Naoto Ohshima

Naoto Ohshima
Born February 26, 1964
Japan
Occupation Character designer, game producer

Naoto Ohshima (大島 直人 Ōshima Naoto) (born February 26, 1964) is a Japanese artist and former Sega employee who is best known for his original character designs of Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman.[1][2]

Although Yuji Naka created the original tech demo around which Sonic's gameplay was based, the character in his prototype was a ball that lacked any specific features.[3] Sonic Team considered numerous potential animal mascots before deciding on Ohshima's design, with an armadillo or hedgehog being the top choices because their spikes worked well with the concept of rolling into enemies.[2]

After leaving Sonic Team, Ohshima formed an independent game company called Artoon. There he went on to work on such games as Pinobee and Blinx: The Time Sweeper, and in 2004, the sequel to Blinx, Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space. In 2010, Artoon was absorbed into AQ Interactive. That same year, he and other key members of Artoon left to form Arzest.

Early in his career, he was credited under the nickname "Big Island", which is a literal translation of his family name.

Sonic is surrounded by series creators Yuji Naka (left), Naoto Ohshima (center), and Hirokazu Yasuhara (Right) at Sonic's 20th Anniversary party

Production history

References

  1. Sheffield, Brandon (2009-12-04). "Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "The Essential 50 Part 28 - Sonic the Hedgehog". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  3. "Sonic's Architect: GI Interviews Hirokazu Yasuhara". Game Informer 13 (124): 114–116. August 2003.

External links