Nobuo Uematsu

Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫) is a Japanese video game composer and musician best known for scoring numerous Final Fantasy titles.

Biography
Nobuo Uematsu was born in Kōchi, Japan. Being a self-taught musician, he began to play the piano when he was eleven or twelve years old. Uematsu graduated from Kanagawa University with no music degree. When Uematsu was working at a music rental shop in Sugoshiyoshi, a girl working for Square Co. asked if he would be interested in creating music for some of the titles they were working on, and he agreed. Uematsu considered it a side job, and he did not believe it would become any sort of full-time job. He said it was a way to make some money on the side, while also keeping his part-time job at the music rental shop. Before joining Square, he played the keyboard in several amateur bands and composed music for television commercials.

The first score Uematsu composed for Square was the soundtrack for Genesis in 1985. This title, along with subsequent Square games, did not achieve any success, and the company was near bankruptcy. In 1987, he met Hironobu Sakaguchi, who asked him if he wanted to compose music for some of his games, which Uematsu agreed to. One of those games was Final Fantasy, which turned out to be a huge success, and as such Square was saved from bankruptcy. Final Fantasy's popularity sparked Uematsu's career in video game music, and he later went on to compose music for over thirty game titles, most prominently the Final Fantasy series.

Uematsu signed on to finish the Chrono Trigger soundtrack after his friend and fellow composer, Yasunori Mitsuda, contracted stomach ulcers due to his working so hard on the game's soundtrack.

In 2004, Uematsu left Square Enix and formed his own company called Smile Please. He also created the music production company Dog Ear Records.

Video game soundtracks

 * Genesis (1985)
 * Cruise Chaser Blassty (1986)
 * Alpha (1986)
 * King's Knight (1986)
 * Suishō no Dragon (1986)
 * 3-D WorldRunner (1987)
 * Apple Town Story (1987)
 * JJ (1987)
 * Cleopatra no Mahou (1987)
 * Rad Racer (1987)
 * Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (1987)
 * Final Fantasy (1987)
 * Aliens (1987)
 * Hanjuku Hero (1988)
 * Final Fantasy II (1988) – re-scored by Tsuyoshi Sekito on the WonderSwan Color and PlayStation versions (2000, 2002)
 * Square no Tom Sawyer (1989)
 * The Final Fantasy Legend (1989)
 * Final Fantasy III (1990) – re-scored with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Keiji Kawamori for the Nintendo DS version (2006)
 * Final Fantasy IV (1991)
 * Final Fantasy Legend II (1991) – with Kenji Ito
 * Final Fantasy V (1992)
 * Romancing SaGa 2 (1993) – with Kenji Ito
 * Final Fantasy VI (1994)
 * Chrono Trigger (1995) – with Yasunori Mitsuda and Noriko Matsueda, and with Tsuyoshi Sekito for the PlayStation version
 * DynamiTracer (1995)
 * Front Mission: Gun Hazard (1996) – with Yasunori Mitsuda, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano
 * Final Fantasy VII (1997)
 * Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
 * Final Fantasy IX (2000)
 * Final Fantasy X (2001) – with Masashi Hamauzu and Junya Nakano
 * Final Fantasy XI (2002) – with Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka
 * Hanjuku Hero Tai 3D (2002)
 * Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003) – with Hitoshi Sakimoto
 * Hanjuku Hero 4: 7-Jin no Hanjuku Hero (2005) – with Kenichiro Fukui, Hirosato Noda, Tsuyoshi Sekito, Naoshi Mizuta, Kenichi Mikoshiba, Ai Yamashita, and Kenji Ito
 * Final Fantasy XII (2006) – with Hitoshi Sakimoto
 * Blue Dragon (2006)
 * Lost Odyssey (2007)
 * Anata o Yurusanai (2007)
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) – with several others
 * Lord of Vermilion (2008)
 * Blue Dragon Plus (2008)
 * [AWAY Shuffle Dungeon (2008)
 * Final Fantasy XIII (2009) – with Masashi Hamauzu
 * Blue Dragon 2 (TBA)
 * Cry On (canceled)

Other works

 * Final Fantasy IV Celtic Moon (1991) – with Máire Breatnach
 * Phantasmagoria (1994)
 * Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
 * Ah! My Goddess: The Movie (2000) – with Shiro Hamaguchi
 * Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS (2000)
 * Piano Collections Final Fantasy IX (2001)
 * Final Fantasy: Unlimited Music Adventure Version 1 (2001) – with Shiro Hamaguchi
 * Final Fantasy: Unlimited Music Adventure Version 2 (2002) – with Shiro Hamaguchi and Akifumi Tada
 * The Black Mages (2003)
 * Piano Collections Final Fantasy VII (2003)
 * The Black Mages II: The Skies Above (2004)
 * Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (2005)
 * The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight (2008)
 * Guin Saga (2009)