Shinji MikamiDeveloper BIO
Shinji Mikami was born on August 11 1965, and is known to many as the father of the survival horror genre.
After graduating from Doshisha University, Mikami was hired by Capcom in 1990 as a game planner. During his early years at the company he mostly worked on Disney-licensed titles, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1991) and two SNES games Aladdin (1993) and Goof Troop (1994). These were humble beginnings for someone who would later become such an influential figure in the Japanese games industry.
Mikami's next step was to create a game based on an earlier Capcom title called Sweet Home. The idea was a horror-themed game where a team of special forces were trapped inside a mansion infested with zombies and other monsters. The game was called Biohazard, and was renamed Resident Evil upon its release in the United States. Resident Evil became an unexpected hit for Capcom, and so a sequel was soon commissioned. With the two sequels that followed, Resident Evil grew into a hugely successful franchise under the supervision of Shinji Mikami. Capcom then asked Mikami to create another survival horror series, which became known as Dino Crisis.
After creating two successful horror-themed franchises, Capcom decided to establish Capcom Production Studio 4 as a means of keeping the survival horror team together, and appointed Shinji Mikami as the General Manager of the studio. With his new position, Mikami worked as executive producer on most Studio 4 titles including Dino Crisis 2, Gyakuten Saiban (later released as Phoenix Wright in the US) and Devil May Cry (originally conceived as the fourth Resident Evil title).
In 2001, Mikami made a controversial decision to make all future Studio 4 games exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube, despite it not being the leading format at the time. The first GameCube exclusive was a remake of the original Resident Evil which was to realize Mikami's true vision of the game, and well as a prequel Resident Evil Zero. Neither of these two games sold as well as Capcom had hoped, but Mikami decided to pursue his GameCube exclusivity, and announced five new games which he dubbed the "Capcom 5". Of the five GameCube exclusives, Mikami was to direct one title himself (P.N.03) and act as producer on the remaining four titles (Viewtiful Joe, Dead Phoenix, killer7 and Resident Evil 4).
P.N.03 and Viewtiful Joe were the first of the Capcom 5 released. The Mikami-directed P.N.03 was a critical and commercial failure, while Viewtiful Joe gained much praise but still failed to reach sales targets. Capcom's disappointment with the Capcom 5 grew more evident, as Dead Phoenix was cancelled and Viewtiful Joe was ported to the PlayStation 2, breaking Mikami's exclusivity agreement with Nintendo. Mikami voluntarily stepped down as General Manager of Production Studio 4 but still remained a member of the team.
With the failure of P.N.03 now behind him, Mikami decided to concentrate on the creative aspects of the remaining Capcom 5 titles and took over directorial duties on Resident Evil 4. Under his direction, the Resident Evil series went through an evolution of changes. Resident Evil 4 was then released to critical acclaim and became a big selling title on the GameCube. As with Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4 was later ported to the PlayStation 2 but Mikami refused to be involved in the conversion. That same year, Mikami co-wrote the story for the final Capcom 5 game killer7, which received mixed reviews but gained a cult following of fans.
Shortly after the success of Resident Evil 4, Shinji Mikami departed from Capcom Production Studio 4 and joined many of his former colleagues at Clover Studio. Originally founded in 2004, Clover Studio was established by Capcom with the aim of creating new, original and innovative IPs, and its development staff was largely made up of former Resident Evil and Devil May Cry members. While working at Clover, Mikami supervised the development of an old-school style beat 'em up called God Hand. In 2006 Clover Studio was dissolved by Capcom following disappointing sales of its games Okami and God Hand, and Mikami resigned from Capcom along with many other Clover Studio staff.
Soon after Clover's closure, Shinji Mikami, along with Atsushi Inaba (Clover Studio founder) and Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry creator) formed a new development studio called Seeds Inc. The company then changed its name to Platinum Games in a merger with ODD corporation.
As of 2009, Shinji Mikami is known to be working on at least two new games, an as-yet-unconfirmed title for Platinum Games which he will direct, and his second collaboration with Grasshopper Manufacture (the developers of killer7).
Websites
Games CreditedPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations (2007), Capcom Co., Ltd.
God Hand (2006), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All (2006), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (2005), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil 4 (2005), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Gyakuten Saiban 3 (2004), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Dino Crisis 3 (2003), Capcom Co., Ltd.
P.N.03 (2003), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Viewtiful Joe (2003), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Gyakuten Saiban 2 (2002), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil (2002), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil Zero (2002), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Devil May Cry (2001), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Gyakuten Saiban (2001), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Onimusha: Warlords (2001), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil: Code: Veronica X (2001), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Resident Evil: Gaiden (2001), Capcom Entertainment, Inc., Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc.
Dino Crisis 2 (2000), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Dino Crisis (1999), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), Capcom Co., Ltd.
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash - SNK Version (1999), SNK of America
Resident Evil 2 (1998), Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Resident Evil 2: Dual Shock Version (1998), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil: Director's Cut (1997), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Resident Evil (1996), Capcom Co., Ltd.
Goof Troop (1993), Capcom U.S.A., Inc.
