Nasir Gebelli

Nasir Gebelli (, also Nasser Gebelli, born 1957) is an Iranian-American programmer and video game designer usually credited in his games as simply Nasir. Gebelli wrote Apple II games for Sirius Software, created his own company Gebelli Software, and worked for Squaresoft (now Square Enix). He became known in the early 1980s for producing fast action games for the Apple II, including 3D shooters.
From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, he developed home console games for Squaresoft. He was part of Square, programming the first three "Final Fantasy" games, the Famicom 3D System titles "3-D WorldRunner" and "Rad Racer", and "Secret of Mana".
Early life and career (1957–1985).
Gebelli was born in Iran in 1957. Because of his family relationship with the Iranian royal family, he migrated to the United States to avoid the 1979 Iranian Revolution and study computer science. golden age arcade games inspired him at the time, such as "Space Invaders". Gebelli's first project for the Apple II was "EasyDraw", a logo and character creation program he used for his later games. He then began programming video games in either 1978 or 1979.
Sirius Software.
As a college student, he demonstrated a slide show program he wrote at a computer store to the stores' owner Jerry Jewell. In 1980 joined a new company founded by Jewell and Terry Bradley, Sirius Software. Gebelli's first game was "Both Barrels".
Within a year, Gebelli programmed twelve games. He preferred to program directly from his head rather than take notes, so Gebelli had code games quickly before he forgot it. His action games were well-received, and three of his games, "Phantoms Five", "Cyber Strike", and "Star Cruiser", appeared on "Softalk"s Top Thirty software list in March 1981. Six of his games later appeared on "Softalk"s Top Thirty list in August 1981, with the highest at number three. His best-selling titles were "Space Eggs" and "Gorgon", which were clones of "Moon Cresta" and "Defender", respectively. "Electronic Games" referred to Gebelli as "ace designer Nasir" and gave "Gorgon" a positive review. "BYTE" assured readers that "Gorgon" would not disappoint "Nasir Gabelli fans". "Gorgon" sold at least 23,000 copies in a year, making it one of the best-selling computer games through June 1982. Gebelli's games used page flipping, which eliminated the flickering that early Apple II games experienced.
Gebelli Software.
He left Sirius in 1982 to establish his own software company, Gebelli Software, which released its first game that same year. Entitled "Horizon V", the game was a first-person shooter with a radar mechanic. Sirius released the Apple II game "Zenith" later in 1982, which added the ability for players to rotate their ships. In October 1982, "Arcade Express" reviewed "Zenith" and scored it 9 out of 10, stating "celebrated Nasir proves his reputation" with "this visually striking first-person space piloting and shooting" game. In March 1983, however, "Andromeda" (fourth place for Atari 8-bit), "Russki Duck" (tied for sixth for Apple) and "Horizon V" (tenth place for Apple) received "Softline"s Dog of the Year awards "for badness in computer games" based on reader submissions. "Horizon V" sold 5,000 copies during its first few months on sale in 1982.
IBM arranged for Gebelli to produce launch titles for the IBM PCjr, announced in late 1983. Gebelli's company would not prove very successful, and the video game crash of 1983 caused Gebelli Software to close. Afterward, Gebelli went on an extended vacation traveling the world. When he retired from Apple II development, Gebelli had eight games on "Softalk"s Apple II best-seller lists, more than any other game designer.
Squaresoft (1986–1993).
In 1986, Gebelli became interested in developing games again and met with Doug Carlston, his friend and owner of video game developer Brøderbund. Carlston told him about the rise of the Nintendo Entertainment System and how he should start creating games for the console. Gebelli was interested, and so Doug offered to fly to Japan with Nasir and introduce him to his contacts at Square. Nasir had the opportunity to meet with Masafumi Miyamoto, founder and president of Square, who decided to hire him. The programmers, especially Hironobu Sakaguchi (a long-time fan of Gebelli's work), were aware of Nasir's reputation and were excited to have him join.
Famicom 3D System.
