The Five Most Badass Japanese Game Designers

1. Tomonobu Itagaki



* The creator of the Dead or Alive and the modern Ninja Gaiden series.
* He has almost never been seen without his sunglasses. Many believe that he has no eyes.
* Openly criticizes and expresses his dislike for various other game developers, and is often seen as arrogant.
* Stated that his game, Ninja Gaiden 2, will be so ambitious that "When another developer plays it, they will lose motivation and confidence in their [own] games".
* Resigned from Tecmo and sued the company and its president, Yoshimi Yasuda, for damages based on "unreasonable and disingenuous statements" made in front of Itagaki's colleagues. Talk about leaving with a bang.

2. Goichi Suda, aka "Suda 51"



* Well known as the creator of Killer 7 and the No More Heroes series
* His nickname, Suda 51, is a pun on his given name. In Japanese, "go" means five and "ichi" means 1.
* He was known to make appearances wearing a lucha libre mask while promoting his game, Killer 7.
* Gave away rolls of toilet paper to promote his game, No More Heroes. The toilet paper featured the game's logo and images of the game's protagonist, Travis Touchdown.
* Often conducts video interviews while sitting on the toilet. Classy.

3. Koji Igarashi "IGA"
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* He is best known as the assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and producer in every Castlevania game since Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance.
* Look at him. He looks like a vampire.
* He always carries around that bullwhip
* He always wears his Van Helsing-esque hat

4. Hideo Kojima



* He is most recognized as the creator and director of the Metal Gear Solid series.
* He intentionally misleads his fans with the use of ambiguous advertising

5. Shinji Mikami



* He's responsible for various horror/action titles such as the Resident Evil series, God Hand, Devil May Cry and, yes, Disney's Goof Troop.
* Mikami told the Japanese press that he would "commit harakiri" (ritual suicide by disembowelment) if his game Resident Evil 4 would come out on a system other than the Gamecube. Since then, Resident Evil 4 has appeared on the PS2, Wii, and iPhone. Better sharpen that blade, Mikami.