Takashi Tezuka was born in Osaka, Japan on November 17th, (1960) and has been a video game designer for Nintendo since 1984. He has been involved in many of Nintendo’s successful series, including Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, and Animal Crossing.

Takashi Tezuka from Nintendo on Paul Gale Network
E3 2006: Takashi Tezuka and Paul Gale

When I first met Mr. Tezuka at E3 2006, it was a pleasure to speak with him about his work as a designer in the company for over twenty years. From his early projects like Super Mario Bros. (working alongside Shigeru Miyamoto) to producing the upcoming Wii Music, Takashi definitely puts great passion in his work. We were talking a lot about Wii and how its motion controls would change the industry forever. Something in particular that made me happy to be a part of E3 that year was to share my thoughts with Takashi and Nintendo in general about the Wii. Since at the time I was ready to graduate from California State University of Northridge with a my Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology, I had some great conversations with Nintendo about how I thought Wii could reach a really great audience and even make its way into reabilitation clinics for people regaining motor control functions, etc. To get a smile and acceptance from Takashi, Miyamoto, and others at Big N, was forever memorable.

Takashi Tezuka on Paul Gale Network
E3 2010: Takashi Tezuka and Paul Gale

E3 keeps you busy and as a result I didn’t get to meet up with Takashi in 2009 (and I didn’t attend the show in ’07/’08), so when I saw him next in 2010, I was happy to be met with a great hello and a conversation that picked up from where we left off four years earlier…but with the subject revolving a lot around 3DS. Great job to Mr. Tezuka on continuing to design and produce such awesome games for Nintendo. And a big thanks to being nice and taking the time out of his busy schedule to still talk and take a picture.

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