While at Square, Nasir programmed the game "Tobidase Daisakusen" for the Famicom Disk System, released in the United States in early 1987 as "3-D WorldRunner" on the NES. "3-D WorldRunner" was a pseudo-3D third-person platform game where players move in any forward-scrolling direction and leap over obstacles and chasms. It was also notable for being one of the first stereoscopic video games. His second Square project was "Highway Star" ("Rad Racer" in the U.S.), a stereoscopic 3-D racing game also designed for the "Famicom 3D System" in 1987. He went on to program a sequel, "Rad Racer II", released in 1990. According to Sakaguchi, Square initially hired Gebelli for his 3D programming techniques, as seen in "3-D WorldRunner" and "Rad Racer". At the time, Gebelli did not know any Japanese and had no translator, so it was initially difficult to communicate with Sakaguchi. There were only three staff members working on both games, Gebelli, Sakaguchi, and graphic designer Kazuko Shibuya (who later worked on the "Frontier" games). Both games were commercially successful, selling about 500,000 copies each.
"Final Fantasy".
Gebelli then teamed up with Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu and Yoshitaka Amano as part of Square's A-Team to produce "Final Fantasy", the first entry in the popular "Final Fantasy" series. A role-playing video game released for the NES in 1987 in Japan, it featured several unique features, a character creation system, the concept of time travel, side-view battles and transportation by canoe, boat and airship. It also had the first RPG minigame, a sliding puzzle added by Gebelli into the game despite its not being part of Squaresoft's original game design.
He went on to program "Final Fantasy II", released in 1988, introducing an "emotional storyline, morally ambiguous characters, tragic events". He also made the story "emotionally experienced rather than concluded from gameplay and conversations". The game replaced traditional levels and experience points with a new activity-based progression system that required "gradual development of individual statistics through continuous actions of the same kind". "Final Fantasy II" also featured open-ended exploration and an innovative dialogue system where players use keywords or phrases during conversations with non-player characters.
Gebelli went on to program "Final Fantasy III" in 1990, which introduced the job system, a character progression engine allowing the changing and combination of character classes. Midway through the development of both "Final Fantasy II" and "III", Gebelli returned to Sacramento, California from Japan due to an expired work visa. The rest of the development staff followed him to Sacramento with materials and equipment needed to finish game production.
"Secret of Mana".
After completing "Final Fantasy III", Gebelli took another long vacation and later returned to work on "Seiken Densetsu II" (released as "Secret of Mana" in the U.S.), the second entry in the "Mana" series, released in 1993. The game made advances to the action role-playing game genre, including its unique cooperative multiplayer gameplay. The team who created the game had worked the first three Final Fantasy titles: Gebelli, Koichi Ishii, and Hiromichi Tanaka. The team developed "Secret of Mana" to be a launch title for Sony's SNES CD (PlayStation) add-on. After Sony and Nintendo backed out of making the console, the game was changed to fit a standard SNES game cartridge.
The game received considerable acclaim for its innovative pausable real-time battle system, stamina bar, the "Ring Command" menu system, its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, and the customizable AI settings for computer-controlled allies.
Later life (1994–present).
Following "Secret of Mana's" completion, Gebelli retired with income from Square royalties and travelled the world. In August 1998, Gebelli attended an Apple II Reunion in Dallas, Texas, at video game developer Ion Storm offices. There, Gebelli met developer and fan John Romero, who interviewed him. Gebelli lives in Sacramento, California, where he has lived most of his life.
Legacy.
John Romero ("Wolfenstein 3D", "Doom", "Quake") credited Gebelli as a significant influence on his career as a game designer. He also cited Gebelli as his favorite programmer and a notable inspiration, mentioning his fast action and 3D programming work on games such as "Horizon V" and "Zenith". Gebelli also inspired the careers of other developers, such as Mark Turmell ("NBA Jam", "Smash TV"). Jordan Mechner has also credited Gebelli's work on the Apple II as inspiration and as a major influence on the creation of "Karateka" and "Prince of Persia". Richard Garriott ("Ultima") also praised Gebelli's ability to craft games that "were really playable and fun!"
"Final Fantasy" went on to become a major franchise, and Hironobu Sakaguchi went on to become a well-known figure in the game industry. "Final Fantasy"s side-view battles became the norm for numerous console RPGs. Developers used "Final Fantasy II"s activity-based progression system in several later RPG series, such as the "SaGa," "Grandia," and "The Elder Scrolls" series. "Final Fantasy III"s job system became a recurring element in the "Final Fantasy" series. "Secret of Mana" has also influenced later action RPGs, including modern titles such as "The Temple of Elemental Evil" and "Dungeon Siege III".