Yōko Shimomura (下村陽子 Shimomura Yōko, b. October 19, 1967) is a Japanese composer and musician best known for her soundtracks for various video games. October 19 is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... Soundtrack refers to the recorded sound accompanying a visual medium such as a motion picture, television show, or video game. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ...

Biography

Yoko Shimomura was born in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. Her parents enrolled her in piano lessons when she was five years old. She took quickly to the instrument, and she often pretended to be composing her own music by playing the piano randomly. Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県 Hyōgo-ken) is located in the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ...

After high school, she enrolled as a piano major in Osaka Music University. Upon graduation, Shimomura intended to become a piano instructor. She had been a video gamer for many years, though, so on a lark, she sent some samples of her work to various video game companies. Squaresoft invited her in for an audition and interview, and she was offered a job there. Her family and instructors were dismayed with her change in focus (video-game music was still not mainstream in Japan at the time), but Shimomura accepted the job at Square. This article is about gamers - persons who play games. ... Square Co. ...

Shimomura's first project with Square was the score for the role-playing game (RPG) Live A Live in 1994. After this, she was paired with more experienced composers for a time. For example, she teamed with Noriko Matsueda on the strategy/RPG Front Mission in 1995. In 1996, she composed and arranged (from Koji Kondo's Mario series music, as well as three tracks from Final Fantasy IV by Nobuo Uematsu), the music to Square's very last Nintendo-produced game until 2003, Super Mario RPG Computer role-playing games (CRPGs), often shortened to simply role-playing games (RPGs), are a type of video or computer game that traditionally use gameplay elements found in paper-and-pencil role-playing games. ... Live A Live is a Squaresoft role-playing video game for the Super Famicom released in September 4, 1994. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Noriko Matsueda (松枝 賀子 Matsueda Noriko, born December 18, 1971) is a Japanese composer of video game music. ... Front Mission (Japanese: フロントミッション) is a series of turn-based tactical strategy video games produced by Squaresoft, now Square Enix. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Koji Kondo Koji Kondo (近藤浩治 Kondō Kōji b. ... Nobuo Uematsu Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫; Uematsu Nobuo, born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer of video game music, and one of the most well-known, prolific, and versatile in the field. ... Nintendo (Japanese: 任天堂; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is a Japanese company originally founded on November 6, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ... Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (スーパーマリオRPG) was the last Mario game made and released for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was the last Square-produced game for a Nintendo video game console until 2003, with the debut of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the...

In 1998, she went solo once again for the soundtrack to the RPG Parasite Eve. One of her most major works was achieved in 1999 with Legend of Mana, a follow up to the beloved Seiken Densetsu series. The score to Legend of Mana showed a high range of breadth and depth to her music, and though the game met with polarized sentiments, the music can be regarded as classic. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Parasite Eve is the name of a Japanese novel by Hideaki Sena, first published in Kadokawa Horror Bunko, which has been adapted into a 1997 film and a 1998 video game for the Sony PlayStation by Squaresoft. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Legend of Mana (originally released as 聖剣伝説 LEGEND OF MANA in Japan) is the fourth game in the Seiken Densetsu series. ... Seiken Densetsu (聖剣伝説 literally Holy Sword Legend) is a computer role-playing game series from Square Enix (formerly known as Square Co. ...

Shimomura’s most notable recent score is for Kingdom Hearts (2002), the joint Square/Disney venture that features Disney characters in an action/RPG environment. Shimomura rejected the project initially, skeptical that such a combination could ever work. However, she eventually relented, and her work for the game (which became a best-seller) is often cited as her finest to date. She has also recently announced that she will return as composer for Kingdom Hearts II. Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. ... 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Walt Disney Studios refers to several different entities and locations associated with The Walt Disney Company: The Walt Disney Studios is one of the media empires four main operating units. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

In a very surprising matter in 2003 to both Square, Nintendo, and fans (if not the game industry), she composed Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (a sequel to Super Mario RPG, and unofficially, Paper Mario) for Game Boy Advance. However she wasn't the only employee from Square Enix involved in the game. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is a video game made for Game Boy Advance. ... Paper Mario, known in Japan as Mario Story (マリオストーリー), is a video game that was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 and first released in 2000. ... The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a handheld videogame console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. ...

She remains an avid gamer to this day, only now, she plays more often to get a feel for the games she is composing the soundtracks for than for her own pleasure.

Video game soundtracks (incomplete)

• Nemo (1990)
• King of Dragons (1991)
• Street Fighter 2 (1992) (with Alph Lyra)
• Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition (1994) (with Alph Lyra)
• Live A Live (1994)
• Mega Man 6 (1994)
• Front Mission (1995) (with Noriko Matsueda)
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) (including arrangements of music by Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo)
• Tobal No. 1 (1996) (with Masashi Hamauzu, Junya Nakano, Yasuhiro Kawami, Kenji Ito, Noriko Matsueda, Ryuji Sasai, and Yasunori Mitsuda)
• Parasite Eve (1998)
• Legend of Mana (1999)
• Kingdom Hearts (2002)
• Front Mission 1st (2003) (with Noriko Matsueda)
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
• Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)
• Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (2006) (with Shinji Hosoe, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenji Ito, Masaharu Iwata, Tsukasa Masuko, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Ayako Saso, and Takahiro Ogata)

