I can't overstate how gutted I am with this news. She worked on, directed, and produced some of the most important games of my life I think most people these days will know her from producing Skies of Arcadia, or the 7th Dragon games, as well as producing the most recent Sega Ages games.
In my heart, she'll always be Phoenix Rie, the woman who shaped Phantasy Star's world, visual style, and characters.
Phantasy Star is the first game I ever remember playing, and it's visual style and the decision to make it a science fantasy story with a female lead, all of which she helped design, instilled in me a lifelong love of science fantasy that I still hold on to to this day. She also directed Phantasy Star IV, which to this day is still my favourite game of the 16 bit era, with a story and universe that once more impacted how I approach my own fiction, tabletop, & general writing. It is one of my favourite experiences ever, & I will never forget it.
Her accomplishments, of course, extend beyond that. She worked on Alex Kidd and Fantasy Zone II. She directed the Saturn Magic Knight Rayearth game, also a game I love and adore. And of course, there's Skies of Aracdia. Her accomplishments in the industry are innumerable. She helped advanced women in the industry immensely. She was incredibly talented, and she will forever hold a place in my heart as one of the creatives that shaped me. Rest in peace, Reiko.
Oh!
(Kodama) I wanted to make an RPG or adventure game targeted at women. That was before mobile games got really popular, so it would have been a fairly niche product. But these days you can enjoy games on a smart phone that you already have, and some of them even have anime adaptations. The era of a lot of women having fun with games also has already arrived. But even so, I'd like to make something women would like that involves media outside of games, if I ever have a chance. Since I've worked mostly on nothing but titles targeting men up until now (Laughs)
What would you like to try doing that isn't related to work?
(Kodama) I'd like to try doing something I wanted to do when I was a young, but couldn't. I've always enjoyed history, so I'd still like to get more into that. I was thinking about doing that when I retired from game development.
Same here. Can't believe it. Rest in Peace - wish she got to make SoA2.Wow. She directed/produced two of my favorite RPGs of all time. Phantasy Star IV and Skies of Arcadia.
Excellent interview from famitsu from when she won the GDC Pioneer award in 2019
GDC アワード パイオニア賞受賞記念インタビュー、セガゲームス 小玉理恵子氏がゲーム開発に刻んだ足跡を振り返る | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com
GDC アワードでパイオニア賞を受賞したセガ・ゲームス小玉理恵子氏にインタビューを実施。その足跡を振り返る。s.famitsu.com
Champion Boxing (Designer)
Ninja Princess (Designer)
Quartet (Designer)
Alex Kidd's Miracle World (Designer)
Double Target Cynthia's Sleep (Designer)
Fantasy Zone II Opa Opa Tears (Designer)
Phantasy Star (Designer)
Beast King (Designer) )
Alex Kidd Castle in the Sky (Designer)
Phantasy Star II At the End of the Time of No Return (Designer)
Shadow Dancer The Secret of Shinobi (Designer)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Designer)
Phantasy Star Millennium End ni (Designer and Team Leader)
Magic Knight Rayearth (Director)
DEEP FEAR (Producer)
Eternal Arcadia (Producer)
Eternal Arcadia Legend (Producer)
Beast King -PROJECT ALTERED BEAST- (Producer)
Supervised by Dr. Kenichiro Motegi, Sony Computer Science Laboratories Brain A pleasant aha experience! (Producer)
Supervised by Dr. Kenichiro Motegi, Sony Computer Science Laboratories Pleasure in the brain Experience aha with everyone! (Producer)
Takashi Saito's Three Color Ballpoint Pen Masterpiece School (Producer)
Seventh Dragon (Producer)
7th Dragon 2020 (Producer)
7th Dragon 2020-II (Producer)
SEGA AGES (Nintendo Switch version Lead Producer and Director)
I did know her, we were both in the same giant Master System bullpen in Tokyo. She was amazing... and it was such a pleasure to watch her career over the years, so happy when the GDC presented her the Pioneer Award.Huge bummer. She never got to make her dream game...
So many collagues worked with her, Hayashida, Ohba, Naka, Suzuki, Tanaka... heck Mark Cerny might have known her from the 80's. A Post-mortem down the road see,s good like with another Sega employee (Takeo Iwata), but it seems that the wish of the family was to keep it on the quiet side.
RIP
Could've sworn she was an artist on Castle of Illusion too, but maybe I'm mistaken
I did know her, we were both in the same giant Master System bullpen in Tokyo. She was amazing... and it was such a pleasure to watch her career over the years, so happy when the GDC presented her the Pioneer Award.
Had no idea she'd passed, always thought we'd have a chance to chat again. I'm crying now.
I did know her, we were both in the same giant Master System bullpen in Tokyo. She was amazing... and it was such a pleasure to watch her career over the years, so happy when the GDC presented her the Pioneer Award.
Had no idea she'd passed, always thought we'd have a chance to chat again. I'm crying now.
Could've sworn she was an artist on Castle of Illusion too, but maybe I'm mistaken
Nah, I know she was credited as Emirin on that. I (probably erroneously) assumed the person credited as La-Rie for Castle of Illusion was Kodama using a different alias than usual.
Nah, I know she was credited as Emirin on that. I (probably erroneously) assumed the person credited as La-Rie for Castle of Illusion was Kodama using a different alias than usual.
Huge bummer. She never got to make her dream game...
So many collagues worked with her, Hayashida, Ohba, Naka, Suzuki, Tanaka... heck Mark Cerny might have known her from the 80's. A Post-mortem down the road see,s good like with another Sega employee (Takeo Iwata), but it seems that the wish of the family was to keep it on the quiet side.
RIP
I did know her, we were both in the same giant Master System bullpen in Tokyo. She was amazing... and it was such a pleasure to watch her career over the years, so happy when the GDC presented her the Pioneer Award.
Had no idea she'd passed, always thought we'd have a chance to chat again. I'm crying now.
I did know her, we were both in the same giant Master System bullpen in Tokyo. She was amazing... and it was such a pleasure to watch her career over the years, so happy when the GDC presented her the Pioneer Award.
Had no idea she'd passed, always thought we'd have a chance to chat again. I'm crying now.