TheVisionaryAndTheProducer
The Visionary and the Producer
Meet the two people who are considered as the "fathers" of the Front Mission franchise.
- Worked On: Front Mission (series)
- Credentials: Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer, Assault Suits Valken, Arc the Lad (I to III), Death by Cube, Final Fantasy (X and XIII), Head Buster
The man behind Front Mission, Toshiro Tsuchida was the former head of PDD6 for Square Enix Co., Ltd, and is now a producer for social gaming giant GREE. A graduate from Ritsumeikan University, Tsuchida got his start in the industry working for Masaya. In the company, he worked with fellow colleagues and good friends Hideo Iwasaki, Kazuhiro Matsuda, and Norihiko Yonesaka on products such as Assault Suits Valken and Advanced Busterhawk Gleylancer. In 1994, he and many Masaya employees left the company to form G-Craft. At G-Craft, Tsuchida created the Front Mission and Arc the Lad franchises.
Soon enough, Tsuchida accepted an offer from Square Co., Ltd. to join their company and the studio was absorbed and became an in-house developer. After developing Front Mission 3, he signed on the Final Fantasy X project as the Battle Director. In 2003, he officially unveiled the Front Mission Project at Tokyo Game Show 2003. After finishing up Front Mission 5: Scars of the War, Tsuchida has been working on other projects such as Final Fantasy XIII as the Battle Planning Director. Since then, he has assumed his Senior Vice President role and was credited as such for Death by Cube.
- Worked On: Front Mission (series)
- Credentials: Chocobo Racing, Kingdom Hearts (series), Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Hot Scramble, The Bouncer, Tobal (series)
Shinji Hashimoto is a Senior Vice President at Square Enix Co., Ltd. and is one of the original Front Mission developers. Hashimoto got his start in the industry working for Bandai Co., Ltd. on titles such as Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Hot Scramble. In 1994, he moved onto Square Co., Ltd. and was assigned to work with Toshiro Tsuchida on Front Mission. The two formed a strong bond and inspired by Tsuchida's vision, Hashimoto helped make it into a reality. One of his earliest works in the franchise is the live-action film of Front Mission in 1994 as the Producer. He also provided some artwork for the game, such as the Skippers Bar.
Since the original Front Mission, Hashimoto was assigned to work on other company projects such as the Tobal series. He still continued to work on Front Mission and made great efforts to expand its influence beyond video games. The most recent entry, Front Mission Evolved, is his latest contribution to the series.
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