Rieko Kodama, well-known Sega producer, developer and artist, died at the age of 59.
Let’s look at Rieko Kodama causes of death and how she died. And subscribe chopnews o get more udpates
How did Rieko Kodama die?
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Sega recently confirmed Rieko’s death. Rumours of Rieko Kodama’s death began to spread online after Retro Gamer editor Nick Thorpe posted a tribute to her creator in the credits for Mega Drive Mini 2.
To verify if the translation was correct, the Ares Arcadia twitter account reached out to Sega producer Yosuke Oskunari. Oskunari confirmed that Kodama had died.
Sega reports that Kodama died in May at the ripe old age of 59. However, the corporation decided not to mourn her death publicly out of respect for her loved ones.
Since 1984, Kodama has been associated to Sega. Kodama started as a graphic designer for the company before moving into production and directing roles.
Sega had initially banned the use of real names for the credits of its games. Kodama was often credited as “Phoenix Ri”
During her 35-year career at Sega, Kodama was involved in many important projects including some of the most popular games.
Rieko Kodama cause of death
The cause of her death was not immediately revealed by her family, nor any online outlets. Nobody knew she was gone until an obituary was posted in the Sega Genesis Mini 2 staff credits in October 2022.
@okunari Hello Okunari-san, usually when writing "In memory of", it is used for those who have passed away. May I ask if Kodama-san passed away or if this is just an odd use of this phrase? https://t.co/9S0POa66QJ
— Ares Arcadia (@AresArcadia) October 26, 2022
Who was Rieko Kodama?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foI276pOMdw
Rieko Kodama (also known as Phoenix Rie) was a Japanese producer and director of video games. She worked for Sega. She was born May 1963, and she died May 9, 2022. (Japanese : Hepburn : Kodama Rieko).
Her role-playing game work (RPGs) is what makes her famous. She was a Sega graphic designer until 1984 when she joined the company as Phantasy Star, 7th Dragon, and Skies of Arcadia series. (2000).
She is also known for her contributions to Sega Genesis and Master System games, like Sonic the Hedgehog (1988), and Altered Beast (1991).
Kodama started her career as a graphic artist, but she eventually rose to the position of producer and director. She held this position until her death in 2022.
Kodama is often cited as one of the first successful women in video games.
She was often asked about her views on the interaction of women and videogames.
Kodama believed that video games were more popular among young girls than they were among children. This led to more women becoming interested in the culture.
Although she didn’t create games for women, her characters were appealing to both men as well as women. She also avoided characteristics that would be unfair to women.
Rieko Kdama Early Life
Rieko Kodama was conceived in Yokosuka (Kanagawa), Japan, on May 23, 1963. She enjoyed playing arcade games when she was younger.
Kodama is passionate about creating ads in high school. After enrolling at college, she was uncertain whether she would choose to study archaeology or art because of her interest in Egyptology. Because of her indecisiveness, she failed all her classes.
She remembered her fascination with advertising, and she decided to devote herself fully to her love for the arts by enrolling at a trade school to learn advertising design.
She fell in love with graphic design quickly and decided to concentrate on creating her own work instead of promoting other artists in the advertising sector.
Because it was still a young industry, she was intrigued by the video games industry. The Famicom was just released and home gaming systems were still fairly new.
Most of the industry was still centered on arcade games. Kodama was interested in the industry because she seldom visited arcades. She thought it would be interesting to learn more about the industry.
Kodama was also known as Phoenix Rie in her early work. She made her first appearance in the videogame industry as a graphic artist during the 1980s.
Although she has worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (and Skies of Arcadia), her most prominent role is that of Phantasy Star IV’s Director, one of the series’ creative leaders.
Kodama, despite being a pioneer in a field that was predominated by men, was notoriously uneasy in the spotlight. She received a Pioneer Award from the Game Developers Choice Awards.
Rieko Kodama career
Sega hired Kodama in 1984 through a former colleague who had previously worked there. Although she had initially hoped to work in advertising and graphic design, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that the game development division would be a rewarding career.
Yoshiki Kawasaki (1984), the Flicky sprite creator, taught her graphic design skills quickly. Her first job was to create characters for Champion Boxing (1984). She continued to work on many arcade games, including Sega Ninja (1984).
Due to the short production cycles and the absence of design staff at Sega, Kodama might occasionally work on multiple games simultaneously.
She was an artist for Alex Kidd’s Miracle World (1986), and was involved with Quartet (1986) and the Master System (1986). Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa – Opa (1986). (1987).
Kodama would get tiny requests every day to create assets for different projects. For example, the Dragon from Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (1987), and an opponent for The Black Onyx’s SG-1000 (1987).
Kodama was also editor of the Japanese Sega Players Enjoy Club newsletter, (SPEC). Kodama used the name Phoenix Rie, or a very close variant, in many of her early works.
Sega prohibited game developers at that time from using their names when creating games. This alias was inspired from a manga character.
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