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Kazutoki Kono (河野 一聡 Kono Kazutoki) is a Japanese video game director, producer, and designer. He is well known for his work on the Ace Combat series as part of Bandai Namco Entertainment's Project Aces development team.

Biography[]

Personal life[]

Kono was born on September 20, 1971 in the Shinjuku special ward of Tokyo, Japan. As a young child, he attended Marianapolis Preparatory School in Connecticut in the United States as an international student.[1] After returning to Japan, Kono graduated from the Wakayama Prefectural Kainan High School in 1987, and from the private Kobe Design University in 1990.[1]

Kono has been married since 2003, and he currently lives in the Minato special ward in Tokyo.[1]

Bandai Namco[]

Kono PlayStation Classic Interview 2

Kono has worked for Bandai Namco since at least 1996 when the company was still known as Namco. He has worked on the Ridge Racer and Ace Combat franchises. Most notably, he was the director of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, and the producer of Ace Combat Infinity.[2][3]

During the Aces at Operation: "Digital Hollywood" livestream, Kono revealed that he conceived an internal Ace Combat development team made of Namco employees during the development of Ace Combat 5. This idea soon led to the formation of Project Aces as a single group, which Kono has been a part of since its formation.[2]

From 2015 to 2019, Kono led the development of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown alongside Manabu Shimomoto (producer) and Sunao Katabuchi (story director).

Credits[]

Video Game Role
Ace Combat 2 Game Visual Staff
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies Art Director, GUI Designer, AC04Web Production Staff
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Director, Art Director, GUI Designer, Briefing Movie Designer, Package Designer, Demo Reel Production
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War Graphic Designer, Designer, Project Aces Planning Committee
Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception Visual Supervisor, 2D Graphics Concept Art, Project Aces Planning Committee
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Marketing, Play Test, Project Aces Planning Committee
Ace Combat: Joint Assault Visual Advisor
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Executive Director, Producer, Game Adaptation
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy Visual Advisor
Ace Combat Infinity Producer, GUI Artist
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Brand Director

Gallery[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kazutoki Kono. Facebook.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Aces at Operation: "Digital Hollywood".
  3. In-game credits for all related games.
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