Rodney Nakamoto

Developer BIO

Rod founded his first company, Sweet Micro Systems, Inc. in 1979 and created one of the first synthesized sound cards for the Apple II computer. Called the MockingBoard, the device was supported by fledgling game companies such as Sierra On-Line and Electronic Arts. Rod also developed one of the first commercial sound cards for the IBM PC – an early predecessor to hardware that is in every PC today.

In 1984, utilizing the contacts he had developed in the game industry, Rod founded an independent game development company, Interactive Designs. He built the company from the ground up to more than 50 employees. For nearly a decade, Interactive Designs developed games for clients including Electronic Arts, Activision, Sierra On-Line, Data East, Cinemaware, Capcom, NEC, SEGA of America, Disney and many others. They developed titles such as RoboCop (Apple II), Commando (Apple II), Ikari Warriors (PC), Victory Road (PC), Cabal (PC), Super Hang-On (PC), Power Drift (PC), Seven Cities of Gold (PC - new version), Defender of the Crown (PC), TaleSpin (TurboGrafix, Genesis) and many others.

Near the end of 1992, SEGA of America acquired Interactive Designs after utilizing all of its resources for more than a year. Over the next 4 years, Rod grew the studio to more than 65 employees and the newly named SEGA Interactive produced 26 SKUs. SEGA Interactive generated total revenues exceeding $250MM. They developed titles such as Eternal Champions, which sold more than 2 million units, Star Wars Arcade, Garfield, Lose Your Marbles (which was included in Microsoft’s Windows 98 package), David Robinson Basketball, Sonic Spinball and many others.

In 1996, Rod was recruited by Electronic Arts to oversee the Wing Commander franchise at ORIGIN Systems. Within a year he managed the delivery of Wing Commander Prophecy, winning several awards as the Space Sim of the Year in 1997. Rod later went on to work for other industry giants such as GT Interactive, Hasbro Interactive, Namco Hometek and Vivendi Universal Games, where he helped to deliver the award winning NASCAR 2002 and NASCAR 2003, Empire Earth and Empire Earth II. Prior to joining Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Rod negotiated world-wide mobile rights to and delivered a mobile version of the Da Vinci Code for Kayak Interactive.

In November 2006, he was appointed Vice President and Studio Head of MMORPG developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Inc. and later Studio Head of the CME's development division Handcranked Games.

Also Known As

• Rod Nakamoto

Websites

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Games Credited

Star Trek Legacy (2006), Bethesda Softworks LLC
Empire Earth II (2005), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (2004), Namco Limited
Katamari Damacy (2004), Namco Limited
Lords of the Realm III (2004), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003), Namco Limited
Tales of Symphonia (2003), Namco Limited
Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom (2002), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest (2002), Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th (2000), MicroProse Software, Inc.
Wing Commander: Secret Ops (1998), ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
Lose Your Marbles (1997), SEGA Corporation
Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side (1995), Deep Water
Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995), SEGA of America, Inc.
Eternal Champions (1993), SEGA Enterprises Ltd.
Disney's Darkwing Duck (1992), Turbo Technologies, Inc.
Disney's TaleSpin (1991), NEC Technologies, Inc.