Takashi Oda

Takashi Oda (小田 隆志, Oda Takashi^?) is the creative director of the House of the Dead series, as well as the current planning manager for Sega AM1.

Biography

Childhood and employment at Sega

Takashi Oda was born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1967. Throughout primary and secondary school, he played arcade games like Circus, Space Invaders, Galaxian, and Pac-Man in game centers and candy stores. He initially studied architecture and interior design in college; his friend, a graduate and Sega employee, inspired him to pursue a career at Sega instead. Oda joined Sega in 1992. He helped develop Astronomicon, an attraction for the Sega-affiliated theme park Joypolis in Osaka, Japan, before directing the arcade games Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt and Motor Raid.^[1]

The House of the Dead project

As part of Sega AM1, Oda led development on a light gun game after sister group Sega AM2 released Virtua Cop in 1994.^[2] AM1 decided upon a horror theme to distinguish themselves, choosing zombies as the main enemies for realism.^[2] Oda stated that the team "[knew] they didn't want children playing this game".^[3] He was influenced by the 1996 crime thriller film Seven^[2][4] and the manga Black Jack, the latter of which had morally gray characters and storylines.

The project, ultimately named The House of the Dead, was released in 1996 to critical and commercial success.

Further House of the Dead work

Oda would direct four sequels to the game: The House of the Dead 2 in 1998; The House of the Dead III in 2002; The House of the Dead 4 in 2005; and House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn in 2018. He was also involved with a cancelled House of the Dead 5 project in 2012, which he has declined to revive.^[5]

Following Scarlet Dawn's release, Oda expressed desire to produce three more House of the Dead games and a House of the Dead first-person shooter if there is enough demand.^[5]

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References

1. ↑ SEGA of Japan Takashi Oda Interview (Japanese). Sega Interactive Japan. Archived from the original on October 10th, 2019. “そもそもは建築やインテリア関連の仕事に就きたいと思っていまして、美術大学に進みました。 大学４年生のときに就職浪人になりまして、そのときに(先に卒業して)セガに入社した友人から、｢お偉いさんたちがずっとゲームの議論をしている｣という話を聞きまして、当時、大きな衝撃を受けたんです、｢そんな面白い会社があるのか！｣と。 そこで、セガを受けてみようと思ったんです”
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} "Interview: The House of the Dead", Sega Saturn Magazine, issue 23, September 1997, page 58.
3. ↑ "The House of the Dead-1997 Developer Interview". shmupulations.com. “"Oda: "I did that because our target audience was adults and up. From the start of the project we knew we didn’t want children playing this game."”
4. ↑ Kori (September 7, 2012). "Website of the Dead’s Exclusive Interview with Takashi Oda". The Website of the Dead. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} https://sega-interactive.co.jp/interview/14348/