Akihiro Hino

Akihiro Hino (日野 晃博, Hino Akihiro) (born July 20, 1968 in Ōmuta, Fukuoka) is the president and CEO of the Japanese video game developer Level-5.

Biography

Prior to founding Level-5 in October 1998, Hino began his career in the video game industry in the early 90's at the now defunct Japanese developer Riverhillsoft, specifically on the OverBlood series for the original PlayStation. Hino acted as the lead programmer on the first OverBlood, and was subsequently promoted to lead designer and director for the sequel, OverBlood 2.

Since the creation of Level-5, Hino has designed, planned and produced all five of the studio's released titles, Dark Cloud, Dark Chronicle and Rogue Galaxy for the PlayStation 2, Jeanne d'Arc for the PlayStation Portable, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the Nintendo DS. He also directed Square Enix's Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for the PlayStation 2.

Recently, Hino once again assumed designing and producing duties for Level-5's titles, White Knight Chronicles for the PlayStation 3, and the next two Professor Layton games – Pandora's Box (Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box in North America) and the Unwound Future, both for the Nintendo DS, and Inazuma Eleven for the Nintendo DS, and Dragon Quest IX, also for the DS, which is his studio's second collaboration with role-playing video game powerhouse Square Enix.

Works

PlayStation

• OverBlood (1996) - Lead Programmer
• OverBlood 2 (1998) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Director

PlayStation 2

• Dark Cloud (2000) - Director, Scenario, Producer
• Dark Chronicle (2002) - Director, Scenario, Producer
• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004) - Director
• Rogue Galaxy (2005) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer, Director
• Rogue Galaxy: Director's Cut (2007) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer, Director

PlayStation Portable

• Jeanne d'Arc (2006) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2012) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Time Travelers (2012) - Producer

Nintendo DS

• Professor Layton and the Curious Village (2007) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (2007) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Inazuma Eleven (2007) -- Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (2008) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Inazuma Eleven 2 (2009) - Producer
• Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (2009) - Producer
• Professor Layton and the Last Specter (2009) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn (2010) - Writer
• Inazuma Eleven 3 (2010) - Producer

PlayStation 3

• White Knight Chronicles (2008) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer, Director
• Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2011) - Supervision, Planning, Story, Producer

Nintendo 3DS

• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle (2011) - Lead Designer, Scenario, Producer
• Fantasy Life (2012) - Producer, Original Concept
• Time Travelers (2012) - Producer
• Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (2013) - Producer
• Guild02 (2013) - Executive Producer
• Yo-Kai Watch (2013) - Creative Producer, Planner, Story Writer

PlayStation Vita

• Time Travelers (2012) - Producer

iOS

• Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (2012) - Producer

Android

• Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (2012) - Producer

PlayStation 4

• Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (TBA) - Story, General Director

External links

• Akihiro Hino at the Internet Movie Database
• Akihiro Hino at MobyGames