Rather sad news here. Takeshi Miyaji passed away July 29, 2011 at the age of 45. Although his name was unfamiliar to me before today, he has played a minor role in my life. He was a co-founder of the Japanese video game developer Game Arts, and had major roles in their games, namely the Grandia series.

It has been a goal of mine to play each Grandia game (at least those release in the United States) to completion. My first experience with the series was through Grandia II. After purchasing a Dreamcast in the early 2000s, it was one of my first games for the system. Years later I picked up the PlayStation version of Grandia which reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the series. Now I have completed Grandia, Grandia II, and am playing Grandia Xtreme currently.

It’s a shame he passed away so young. Regardless, he played an important part in role-playing games.