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New Soundtracks:  Street Fighter IV Original Soundtrack New Albums:  Dragon Quest Brass Quintet III Future Concerts:  A Night in Fantasia 2009 |
Nobuo Uematsu
| Overview | Biography | Discography | Game Projects | Interviews |
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Date of Birth: | March 21, 1959 (Kouchi) |
| Education: | University of Kanagawa | |
| General Interests: | Irish Music, Watching Wrestling, Drinking Beer | |
| Instruments: | Piano, Mandolin, Bouzouki, Organ, Harmonium | |
| Joined Square Enix: | 1987 (left in 2004) | |
| Band Involvement: | Organist and Composer for The Black Mages | |
| Game Works: | Final Fantasy, Hanjuku Hero, Lost Odyssey |
The most popular video game composer among Western audiences, Nobuo Uematsu is most famous for his works on Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. Following a musical youth, university training, and some experience writing for television commercials, Uematsu joined Square in 1985 to compose for a series of flop titles. They were saved from bankruptcy with 1987's Final Fantasy and Nobuo Uematsu's melodic score was one of many charming elements of the title. Uematsu remained the sole composer for the numbered Final Fantasy series for the series up to Final Fantasy IX.
His Final Fantasy scores were lauded as being able to convey the true emotion of a scene and explored various genres of music. For the series, he popularised the video game ballad with Final Fantasy VIII's "Eyes on Me", attended dozens of orchestral concert performances, formed the rock band The Black Mages, and accumulated over 100 album releases. While his huge fanbase is largely as a result of his Final Fantasy work, Uematsu's occasional other Square works were on behalf of the Hanjuku Hero series, original SaGa trilogy, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, DynamiTracer, and Chrono Trigger.
After requiring assistance on more recent instalments to the series, Nobuo Uematsu left Square Enix at the end of 2004 to become a freelancer. He has since focused on the Mistwalker titles Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Cry On and led the scores to Anata o Yurusanai and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His impressive Final Fantasy legacy continues to be celebrated by Square Enix with his music appearing in numerous recent spinoffs and remakes. Uematsu continues to attend Final Fantasy concerts and is currently at work on Final Fantasy XIII's main theme and The Black Mages' third album.
