Yuriko Keino
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Yuriko Keino (née Natsume) is a Japanese composer. She studied piano and classical music until high school, and studied traditional and folk music at the Tokyo University of the Arts for music in 1981. In April 1981, Keino joined Namco as a sound composer, and was possibly their first sound designer. She started out composing for the company's arcade games, her first work being Dig Dug, then Xevious, and after that, Dragon Buster. She was also one of the first composers to have their game music turned into an album when Haruomi Hosono of YMO arranged her soundtrack for Xevious. She was also involved with the creation of Namco's WSG sound device, the C30, used in many of their early arcade games.
In March 1985, she quit Namco, but later returned in June 1986 to March 1989 as a contractor.
She has said about game music "the best thing to do is to make the game interesting."
Currently, she continues her musical activities in the direction of ethnic music, collaborating with video installations and developing her own creative activities, including works for koto and gayakoto.
Audio Development
NES
Yuriko used the Namco sound driver by Fukashi Ohmorita and Nobuyuki Ohnogi. Music was written in assembly with hexadecimal notation.
Gameography
| Released | Title | Sample | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981-??-?? | Knock Down (ARC) (ノックダウン) | ||
| 1981-??-?? | Okashi Daisakusen (ARC) (おかし大作戦) | ||
| 1982-10-?? | Super Pac-Man (ARC) (スーパーパックマン) | ||
| 1982-11-?? | Pole Position (ARC) (ポールポジション) | 1st Place Name Entry | |
| 1982-??-?? | Dig Dug (ARC) (ディグダグ) | ||
| 1982-??-?? | Hotball Hockey (ARC) (ホットボールホッケー) | ||
| 1982-??-?? | Xevious (ARC) (ゼビウス) | |
|
| 1983-07-?? | Pac-Man & Chomp Chomp (ARC) (パック&パル) | |
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| 1983-11-?? | Pole Position II (ARC) (ポールポジションII) | With Nobuyuki Ohnogi. | |
| 1983-??-?? | Phozon (ARC) (フォゾン) | ||
| 1984-??-?? | Dragon Buster (ARC) (ドラゴンバスター) | ||
| 1984-??-?? | Pac-Land (ARC) (パックランド) | Arranged Hoyt Curtin's music from Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man animated series. | |
| 1984-??-?? | Super Xevious (ARC) (スーパーゼビウス) | With Junko Ozawa. | |
| 1984-11-01 | Grobda (ARC) (グロブダー) | ||
| 1984-11-08 | Xevious (NES) (ゼビウス) | |
Arranged by Nobuyuki Ohnogi. |
| 1985-??-?? | Baraduke (ARC) (バラデューク) | With Norio Nakagata. | |
| 1985-??-?? | Dig Dug II (ARC) (ディグダグII) | With Junko Ozawa. | |
| 1985-06-04 | Dig Dug (FC) (ディグダグ) | Composer | |
| 1985-07-12 | Warpman (FC) (ワープマン) | With Nobuyuki Ohnogi and Junko Ozawa. | |
| 1985-11-21 | Pac-Land (FC) (パックランド) | Arranged Hoyt Curtin's main theme from Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man animated series. | |
| 1987-04-02 | Sanma no Mei Tantei (FC) (さんまの名探偵) | ||
| 1987-11-?? | Pac-Mania (ARC) (パックマニア) | |
With Yoshito Tomuro and Junko Ozawa. |
| 1987-12-04 | Star Wars (FC) (スターウォーズ) | Main Title Arrangement (uncredited) | |
| 1988-03-?? | Pro Yakyuu World Stadium (ARC) (プロ野球ワールドスタジアム) | With Yoshito Tomuro. | |
| 1988-10-14 | Pro Tennis World Court (ARC) (プロテニス ワールドコート) | ||
| 1988-??-?? | Pac-Land (C64) | Arranged by Jason Brooke. | |
| 1989-??-?? | Pac-Land (AMI) | Arranged by Jason Brooke. | |
| 1989-??-?? | Pac-Land (AST) | Arranged by Jason Brooke. | |
| 1989-??-?? | Pac-Land (CPC) | Arranged by Jason Brooke. | |
| 1989-??-?? | Pac-Land (ZXS) | Arranged by Jason Brooke. | |
| 1989-07-?? | Pro Yakyuu World Stadium '89: Kaimaku-ban!! (ARC) (プロ野球ワールドスタジアム '89 開幕版!!) | With Yoshito Tomuro and Junko Ozawa. | |
| 1989-??-?? | Rompers (ARC) (ロンパーズ) | With Yoshie Takayanagi and Kazuo Noguchi. | |
| 1990-06-20 | Pro Tennis World Court (X68) (プロテニス ワールドコート) | ||
| 1990-07-?? | Pro Yakyuu World Stadium '90 (ARC) (プロ野球ワールドスタジアム '90) | With Yoshito Tomuro and Junko Ozawa. | |
| 1994-12-16 | Video Game Anthology vol.11: Pac-Land (X68) | Arranged by Hiroaki Goto. |
Picture Gallery
Yuriko with Norio Nakagata; [1]
Staff photo from Rompers (ARC).
Aliases
In Sanma no Meitantei, she is credited as Return of Keino. According to Keino, there are a few reasons why she chose this alias. First, according to her, "Return of" was a popular phrase in Japan for various titles. It also was because she had left Namco but had returned before the game was made.
Links
- facebook.com/yuriko.keino - Facebook.
- w.atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/4969.html - Atwiki.jp (Japanese).
