Difference between revisions of "Kōji Kondō"

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{{Template: Infobox Composer
+
{{Infobox Composer
| Name        = Koji Kondo
+
| Name        = Koji Kondo
| Local      = 近藤 浩治 (こんどう こうじ)
+
| Local      = 近藤 浩治 (こんどう こうじ)
| Picture    = Kojikondo1.jpg
+
| Picture    = Koji Kondo.jpg
| Born        = August 13, 1960 (Age 52)
+
| Born        = 1960-08-13
| BirthPlace  = Nagoya, Japan
+
| BirthPlace  = Nagoya, Japan
| Nationality = Japanese
+
| Nationality = Japanese
| Flag        = Japan
+
| Flag        = Japan
| Alias01     = Nick Kondo
+
| Aliases     = Nick Kondo, Konchan
| Alias02    = Konchan
+
| Website    =  
| Website    =  
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''''Koji Kondo''''' was born on August 13, 1960 in Nagoya, Japan. His love for music appeared early in his life when he would create short tunes for fun, and by seventeen he began to study music professionally.
+
'''''Koji Kondo''''' was born on August 13, 1960 in Nagoya, Japan in the Aichi Prefecture. His love for music appeared early in his life when he would create short tunes for fun, and by seventeen he began to study music professionally.
  
In the early 1980's Kondo heard that a company called Nintendo was looking for music composers to create music for videogames. Kondo never thought of composing music for games before, but he decided to try it out and in 1983 he was hired. He felt very confined to writing music on the Famicom because it had such a low quality of music, but as Nintendo released new systems, the quality of music also increased.
+
In the early 1980's Kondo heard that a company called [[Nintendo]] was looking for music composers to create music for video games. Kondo never thought of composing music for games before, but he decided to try it out and in 1983 he was hired. He felt very confined to writing music on the Famicom because it had such a low quality of music, but as Nintendo released new systems, the quality of music also increased.
  
 
Kondo went on to compose music for some of the biggest known titles for Nintendo including the Mario and Zelda series. To this day, Kondo continues to work with Nintendo making music for video games.
 
Kondo went on to compose music for some of the biggest known titles for Nintendo including the Mario and Zelda series. To this day, Kondo continues to work with Nintendo making music for video games.
  
Kondo's style shows elements of Jazz, Classical, and Latin influences with a cinematic theme that have remained fairly similar throughout his career. His music has been released on a multitude of albums. Some have drawn a parallel calling him the [[John Williams]] of videogames.
+
Kondo's style shows elements of Jazz, Classical, and Latin influences with a cinematic theme that have remained fairly similar throughout his career. His music has been released on a multitude of albums. Some have drawn a parallel calling him the [[John Williams]] of video games.
  
 
==Music Composition==
 
==Music Composition==
 
===NES===
 
===NES===
Koji wrote his music using the [[Family BASIC]], programming the music using Nintendo's audio driver.
+
At the time, Nintendo required their main composers such as [[Hirokazu Tanaka]] and [[Akito Nakatsuka]] to write their own sound engines for the NES/Famicom, so Koji programmed a sound driver on the Family BASIC computer in 6502 [[assembly]].
  
 
===SNES===
 
===SNES===
Koji composed his music on an electronic keyboard and then programmed it into the game. It is likely that the instrument samples came from his electronic keyboard but it is unknown what the make or model is on his keyboard.
+
Kondo composed his music on an electronic keyboard and then programmed it into the game. It is likely that the instrument samples came from his electronic keyboard but it is unknown what make and model of keyboard he used.
 
 
  
 
==Gameography==
 
==Gameography==
<br clear="all" />
+
{| class="wikitable" |
{{Template: Table Header
+
! Released
| Color    = FFF0FF
+
! Title
| Caption01 = Released
+
! Sample
| Caption02 = Title
+
! Notes
| Caption03 = Sample
 
}}
 
 
|-
 
|-
| 1984/02/??
+
| 1984-02-??
 
