Koichi Hayashida

{{Infobox person

| name = Koichi Hayashida

| native_name = 林田宏一

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1969}}

| birth_place = Tokyo, Japan

| alma_mater =

| image = Koichi Hayashida E3 2013.jpg

| caption = Hayashida in 2013

| occupation = Director, producer, game designer

| employer = Nintendo

| years_active = 1993–present

}}

{{nihongo|Koichi Hayashida|林田宏一|Hayashida Kōichi}} is a Japanese video game developer who has worked as a director, producer, and programmer on multiple games from Nintendo, notably the Super Mario series. He was the director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), Super Mario 3D Land (2011), Super Mario 3D World (2013, with Kenta Motokura), NES Remix (2013), and NES Remix 2 (2014). He was a producer of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014) and Super Mario Odyssey (2017).

Game design

Hayashida began programming in fifth grade on the Commodore VIC-20. He began programming at Nintendo while the company was developing for the NES. He notably programmed for Super Mario Sunshine (2002). He was an assistant director on Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (2004), and the level design director for Super Mario Galaxy (2007).{{Cite web |title=The Structure of Fun: Learning from Super Mario 3D Land's Director |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-structure-of-fun-learning-from-i-super-mario-3d-land-i-s-director |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.gamedeveloper.com |language=en}}

Hayashida was the director of Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010).{{Cite web |title=The secret to Mario level design |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/the-secret-to-i-mario-i-level-design |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.gamedeveloper.com |language=en}} Hayashida and Shigeru Miyamoto developed a four-step process for the game's levels to teach a new game mechanic, titled kishōtenketsu, which derives from Chinese and Japanese poetry and manga writing. In the game version of kishōtenketsu, a game mechanic is introduced in a level, evolves to let players grow their skills, given a twist that makes the players think of the concept in a different way, and then concluded with a test that makes players use every concept they learned throughout the level. The technique has been used by Nintendo for numerous games since then.{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=2015-03-17 |title=Nintendo's "kishōtenketsu" Mario level design philosophy explained |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/how-nintendos-best-mario-levels-were-structured-using-chinese-poetry |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Eurogamer.net |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Anatone |first=Richard |date=October 1, 2023 |title=Kishōtenketsu as Leitmotif: Storytelling and Musical Meaning in the Main Theme to Final Fantasy VII |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jsmg/article/4/4/15/197773/Kishotenketsu-as-LeitmotifStorytelling-and-Musical |access-date=August 19, 2023 |website=University of California Press|doi=10.1525/jsmg.2023.4.4.15 }}{{Cite web |date=2015-03-17 |title=This is why 'Mario' levels are brilliant |url=https://www.engadget.com/2015-03-17-super-mario-3d-world-design.html?guccounter=1 |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}

Hayashida was then the director of Super Mario 3D Land (2011).{{Cite web |last=Drake |first=Audrey |date=2012-03-12 |title=Making Mario Magic - The Interview |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/12/making-mario-magic-the-interview |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=IGN |language=en}} To help his development team, he gave them "Miyamoto's Teachings": a book of quotations by Miyamoto, a more experienced designer who had begun to lessen his role at Nintendo.{{Cite web |date=2014-02-28 |title=Super Mario 3D World Director Koichi Hayashida Explains The Origin Of "Miyamoto's Teachings" |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/super_mario_3d_world_director_koichi_hayashida_explains_the_origin_of_miyamotos_teachings |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}} To make the game more approachable for less experienced players, Hayashida decided the game would technically end at its halfway point, when the story was over and the credits rolled, but there was a whole other half of more challenging levels. The game's development was delayed because of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.{{Cite web |date=2012-03-08 |title=How Do You Make a Super Mario Game At a Time of National Tragedy? |url=https://kotaku.com/how-do-you-make-a-super-mario-game-at-a-time-of-nationa-5891437 |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Kotaku |language=en}} To motivate the game's developers, who were previously separated by their different trades, Hayashida moved everyone into a common area to work more collaboratively.{{Cite magazine |last=Kohler |first=Chris |title=How Super Mario Survived the Quake |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/03/super-mario-quake/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}

Hayashida was a co-director for Super Mario 3D World (2013), directing alongside Kenta Motokura.{{Cite web |last=Nunneley-Jackson |first=Stephany |date=2013-06-14 |title=Super Mario 3D World's camera feature explained in video |url=https://www.vg247.com/super-mario-3d-worlds-camera-feature-explained-in-video |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=VG247 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The official home of Super Mario™ – News |url=https://mario.nintendo.com/news/ask-the-developer-vol-11-super-mario-bros-wonder-part-1/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=mario.nintendo.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Directors, Producer Talk Development of Super Mario 3D World - News |url=http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/37470/directors-producer-talk-development-of-super-mario-3d-world |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Nintendo World Report}} He was the director of NES Remix (2013) and NES Remix 2 (2014). These games were first made for Wii U instead of the 3DS, partially because Hayashida was more familiar with the Wii U's architecture.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-23 |title=Nintendo: 'SNES Remix a possibility' |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a566073/snes-remix-inception-depends-on-fan-support-says-nintendo-director/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2014-04-21 |title=Koichi Hayashida Explains Absence of NES Remix 1 & 2 on 3DS |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/04/koichi_hayashida_explains_absence_of_nes_remix_1_and_2_on_3ds |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}} He was the producer of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (2014){{Cite web |title=Nintendo Reveals the Toads' Gender Secret |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-reveals-the-toads-gender-secret/1100-6423610/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}} and Super Mario Odyssey (2017).{{Cite web |title=The official home of Super Mario™ – News |url=https://mario.nintendo.com/news/ask-the-developer-vol-11-super-mario-bros-wonder-part-1/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=mario.nintendo.com |language=en-US}} He worked on the design of Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023).{{Cite web |title=Ask the Developer Vol. 11, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Chapter 1 - Nintendo |url=https://www.nintendo.com/au/news-and-articles/ask-the-developer-vol-11-super-mario-bros-wonder-chapter-1/?srsltid=AfmBOooPvhusvcLBqF5e2ok6XlQOuPjSl7Fn1an7Kx8LnxIldW3oXJ9B |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.nintendo.com |language=en-AU}}