Nemo is: The Latin word for nobody or no-one. ... This article is about the year. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) was a highly popular and immensely successful arcade game created by the Japan-based company Capcom. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Live A Live is a Squaresoft role-playing video game for the Super Famicom released in September 4, 1994. ... See also Mega Man series List of Mega Man games Mega Man X Mega Man Legends Mega Man Zero Mega Man Battle Network External link Strategy Guide for Mega Man Classic games. ... Front Mission (Japanese: フロントミッション) is a series of turn-based tactical strategy video games produced by Squaresoft, now Square Enix. ... Noriko Matsueda (松枝 賀子 Matsueda Noriko, born December 18, 1971) is a Japanese composer of video game music. ... Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (スーパーマリオRPG) was the last Mario game made and released for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was the last Square-produced game for a Nintendo video game console until 2003, with the debut of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the... Nobuo Uematsu Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫; Uematsu Nobuo, born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer of video game music, and one of the most well-known, prolific, and versatile in the field. ... Koji Kondo Koji Kondo (近藤浩治 Kondō Kōji b. ... Tobal No. ... Masashi Hamauzu (濱渦正志; Hamauzu Masashi, born September 20, 1971 in Munich, Germany, is a composer who creates video game music, and has worked for Square Enix for nearly a decade. ... Junya Nakano (仲野 順也 Nakano Junya), a composer who creates video game music, has worked for Square Enix for over five years. ... Kenji Ito (伊藤 賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. ... Noriko Matsueda (松枝 賀子 Matsueda Noriko, born December 18, 1971) is a Japanese composer of video game music. ... Ryūji Sasai is a video game music composer, credited for composing the music of games such as SaGa 3, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and Rudora no Hihou. ... Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典 Mitsuda Yasunori, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer and musician best known for his soundtracks for various video games. ... Parasite Eve is the name of a Japanese novel by Hideaki Sena, first published in Kadokawa Horror Bunko, which has been adapted into a 1997 film and a 1998 video game for the Sony PlayStation by Squaresoft. ... Legend of Mana (originally released as 聖剣伝説 LEGEND OF MANA in Japan) is the fourth game in the Seiken Densetsu series. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Kingdom Hearts (Japanese: キングダムハーツ Kingudamu Hātsu) is a hybrid action/RPG that was released in 2002, which is notable for being the result of a collaboration between the video game developer and publisher Square and Disney. ... Noriko Matsueda (松枝 賀子 Matsueda Noriko, born December 18, 1971) is a Japanese composer of video game music. ... Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is a video game made for Game Boy Advance. ... Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a video game for the Game Boy Advance and the second installment in the Kingdom Hearts series, bridging the gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. This game was released in the United States on December 7, 2004. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Hitoshi Sakimoto (å´Žå…ƒ 仁) is a video game music composer. ... Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典 Mitsuda Yasunori, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer and musician best known for his soundtracks for various video games. ... Kenji Ito (伊藤 賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. ... Masaharu Iwata (岩田匡治, REZON, born October 26, 1966 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese video game music composer. ...

Other works

• Parasite Eve Remixes (1998)
• Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange (2004) (with Motoi Sakuraba, The Black Mages, Noriyuki Iwadare, Yasunori Mitsuda, Shinji Hosoe, and Kenji Ito)
• Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange (2006) (with Motoi Sakuraba, Noriyuki Iwadare, Kenji Ito, Yasunori Mitsuda, Shinji Hosoe, Takayuki Aihara, Norihiko Hibino, Nobuyoshi Sano, and Yoshitaka Hirota)

Motoi Sakuraba (桜庭 çµ± Sakuraba Motoi, born August 5, 1965) has composed music for various Japanese video games, anime series, and TV dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums. ... Arata Hanyuda, Kenichiro Fukui, Nobuo Uematsu, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Keiji Kawamori, Michio Okamiya The Black Mages are a Japanese hard rock/progressive metal band in the charge of composer Nobuo Uematsu. ... Noriyuki Iwadare (born on April 28, 1964) is a Japanese video game music composer. ... Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典 Mitsuda Yasunori, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer and musician best known for his soundtracks for various video games. ... Kenji Ito (伊藤 賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. ... Motoi Sakuraba (桜庭 çµ± Sakuraba Motoi, born August 5, 1965) has composed music for various Japanese video games, anime series, and TV dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums. ... Noriyuki Iwadare (born on April 28, 1964) is a Japanese video game music composer. ... Kenji Ito (伊藤 賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. ... Yasunori Mitsuda (光田 康典 Mitsuda Yasunori, born January 21, 1972) is a Japanese composer and musician best known for his soundtracks for various video games. ... Norihiko Hibino (日比野則彦 Hibino Norihiko, born September 3, 1973) is a Japanese composer and saxophonist. ...

External links

• Yōko Shimomura's official Japanese website
• Composer profile at OverClocked ReMix
• Yōko Shimomura at the Internet Movie Database
• A website with midis of Shimomura's work among others
• Index of albums she has contributed to on Game Music Revolution