| [[Punch-Out!! (ARC)]]
 
| [[Punch-Out!! (ARC)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1984/05/01
+
| 1984-05-01
 
| [[Golf (NES)]]
 
| [[Golf (NES)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1984/06/12
+
| 1984-06-12
 
| [[Vs. Stroke & Match: Golf (ARC)]]
 
| [[Vs. Stroke & Match: Golf (ARC)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1984/06/21
+
| 1984-06-21
 
| [[Family BASIC (FC)]]
 
| [[Family BASIC (FC)]]
 +
|
 
| Sound programming
 
| Sound programming
 
|-
 
|-
| 1984/10/05
+
| 1984-10-05
 
| [[Devil World (FC)]]
 
| [[Devil World (FC)]]
| {{Song-List|01 - Devil World - FC - Title BGM.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Devil World - FC - Title BGM.ogg}}
 +
| With [[Akito Nakatsuka]]
 
|-
 
|-
| 1985/04/09
+
| 1985-04-09
 
| [[Soccer (NES)]]
 
| [[Soccer (NES)]]
| {{Song-List|03 - Soccer - NES - Game Play.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|03 - Soccer - NES - Game Play.ogg}}
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1985-05-??
 +
| [[Arm Wrestling (ARC)]]
 +
|
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| 1985/06/21
+
| 1985-06-21
 
| [[Kung Fu (NES)]]
 
| [[Kung Fu (NES)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Sound effects
 
|-
 
|-
| 1985/09/13
+
| 1985-09-13
 
| [[Super Mario Bros. (NES)]]
 
| [[Super Mario Bros. (NES)]]
| {{Song-List|01 - Super Mario Bros. - NES - Above Ground BGM.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Super Mario Bros. - NES - Above Ground BGM.ogg}}
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| 1986/02/21
+
| 1986-02-21
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda (NES)]]
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda (NES)]]
| {{Song-List|01 - Legend of Zelda - NES - Title.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|01 - Legend of Zelda - NES - Title BGM.ogg}}
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1986-04-14
 +
| [[The Mystery of Murasame Castle (FDS)]] (謎の村雨城)
 +
|
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| 1986/04/14
+
| 1986-05-03
| [[Nazo no Murasamejo (FDS)]]
+
| [[Super Mario Bros. 2 (FDS)]] (スーパーマリオブラザーズ2)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1986/05/03
+
| 1987-07-10
| [[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (FDS)]]
+
| [[Dream Factory: Heart-Pounding Panic (FDS)]] (夢工場 ドキドキパニック)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1987/07/10
+
| 1987-09-04
| [[Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (FDS)]]
+
| [[Famicom Tale: New Onigashima - Prequel (FDS)]] (ファミコン昔話 新鬼ヶ島 前編)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1987/09/04
+
| 1987-09-30
| [[Shin Onigashima (FDS)]]
+
| [[Famicom Tale: New Onigashima - Sequel (FDS)]] (ファミコン昔話 新鬼ヶ島 後編)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1988/10/??
+
| 1988-10-??
| [[Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)]]
+
| [[Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)]] (スーパーマリオUSA)
 
|
 
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1988-10-23
 +
| [[Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)]] (スーパーマリオブラザーズ3)
 +
|
 +
|
 
|-
 
|-
| 1988/10/23
+
| 1990-11-21
| [[Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)]]
+
| [[Super Mario World (SNES)]] (スーパーマリオワールド Super Mario Bros. 4)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1990/11/21
+
| 1990-12-21
| [[Super Mario World (SNES)]]
+
| [[Pilotwings (SNES)]] (パイロットウィングス)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed [[Helicopter - Pilotwings (SNES)|Helicopter]]; Sound programming
 
|-
 
|-
| 1990/12/21
+
| 1991-04-26
| [[Pilotwings (SNES)]]
+
| [[SimCity (SNES)]] (シムシティ)
| Sound programming
+
|
 +
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1991/11/21
+
| 1991-11-21
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)]]
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)]]
 +
| {{Song-Box|01 - Legend of Zelda 3 - SNES - Title.ogg}}
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1993/02/21
+
| 1993-02-21
| [[Star Fox (SNES)]]
+
| [[Star Fox (SNES)]] (スターフォックス)
| Sound effects
+
|  
|-
+
| Sound Effects
| 1993/06/06
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)]]
 
| Ballad of the Windfish
 
 
|-
 
|-
| 1995/08/15
+
| 1995-08-15
 
| [[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)]]
 
| [[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)]]
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
| 1996/06/23
+
| 1996-06-23
 
| [[Super Mario 64 (N64)]]
 
| [[Super Mario 64 (N64)]]
| {{Song-List|10 - Super Mario 64 - N64 - Super Mario 64 Main Theme.ogg}}
+
| {{Song-Box|10 - Super Mario 64 - N64 - Super Mario 64 Main Theme.ogg}}
 +
| Programmed by [[Hideaki Shimizu]]
 
|-
 
|-
| 1997/05/27
+
| 1997-05-27
 
| [[Star Fox 64 (N64)]]
 
| [[Star Fox 64 (N64)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Hajime Wakai]]
 
|-
 
|-
| 1998/11/21
+
| 1998-11-21
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)]]
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Last game entirely composed by Kondo
 
|-
 
|-
| 2000/05/27
+
| 2000-05-27
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)]]
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Toru Minegishi]]
 
|-
 
|-
| 2002/07/19
+
| 2002-07-19
 
| [[Super Mario Sunshine (GC)]]
 
| [[Super Mario Sunshine (GC)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Shinobu Tanaka]]
 
|-
 
|-
| 2002/12/13
+
| 2002-12-13
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)]]
 
| [[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed Grandma's Theme
 
|-
 
|-
| 2006/05/15
+
| 2006-05-15
| [[New Super Mario Bros. (DS)]]
+
| [[New Super Mario Bros. (DS)]] (ニュー・スーパーマリオブラザーズ)
| Main Theme
+
|
 +
| Composed Ground BGM; Sound Director
 
|-
 
|-
| 2006/11/19
+
| 2006-11-19
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)]]
+
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (WII)]]
| Orchestra Piece #1
+
|  
 +
| Composed Orchestra Piece #1
 
|-
 
|-
| 2007/11/01
+
| 2007-11-01
| [[Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)]]
+
| [[Super Mario Galaxy (WII)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed Rosalina in the Observatory, Egg Planet
 
|-
 
|-
| 2008/01/31
+
| 2008-01-31
| [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)]]
+
| [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl (WII)]]
| Arrangments
+
|  
 +
| Arrangements
 
|-
 
|-
| 2009/11/11
+
| 2009-12-07
| [[New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)]]
+
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed Ending
 
|-
 
|-
| 2009/12/07
+
| 2010-05-23
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)]]
+
| [[Super Mario Galaxy 2 (WII)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed Yoshi Star Galaxy, Starship Mario, Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla
 
|-
 
|-
| 2010/05/23
+
| 2011-11-18
| [[Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)]]
+
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (WII)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Composed Legend of Skyloft
 +
|-
 +
| 2013-11-21
 +
| [[Super Mario 3D World (WIIU)]]
 +
|
 +
| Composed Chain-Link Charge, Sunshine Seaside
 
|-
 
|-
| 2011/11/18
+
| 2014-11-21
| [[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)]]
+
| [[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (WIIU)]]
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Arrangement
 +
|-
 +
| 2015-09-10
 +
| [[Super Mario Maker (WIIU)]]
 +
|
 +
| Arrangements; marks first role as lead composer in 15 years
 +
|-
 +
| 2017-04-28
 +
| [[Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS)]]
 +
|
 +
| Composed Battle Theme
 +
|-
 +
| 2017-10-27
 +
| [[Super Mario Odyssey (NS)]]
 +
|
 +
| Composed Wooded Kingdom, Bowser Castle
 
|-
 
|-
 +
| Unreleased
 +
| [[SimCity (NES)]]
 +
|
 +
| Sound Driver
 
|}
 
|}
  
 
==Picture Gallery==
 
==Picture Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
File:Kkondo1.jpg|Unknown Source
+
Koji Kondo.jpg|Unknown source.
File:Koji_Kondo_-_02.JPG|Koji during the development of SMW; [http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/weekly/Stars_of_the_Family_Computer.html]
+
Koji_Kondo_-_02.JPG|Koji during the development of SMW; [http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/secret/weekly/Stars_of_the_Family_Computer.html].
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
[[Category:Composers]]
+
==Links==
[[Category:Foley Artists]]
+
* [http://www.vgmonline.net/kojikondo vgmonline.net/kojikondo] - Detailed biography.
 +
* [http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/03/12/koji-kondo-an-interview-with-a-legend ign.com/articles/2007/03/12/koji-kondo-an-interview-with-a-legend] - IGN interview.
 +
* [http://www.gamesradar.com/zelda-past-and-future-interview-koji-kondo-and-eiji-aonuma gamesradar.com/zelda-past-and-future-interview-koji-kondo-and-eiji-aonuma] - Games Radar interview.
 +
* [http://www.originalsoundversion.com/koji-kondo-talks-ocarina-of-time-gives-details-on-skyward-sword originalsoundversion.com/koji-kondo-talks-ocarina-of-time-gives-details-on-skyward-sword] - OSV interview.
 +
* [http://www.glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/special-interview-koji-kondo glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/special-interview-koji-kondo] - Interview.
 +
* [http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/0/0 iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/0/0] - Nintendo interview.
 +
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ilJCerCucA youtube.com/watch?v=5ilJCerCucA] - Video interview.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
[[Category: Composers]]
 +
[[Category: Foley Artists]]

Revision as of 13:25, 4 January 2019

Koji Kondo
Koji Kondo.jpg
Local 近藤 浩治 (こんどう こうじ)
Born 1960-08-13
Birth Place Nagoya, Japan
Nationality Japanese   Japan.svg
Aliases Nick Kondo, Konchan

Koji Kondo was born on August 13, 1960 in Nagoya, Japan in the Aichi Prefecture. His love for music appeared early in his life when he would create short tunes for fun, and by seventeen he began to study music professionally.

In the early 1980's Kondo heard that a company called Nintendo was looking for music composers to create music for video games. Kondo never thought of composing music for games before, but he decided to try it out and in 1983 he was hired. He felt very confined to writing music on the Famicom because it had such a low quality of music, but as Nintendo released new systems, the quality of music also increased.

Kondo went on to compose music for some of the biggest known titles for Nintendo including the Mario and Zelda series. To this day, Kondo continues to work with Nintendo making music for video games.

Kondo's style shows elements of Jazz, Classical, and Latin influences with a cinematic theme that have remained fairly similar throughout his career. His music has been released on a multitude of albums. Some have drawn a parallel calling him the John Williams of video games.

Music Composition

NES

At the time, Nintendo required their main composers such as Hirokazu Tanaka and Akito Nakatsuka to write their own sound engines for the NES/Famicom, so Koji programmed a sound driver on the Family BASIC computer in 6502 assembly.

SNES

Kondo composed his music on an electronic keyboard and then programmed it into the game. It is likely that the instrument samples came from his electronic keyboard but it is unknown what make and model of keyboard he used.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1984-02-?? Punch-Out!! (ARC)
1984-05-01 Golf (NES)
1984-06-12 Vs. Stroke & Match: Golf (ARC)
1984-06-21 Family BASIC (FC) Sound programming
1984-10-05 Devil World (FC)
With Akito Nakatsuka
1985-04-09 Soccer (NES)
1985-05-?? Arm Wrestling (ARC)
1985-06-21 Kung Fu (NES) Sound effects
1985-09-13 Super Mario Bros. (NES)
1986-02-21 The Legend of Zelda (NES)
1986-04-14 The Mystery of Murasame Castle (FDS) (謎の村雨城)
1986-05-03 Super Mario Bros. 2 (FDS) (スーパーマリオブラザーズ2)
1987-07-10 Dream Factory: Heart-Pounding Panic (FDS) (夢工場 ドキドキパニック)
1987-09-04 Famicom Tale: New Onigashima - Prequel (FDS) (ファミコン昔話 新鬼ヶ島 前編)
1987-09-30 Famicom Tale: New Onigashima - Sequel (FDS) (ファミコン昔話 新鬼ヶ島 後編)
1988-10-?? Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) (スーパーマリオUSA)
1988-10-23 Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) (スーパーマリオブラザーズ3)
1990-11-21 Super Mario World (SNES) (スーパーマリオワールド Super Mario Bros. 4)
1990-12-21 Pilotwings (SNES) (パイロットウィングス) Composed Helicopter; Sound programming
1991-04-26 SimCity (SNES) (シムシティ)
1991-11-21 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
1993-02-21 Star Fox (SNES) (スターフォックス) Sound Effects
1995-08-15 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
1996-06-23 Super Mario 64 (N64)
Programmed by Hideaki Shimizu
1997-05-27 Star Fox 64 (N64) With Hajime Wakai
1998-11-21 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) Last game entirely composed by Kondo
2000-05-27 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) With Toru Minegishi
2002-07-19 Super Mario Sunshine (GC) With Shinobu Tanaka
2002-12-13 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC) Composed Grandma's Theme
2006-05-15 New Super Mario Bros. (DS) (ニュー・スーパーマリオブラザーズ) Composed Ground BGM; Sound Director
2006-11-19 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (WII) Composed Orchestra Piece #1
2007-11-01 Super Mario Galaxy (WII) Composed Rosalina in the Observatory, Egg Planet
2008-01-31 Super Smash Bros. Brawl (WII) Arrangements
2009-12-07 The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) Composed Ending
2010-05-23 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (WII) Composed Yoshi Star Galaxy, Starship Mario, Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla
2011-11-18 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (WII) Composed Legend of Skyloft
2013-11-21 Super Mario 3D World (WIIU) Composed Chain-Link Charge, Sunshine Seaside
2014-11-21 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (WIIU) Arrangement
2015-09-10 Super Mario Maker (WIIU) Arrangements; marks first role as lead composer in 15 years
2017-04-28 Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS) Composed Battle Theme
2017-10-27 Super Mario Odyssey (NS) Composed Wooded Kingdom, Bowser Castle
Unreleased SimCity (NES) Sound Driver

Picture Gallery

Links