Risa Tabata

{{Infobox person

| name = Risa Tabata

| native_name = 田端里沙

| native_name_lang = ja

| image =

| alt = Picture of Risa Tabata taken in 2015

| caption = Tabata in 2015

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Osaka, Japan

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = Video game producer, Production coordinator

| employer = Nintendo

| years_active = 2001-present

| known_for =

| notable_works = Metroid Prime
Donkey Kong Country
Paper Mario

|alma_mater=Osaka University of Foreign Studies

}}

{{nihongo|Risa Tabata|田端里沙|Tabata Risa|lead=yes}} is a Japanese video game assistant producer and production coordinator working at Nintendo.

Career

Tabata was born in Osaka and graduated from Osaka University of Foreign Studies as a liberal arts student majoring in Chinese.{{Cite news|last=Klausing|first=Svenja|date=2018-05-24|title=Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers im Test: Schnelle Kämpfe und spannende Rennen|language=de-DE|work=PC Games|url=https://www.pcgames.de/Dillons-Dead-Heat-Breakers-Spiel-61589/Tests/tower-defense-action-racing-gameplay-1256885/|access-date=2022-02-22|archive-date=2022-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222013320/https://www.pcgames.de/Dillons-Dead-Heat-Breakers-Spiel-61589/Tests/tower-defense-action-racing-gameplay-1256885/|url-status=live}} After graduating, she applied to Nintendo with the intent of doing clerical work at the company, influenced by her experience of playing Famicom games with her younger brother back in middle school. Upon being hired in April 2001, Tabata would instead find herself as part of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, despite lacking any knowledge of game design at the time, and immediately assigned to be the production coordinator for Metroid Prime, assisting with communication between the Japanese Nintendo team and the Austin, Texas-based Retro Studios.{{cite web|publisher=任天堂株式会社|date=February 29, 2008|accessdate=July 21, 2015|title=社長が訊く: 『メトロイドプライム3 コラプション』|url=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rm3j/vol1/index.html|language=Japanese|archive-date=July 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713200845/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rm3j/vol1/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=R |first1=Sami |title=

Iwata Asks: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (English Translation) |url=https://metroiddatabase.com/iwata-asks-metroid-prime-3-corruption/ |website=Metroid Database |access-date=June 20, 2024 }}

On Paper Mario: Color Splash, Tabata served as a co-producer she helped shape the game's thematic focus on color and its distinctive visual style inspired by paper textures. She explained that the idea originated from a colleague whose children were interested in painting, and the team sought to use the Wii U’s HD capabilities and touchscreen to enhance gameplay through a card based combat system. Tabata emphasized the game’s puzzle-solving elements, the strategic use of limited resources in battle, and the inclusion of real-world objects for humorous contrast. As her first Paper Mario title, she aimed to bring fresh ideas and humor, working closely with localization teams to adapt jokes for different audiences and enhance the emotional depth of the story, particularly through the character Huey. {{Cite web |last=Parish |first=Jeremy |date=2016-09-05 |title=A Conversation With Paper Mario: Color Splash Producer Risa Tabata |url=https://www.vg247.com/a-conversation-with-paper-mario-color-splash-producer-risa-tabata |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=VG247 |language=en}}

For the next installment, Paper Mario: The Origami King, Tabata continued her role in steering the creative direction of the series by advocating for new gameplay ideas and visual themes. She collaborated with Intelligent Systems to introduce the concepts of origami and confetti as the central theme aiming to surprise players. Inspired by Nintendo’s design philosophy to innovate with each installment, Tabata contributed the origami concept, envisioning characters like Princess Peach transformed into folded paper forms. {{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Andy |date=2020-07-16 |title=Interview: Paper Mario’s development team lays it all out |url=https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/interviews/paper-mario-origami-king/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=VGC |language=en-US}}

Since then, Tabata has continued to work on externally-developed Nintendo projects under the purview of producer Kensuke Tanabe, going on to become assistant producer and production manager for subsequent Metroid Prime games, as well as various other Nintendo titles.{{Citation |title=Metroid Prime Trilogy: Developer's Voice |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPs_D1BMhjc |access-date=2022-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222013317/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPs_D1BMhjc |archive-date=2022-02-22 |url-status=live |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Nutt |first=Christian |date=2015-10-13 |title='Nintendo has its own way' - How it makes games and works with externa |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-nintendo-has-its-own-way---how-it-makes-games-and-works-with-external-devs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222013319/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-nintendo-has-its-own-way---how-it-makes-games-and-works-with-external-devs |archive-date=2022-02-22 |access-date=2022-02-22 |website=Game Developer |language=en}}