostalgia for me, but VI is something special...there isn't another game quite like it IMO. It's a perfect mix of pseudo steampunk/fantasy with pixel graphics and midi music that have aged really well. It's like the classic literature of videogames .
Sweet 'tash!
@kensredemption He may have left, but he got the Blitzball rolling. Badum tsh!
He truly deserves all the honor he can get for the timeless greatness that was Final Fantasy (R.I.P. 1991-2004)
I have this thing where I have played several of his games but never beat any for different reasons. I still respect his work and his place in the industry.
I wonder what a lifetime achievement award means. Is it something that will last for generations? Because people don't remember what you've won, but rather what you did.
Anyways, great man. Totally deserves it! I couldn't get enough out of Trigger.
Not a Final Fantasy fan, but really enjoyed The Last Story.
The Last Story is in my top 5 best game experiences I had last gen, really hope we see a sequel on the Wii U
Sakaguchi's the man. I hope we get a sequel to The Last Story.
Mistwalker's Xbox 360 games had me buying a system and FFIV is one of the series' best offerings, but Chrono Trigger will forever stand as his greatest achievement.
Legend.
I find it tough to think of Sakaguchi without considering the 'Tri-force'. Uematsu and Amano are just as essential to his history as any of his games.
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