bringing Square international fame. Also in 1997, at Square's invitation, Takechi returned and took Mizuno's place as President. Four new hires during the period were Shinji Hashimoto, Yasumi Matsuno, Hitoshi Sakimoto, and Masashi Hamauzu. Hashimoto joined in 1995 as promotions producer for Final Fantasy VII. Matsuno, along with a number of other developers, had left Quest Corporation following the release of Tactics Ogre (1995), and worked with Sakaguchi on Final Fantasy Tactics (1997). Sakimoto came on board with Matsuno, and worked on the music for his games. Hamauzu joined in 1996, and worked on Final Fantasy spin-off titles and the SaGa series. Sakaguchi, working on other projects, took on the role of executive producer for the series beginning with Final Fantasy VIII, and Hashimoto stepped in as producer. Hirata, after holding an administrative position during the Nintendo years, became a game production lead, focusing on introducing new genres into Square's library. Several properties were created or renewed during this period. These included Parasite Eve, based on a novel of the same name by Hideaki Sena; Front Mission, which began on the Super Famicom but was transferred to the PlayStation beginning with its second entry; and the Final Fantasy spin-off series Chocobo, starring an incarnation of the titular mascot character. During the mid-1990s, Square launched an initiative to give teams of younger staff members a chance to create experimental titles on smaller budgets. Among such titles were Xenogears, Soukaigi, and Another Mind. Also during the mid-to-late 1990s, several staff members departed Square due to creative differences or a desire to work on their own projects. These included Takahashi and Tanaka, Fujioka, Nishi, Kikuta, Mitsuda, and Mana artist Shinichi Kameoka. In April 2000, Suzuki was appointed Square's new President, while Takechi became a company chairman. Also at this time, two outside directors were appointed, Kenichi Ohmae of Ohmae & Associates and Makoto Naruke of Microsoft. The corporate reshuffle was intended to strengthen Square's overseas connections and bring in technical and administrative support for future digital and online content. Alongside this, Yoichi Wada joined the company as a company director and eventually COO. In August 2000, Square was listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, which includes the largest companies on the exchange. While their relations with Nintendo remained poor, Square supported other platforms including the WonderSwan and Windows. Support for the PlayStation continued late into its lifecycle with multiple releases including Threads