Kenji_Yamamoto_(composer,_born_1964)

Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964)

Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964)

Japanese video game musician

For other people named Kenji Yamamoto, see Kenji Yamamoto (disambiguation).

Kenji Yamamoto (山本 健誌, Yamamoto Kenji, born April 25, 1964) is a Japanese video game musician working for Nintendo, notable for composing music in many titles of the Metroid series, mainly Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime trilogy. Yamamoto also plays a role as a music director at Nintendo, overseeing audio for several of their games. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...

Yamamoto's music utilizes heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes, and electric guitar.[1] In development of Super Metroid, Yamamoto came up with some of the game's themes by humming them to himself while riding his motorcycle home from work.[2][3][4]

He was asked to compose the music for Metroid Prime to reinforce the series' continuity.[4] Developers from Retro Studios noted how the process of fitting all the sound effects for a world in Metroid Prime into 6 MB of space was crucial in producing a quality aural experience, as each sound had to be of very high quality. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption took advantage of the increase in the amount of RAM that took place when the series switched from the GameCube to the Wii; this allowed for higher quality audio samples to be used and thus a better overall audio quality.[4]

Works

More information Year, Title ...

References

  1. [1]
    Mirabella III, Fran (11 November 2002). "Metroid Prime". IGN. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
  2. [2]
    Yamamoto, Kenji (24 August 2010). "A Blast From The Past: Metroid Prime 3 With Kenji Yamamoto and Retro Studios". Original Sound Version (Interview). Interviewed by Napolitano, Jayson. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019.
  3. [3]
    Yamamoto, Kenji; Sakamoto, Yoshio. "Developer Interview, Volume 3" (Interview). Interviewed by Akinori Sao. Kyoto, Japan: Nintendo. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Interview with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Sound Team at Retro Studios and Composer Kenji Yamamoto". Music4Games. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  5. [5]
    Aversa, Jillian (23 October 2010). "Game music of the day: Super Metroid". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Composers: Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano
  6. [6]
    "Galactic Pinball". Planet Virtual Boy. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  7. [7]
    Nintendo R&D1 (9 February 2004). Metroid: Zero Mission. Nintendo. Scene: Staff credits.
  8. [8]
    Harris, Craig (17 June 2010). "E3 2010: Kensuke Tanabe and the Metroid Palm Tree". IGN. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018.
  9. [9]
    Pearson, Kynan; Wikan, Mike; Ivey, Tom; Tanabe, Kensuke; Tabata, Risa (2010). "Iwata Asks: Donkey Kong Country Returns" (Interview). Interviewed by Iwata, Satoru. Nintendo. p. White-knuckled Action. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011.
  10. [10]
    Goergen, Andy (12 February 2014). "Donkey Kong Country, Through the Years". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020. Original series composer David Wise has confirmed his return to work with Kenji Yamamoto to compose music for the game[...]
  11. [11]
    MercurySteam; Nintendo EPD (15 September 2017). Metroid: Samus Returns. Nintendo. Scene: Staff Credits.
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