Front Mission creator Toshiro Tsuchida was 'addicted to social games'

Ah-ha! So, that explains why Toshiro Tsuchida, founder of Japanese game studio G-Craft and creator of the Front Mission and Arc the Lad franchises, moved on from some of the most hardcore games out there to social games. Tsuchida joined Japanese mega-developer Gree back in March, and the design icon told 1UP that the move was partially inspired by a personal interest in social games like Tsuri-star.

"Before I joined Gree, I became addicted to social games like Tsuri-star [a fishing sim] off the recommendations of friends," he said to 1UP. "I admired the idea of players working with each other over networks. It felt like a very natural process, players seeing the merits of working with each other and the game then encouraging them to spend cash to give them the advantage."

Since founding G-Craft, Tsuchiro admits that his focus shifted from creating games to managing teams, losing sight of what makes games fun and becoming absorbed in deadlines. At Gree, 1UP reports that the veteran designer said his collected knowledge will serve him well in creating social games for the monolithic developer. This is far from the first time a traditional game designer has succumbed to the allure of Facebook.

Doom creator John Romero founded his own studio and has two upcoming Facebook games; Richard Garriott, the man behind Ultima, has dove into Facebook; Sid Meier is bringing his acclaimed Civilization franchise to Facebook. Need we say more? Tsuchiro joins a large camp of triple-A refugees, looking to revive their creative spirits on Facebook. Now, if only they all banded together and created one super Facebook game (please tell me they're reading this).

[Image Credit: 1UP]

What do you think of yet another traditional developer moving onto Facebook? How will this mass exodus of talent affect the triple-A games scene?

Gree's OpenFeint hires ex-Glu Mobile exec, more social games coming?

The mobile social game wars are heating up, as OpenFeint just took on former Glu Mobile executive Sarah Thompson (pictured) as its director of developer relations, SocialTimes reports. In other words, OpenFeint, owned by Japanese mobile social gaming powerhouse Gree, hired Thomson to strategically acquire build relationships with independent developers.

Namely, SocialTimes's Azam Khan guesses those developers will be primarily social and mobile social game creators, given Thomson's past exploits in the industry with Glu Mobile and IUGO Entertainment before that. And frankly, we couldn't agree more. Considering OpenFeint is a social network for mobile games at heart, and Gree's existing status, it simply makes sense.

"OpenFeint is going through an exciting phase of growth right now and Sarah is exactly the kind of person we need to keep up the momentum," OpenFeint SVP Marketing and Developer Relations Eros Resmini said in a release. "Sarah's deep history in mobile gaming paired with her connections to the developer community made her a great fit for OpenFeint."

We can't help but recall what just went down between OpenFeint and Gree: The former's co-founder and CEO Jason Citron resigned, and Gree CFO Naoki Aoyagi took his place. (Though, VentureBeat reckons the move was less ... cut-and-dry.) But back to Gree and OpenFeint's future plans, the simple fact is mobile social games are growing at an exponential rate on iOS and Android devices.

"I've always admired OpenFeint for its constant innovation in the mobile gaming space," Thomson said in a release. "As the company continues to change with the market, I'm excited to help OpenFeint continue growing." And we think we have an idea of just where Thomson would like to go. It starts with an "S" and--oh, forget it. You get the point already.

Do you think this puts OpenFeint in a better place to compete with opponents like DeNA and Zynga in mobile games? Don't you wish you could have rockin' tattoos and a big time exec gig? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments