Nobuyuki Ohnogi
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Nobuyuki Ohnogi was a Japanese audio composer and sound programmer known for his work for Namco. He started working for them around 1980 when he was 24. At first, Ohnogi was hired as a programmer, but was later in charge of sound for the company's video games, primarily the arcade and NES. In Japan, he is known as the "father of game music", having been the first to compose a full soundtrack for a video game. In 1985, Nobuyuki left Namco and started the company Game Studio with Masanobu Endo. A year later, Ohnogi started his own business Scitron & Art, a company that specialized in creating and releasing video game soundtracks such as Shadow Brain and Sanrio Carnival, as well as being the primary sound programmer of the Wizardry series. Some of Ohnogi's best known works include Bosconian, Galaga, New Rally X, Mappy, and Pole Position.
Around 1994, Ohnogi left the game industry.
Unfortunately, Nobuyuki Ohnogi passed away on the night of November 11, 2019. He was 63 years old. His major and countless contributions to the video game music community will always be remembered.
Audio Development
In the promotional video of Metro-Cross showing the game's developing, Ohnogi is seen writing his music on a Prophet T8. Ohnogi used a lot of dotted 8th notes with 16th notes in his older works. This is evident in games like Mappy, Metro-Cross, and Galaga.
ARC
Ohnogi wrote his arcade soundtracks on the Namco WSG, and wrote the music in assembly machine code.
NES
Nobuyuki wrote a sound driver and wrote in 6502 machine code. His driver was modified by Fukashi Ohmorita, who reprogrammed the driver to take up less space.
When Nobuyuki worked for Game Studio, he programmed a new sound driver.
For Kidou Senshi Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble, he arranged music from the anime. Three of these songs were written by Neil Sedaka, and as a result, Sedaka is credited for composition.
SNES
For Super Family Circuit, Ohnogi used a custom sound driver.
Gameography
| Released | Title | Sample | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980-10-?? | Rally-X (ARC) (ラリーX) | High Score BGM | |
| 1981-02-?? | New Rally-X (ARC) (ニューラリーX) | ||
| 1980-??-?? | King & Balloon (ARC) | ||
| 1981-07-?? | Warp & Warp (ARC) (ワープ＆ワープ) | ||
| 1981-09-?? | Galaga (ARC) (ギャラガ) | ||
| 1981-11-?? | Bosconian (ARC) (ボスコニアン) | ||
| 1982-??-?? | Pole Position (ARC) (ポールポジション) | All songs except "1st Place Name Entry Music" by Yuriko Keino. | |
| 1983-??-?? | Libble Rabble (ARC) (リブルラブル) | ||
| 1983-??-?? | Mappy (ARC) (マッピー) | |
|
| 1983-??-?? | Pole Position II (ARC) (ポールポジションII) | ||
| 1984-??-?? | Galaga (MSX) | ||
| 1984-??-?? | King & Balloon (MSX) | ||
| 1984-11-08 | Xevious (NES) (ゼビウス) | |
Arranged Yuriko Keino's music. |
| 1984-11-14 | Mappy (FC) (マッピー) | |
|
| 1985-??-?? | Metro-Cross (ARC) (メトロクロス) | |
|
| 1985-02-15 | Galaga: Demons of Death (NES) (ギャラガ) | |
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| 1985-07-12 | Warpman (FC) (ワープマン) | With Junko Ozawa and Yuriko Keino. | |
| 1985-08-06 | The Tower of Druaga (FC) (ドルアーガの塔) | Sound Software | |
| 1985-09-09 | Battle City (FC) (バトルシティー) | ||
| 1986-??-?? | Hopping Mappy (ARC) (ホッピングマッピー) | ||
| 1986-08-28 | Kidou Senshi Z-Gundam: Hot Scramble (FC) (機動戦士Zガンダム ホットスクランブル) | Sound Effect [sic] Sound Program Arranged Neil Sedaka and Shigeaki Saegusa's music with Masanobu Endo. | |
| 1986-11-26 | Mappy-Land (NES) (マッピーランド) | Mappy Theme | |
| 1986-12-16 | Metro-Cross (FC) | |
Arranged by unknown. |
| 1987-12-22 | Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) | Music Programmer | |
| 1987-??-?? | Metro-Cross (C64) | |
Arranged by Brian O'Shaughnessy. |
| 1988-01-06 | Family Circuit (FC) (ファミリーサーキット) | |
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| 1988-07-22 | The Quest of Ki (FC) (カイの冒険) | Secret Passage Sound Effects Sound Program | |
| 1989-02-21 | Wizardry II: Legacy of Llylgamyn - The Third Scenario (FC) (ウィザードリィII リルガミンの遺産) | Music Programmer | |
| 1989-07-21 | Tenkaichi Bushi: Keru Naguuru (FC) (ケルナグール) | ||
| 1990-03-09 | Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds - The Second Scenario (NES) (ウィザードリィIII ダイヤモンドの騎士) | Music Programmer | |
| 1990-06-22 | Galaga (FDS) (ギャラガ) | |
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| 1990-11-22 | Sanrio Carnival (FC) (サンリオカーニバル) | ||
| 1991-03-21 | Shadow Brain (FC) (シャドウブレイン) | Arrangement | |
| 1991-05-11 | Sanrio Carnival (GB) (サンリオカーニバル) | ||
| 1991-07-19 | Family Circuit '91 (FC) | |
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| 1991-10-18 | World Circuit (PCE) (ワールドサーキット) | |
With Takeru Hikono and Satoshi Naito. |
| 1994-09-22 | Libble Rabble (SFC) (リブルラブル) | Arranger? | |
| 1994-10-21 | Super Family Circuit (SFC) (スーパーファミリーサーキット) | |
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| 2019-02-21 | 16Bit Rhythm Land (SMD) (16ビットリズムランド) | Setsuna Batting | |
| Unreleased | Libble Rabble (FC) |
Picture Gallery
Unknown Source.
Nobuyuki (right) with Tatsuro Okamoto (left) during the development of Metro-Cross (ARC).
Nobuyuki (right) with Takagi Natsumi.
Nobuyuki (left) with Mochizuki Taku.
Links
- geocities.jp/bgrtype/gsl/words/onoginobuyuki/onoginobuyuki.html - Official Biography (Japanese).
- mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,224348/ - MobyGames.
- facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012224161016&fref=ts - Facebook.
- atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/2722.html - Atwiki.jp (Japanese).
- retronauts.com/article/1373/nobuyuki-ohnogi-former-namco-composer-and-father-of-game-music-dies-at-63 Article.
