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Atsushi Tomita

Atsushi Tomita.

Atsushi Tomita (冨田篤) is a video game designer formerly from Capcom, who worked as the primary designer in the first three games in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Strider 2 and the Gundam Vs. series. He has also been credited under the pseudonyms Otouto Tomita[1] and Tomichin (とみちん).[2]

Atsushi Tomita was the one responsible for Hiryu's inclusion in Marvel vs. Capcom, which brought the character back from obscurity and paved the way for Strider 2. Tomita later became designer in Strider 2 midway during production and up to its release, saving it from a particularly difficult development.

History[]

Career[]

Tomita joined Capcom circa 1994. His first works for the company were as assistant designer in the Marvel-licensed fighting games X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes, working under his "mentors" Akira Nishitani and Takeshi Tezuka, respectively.[3]

His first work as main designer was their 1996 pseudo-sequel, X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Back at the time the game system created for Children of the Atom was looked down within the company and saw as a lost cause due to its atypical design, so Tomita decided to throw in any idea that worked to see "what [he] could do with this system".[3] He introduced the tag mechanic to the game and laid the groundwork for the future Marvel vs. Capcom series. In his own words, Tomita aimed to create the best game he could make within the many restrictions he faced and as a result it became "a good game with some rough edges".[3]

He'd return as the main designer in the game's 1997 sequel, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, which expanded Marvel's roster beyond the X-Men brand and introduced another of the series' gameplay standards: Assist attacks, the ability to summon the passive character to perform a quick special action.

For the following sequel, Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, the roster was expanded once again to include Capcom franchises beyond Street Fighter. Being a self-confessed fan of Strider from playing the arcade game in his student years,[4] Tomita was determined to ressurect Hiryu and this led to his inclusion in the game's roster.[4] Hiryu became popular among gamers, specially in North America,[5] and this newfound popularity would eventually result in Strider 2 beginning production.[4][5][6]

Tomita initially joined the staff of Strider 2 as an assistant designer midway through development, a sign that the game's development was in trouble.[6] Tomita faced a lot of hardships producing the game, including being almost cancelled at one point, but he pushed forward determined to see it completed.[6] The latter half of development was seemingly so difficult that Tomita has said his brain "rejects him" when he tries to remember it.[6][7] Feeling responsible for the end result, he has also apologized to fans in several instances for any perceived shortcomings.[4][6][7][8] Although a difficult experience he didn't want to repeat, Tomita still considered it a valuable experience that let him learn a lot of things he could use in future projects.[6]

In 2003 Tomita developed Gotcha Force, which was the very first game he designed for home consoles instead of arcades, as well as the first original game he made without any previous installment or license, which meant he had to design it from scratch.[3] It was a very rewarding experience without any design constrains and with an excellent staff, and as such Gotcha Force (alongside X-Men vs. Street Fighter) holds a special place in his memory.[3] In the latter half of 2004 he hinted about an upcoming project he was working on alongside Capcom artist Kinu Nishimura,[3] which was revealed in September 2005 to be an action game titled War of the Grail.[9] This title, however, was cancelled the following year without notice.

In his last years in Capcom, Tomita worked as designer in some of the entries in the Gundam Vs. series, a series he also helped establish as the designer of its first entry, Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon.[10] After leaving the company, Atsushi Tomita worked as Assistant Production Manager for several anime productions.[11]

List of games[]

Year Title Developer Publisher System Role
1994 X-Men: Children of the Atom
エックスメン チルドレン オブ ジ アトム (Ekkusumen Chirudoren obu ji Atomu?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn Assist. Designer
1995 Marvel Super Heroes
マーヴルスーパーヒーローズ (Māvuru Sūpā Hīrōzu?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn Assist. Designer
1996 X-Men vs. Street Fighter
エックスメン VS. ストリートファイター (Ekkusumen bāsasu Sutorīto Faitā?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn Designer
1997 Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
マーヴルスーパーヒーローズ VS. ストリートファイター (Māvuru Sūpā Hīrōzu bāsasu Sutorīto Faitā?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn Designer
1998 Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
マーヴル VS. カプコン クラッシュ オブ スーパー ヒーローズ (Māvuru bāsasu Kapukon Kurasshu obu Sūpā Hīrōzu?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn Designer
1998 Tech Romancer
超鋼戦紀キカイオー (Chōkō Senki Kikaiō?)
Capcom Capcom Dreamcast Screenplay
1999 Strider 2
ストライダー飛竜2 (Sutoraidā Hiryū Tsū?)
Capcom Capcom Arcade, PlayStation Designer
2000 Gaia Master
ガイアマスター 神々のボードゲーム (Gaia Masutā Kamigami no Bōdo Gēmu?)
Capcom Capcom PlayStation Special Thanks
2001 Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon
機動戦士ガンダム 連邦 VS. ジオン (Kidō Senshi Gandamu Renpō bāsasu Jion?)
Capcom Bandai Arcade, PlayStation, Dreamcast Designer
2003 Gotcha Force
ガチャフォース (Gacha Fōsu?)
Capcom Capcom GameCube Designer
2005 War of the Grail
(Cancelled)
Capcom Capcom Arcade
2007 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Alliance vs. Z.A.F.T. PORTABLE
機動戦士ガンダム SEED 連合 VS. Z.A.F.T. PORTABLE (Kidō Senshi Gandamu Shīdo Rengō bāsasu Z.A.F.T. Pōtaburu?)
Capcom Bandai Namco Games PlayStation Portable Designer
2008 Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam
機動戦士ガンダム ガンダム VS. ガンダム (Kidō Senshi Gandamu Gandamu bāsasu Gandamu?)
Capcom Banpresto
Bandai Namco Games
Arcade, PlayStation Portable Designer

References[]

  1. Capcom (December 1994, Arcade). X-Men: Children of the Atom (English). Ending, Staff Roll
  2. Capcom (November 1995, Arcade). Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (English). Ending, Staff Roll
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Staff (October 25, 2014). "Creators File #164: Atsushi Tomita" (Japanese). Gpara.com. Retrieved from wayback.com. Accessed May 30, 2016
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Capcom (2014). "Launch Celebration Comments from Past Special-A Class Striders". Capcom's official Strider site (Japanese). Retrieved November 04, 2015.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Capcom (March 10, 2014). "Capcom Legends Chapter 3: The Running Ninja from the Future, Hiryu!" (Japanese). Capcom's official site. Accessed May 30, 2016
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Yamamoto, Setsuo; Yoneda, Etsuko (January 21, 2000). Strider Hiryû 2 Official Soundtrack. [CD]. Suleputer, CPCA-1035. Liner Notes, pg. 4-5.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Capcom (1999). Capcom Secret File #26: Strider Hiryu 2 (Japanese). Pg. 8
  8. Capcom (1999). Capcom Secret File #26: Strider Hiryu 2 (Japanese). Pg. 11
  9. Staff (September 2, 2005). "Capcom, War Action "War of the Grail" video published!". Gpara.com. Accessed May 30, 2016
  10. Capcom (December 2001, PlayStation). Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon (Japanese). Ending, Staff Roll
  11. "Person: Tomita, Atsushi". Anidb.net. Accessed May 30, 2016

External Link[]

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