The Genesis of Wizardry: Bringing the Creator to Japan and the Story of a Hero, Mr. Shigeya Suzuki
Wizardry was not easily ported to Japanese. It felt like a myth from a distant, foreign land. I had heard rumors that it was the ultimate RPG, but the barrier to entry was high, requiring an Apple II and knowledge of English. However, this is the story of how one young hero's adventure brought that myth to Japan.
The hero's name is Mr. Shigeya Suzuki. Surprisingly, he went to the United States on his own to visit Sir-Tech and passionately requested a Japanese port of Wizardry. Despite his poor English, he hit it off with the creator, Mr. Robert Woodhead, and eventually won the porting contract. At just 20 years old, he had no funding and no track record; all he had was overflowing passion.
There seems to have been an intense sympathy between Mr. Suzuki, who called himself a PC shop ruffian, and Mr. Woodhead, who was a PC enthusiast.
Surprisingly, Mr. Woodhead offered to come to Japan and ported Wizardry himself. Mr. Suzuki took on the role of supporting him. The Wizardry myth in Japan was just about to begin here.
At the time, Mr. Robert Woodhead was at the pinnacle of the PC game industry alongside Ultima creator Lord British. I was very happy that someone like him treated a nameless young man from Japan with equal respect.It really goes to show that there are no borders for PCs and games!
He apparently even owns a ceramic MOS6502. This is the legendary chip used in the initial production run of the Apple I, created in 1977.
At the end of the interview, there is a story that connects to his current work.
Following the success of the Japanese version, the Famicom version, which could be called the ultimate Wizardry, was released. WIZ is still loved by many people today.
However, I wanted to tell you all that behind that success was the passion of the enthusiastic WIZ freak, Mr. Suzuki, who wanted to "deliver the real thing to Japanese users."
Currently, Mr. Shigeya Suzuki is active as a computer-related professor at Keio University. When I previously posted this on Twitter, I received a comment from a student saying, "I was surprised to hear stories about the professor when he was young."
Mr. Shigeya Suzuki, who changed jobs from a computer-obsessed youth to the advanced class of Computer Professor.Isn't the adventure story of the young days of a hero who has continued to be active from the dawn of the PC era to the present even more exciting than Wizardry?
There is another story behind the Japanese version of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. The graphics for the WIZ monsters were handled by professional designer Mr. Yuki Oura.
Actually, Mr. Yuki Oura is the creator of the masterpiece adventure games of the early era, “Golden Tomb” and Bothtec's “Yokai Tantei Chimachima”.
Isn't it a romantic story that the unique worlds of both works are connected to Wizardry?
You can see a photo of Mr. Yuki Oura. The AVGs of this time were packed with dreams, weren't they?
It somehow feels connected to the world of Wiz 😁
Finally, as a bonus, Robert Woodhead's Wizardry Introductory Course. From the December 1985 issue of Login, released right after the Japanese version. While the content can be considered basic knowledge today, I hope you can feel the atmosphere of that time 😊
