Hiroyuki Kimura

Hiroyuki Kimura (木村浩之) is a producer for Nintendo and is a group manager for Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Production Group No. 10. He was previously the group manager for Nintendo EAD Software Group No. 4. He has been in charge of the 2D Mario series as well as the Pikmin series for over 20 years.

History

He joined in 1988 as a graphic designer for Super Mario Bros. 3 before being assigned to Nintendo R&D1. He got at early directorial debut with Metroid II: Return of Samus but, he was still mainly a graphic designer working on such things as the design of Maridia in Super Metroid.

He was brought onto the EAD division in the Nintendo 64 era. With the Game Boy Advance, he headed the Super Mario Advance series. This made him a prime target for promotion. With the formation of the EAD Software Groups, Kimura was put in charge of Group No. 4 with one of the first projects being a brand new 2D Mario with the Super Mario Advance team. On the Wii, he was in charge of the New Play Control! series, bringing over Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and the Pikmin games to the Wii with new controls.

With the creation of Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division, his role was originally a bit of a mystery as he was credited with management on games like Tank Troopers and ARMS which were not only games that did not fit into his group's normal productions but, also were produced by other people. In 2019, he returned to co-production under Takashi Tezuka on the 2D Mario entries.

Game Works

• Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) - Character Design
• Golf (Game Boy) (1989) - Designer
• Knight Move (1990) - Designer
• Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991) - Director, Graphic Designer
• Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) - Testing Player
• Super Metroid (1994) - Background Designer
• Mario Clash (1995) - Director
• Wave Race 64 (1996) - CG Designer
• Mario Artist: Talent Studio (2000) - Director, Designer
• Super Mario Advance (2001) - Art Director
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001) - Supervisor
• Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (2001) - Director
• Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (2002) - Director
• Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003) - Director
• Yoshi Touch & Go (2005) - Director
• Big Brain Academy (2005) - Producer
• New Super Mario Bros. (2006) - Producer
• Touch de Tanoshimu Hyakunin-Isshu: DS Shigureden (2006) - Producer
• Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2007) - Producer
• New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2008) - General Producer
• New Play Control! Pikmin (2008) - Producer
• New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (2009) - Producer
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) - Producer
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012) - Coproducer
• New Super Mario Bros. U (2012) - Coproducer
• New Super Luigi U (2013) - Coproducer
• Pikmin 3 (2013) - Producer
• Super Mario Maker (2015) - Coproducer
• Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (2016) - Co-producer
• Tank Troopers (2016) - Progress Supervisor
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) - Progress Management
• ARMS (2017) - Production Management
• New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (2019) - Coproducer
• Super Mario Maker 2 (2019) - Coproducer
• Pikmin 3 Deluxe (2020) - Project Management
• Pikmin 4 (2023) - Project Management
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023) - Production Management

Special Thanks

• Mario Artist: Communication Kit (2000)
• Banjo-Tooie (Japanese version) (2000)
• Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) (Original Game Staff)
• Metroid Prime (2002)
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004)
• New Play Control! Metroid Prime (2009)
• New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2009)
• New Play Control! Chibi-Robo! (2009)
• Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)

Interviews

• Nintendo Online Magazine: Yoshi Touch & Go (Translated)
• Iwata Asks: Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary