Istpika

Michinori Fukushima

CEO（Concept Executive Officer), President

I studied assembler to make games when i was in elementary school. When I got to junior high I was able to clear the 1 coin arcade games in game centres. In high school I got into philosophy, playing the synthesizer and researching A.I.
At 20 I joined a games company and worked as a sound programmer producing driver software. I then mobed onto 1 bit communication drivers and Nintendo’s virtual boy. From those platforms I progressed to the game boy and playstation as a freelance programmer moving from company to company.
At the age of 25 I established the company Floor in Osaka. From the outset we didn’t begin with a core of skilled team members, rather I focussed on company positioning, the aggressive acquiring of staff and internal organisation. I quickly realised that the game industry in Japan was very closed and therefore internationalised the company.
For those staff members with little industry experience, we implemented a 7 step logical thinking training program as this is an area not taught in Japan.
We handled the outsource development of a variety of game titles on the way producing a 3D game brand for the mobile market. Alongside the mobile development we also added a pachislo (slot machine) division and grew the company to a profitability with 60 staff.
In Dec 2008, the 10th year of Floor I split the company in two and formed Istpika. Istpika has launched into the huge potential of social applications. My personal interests of behavioural analysis and psychology and the combination of our game development background is our secret weapon. With a small, highly-skilled core team, we’re pushing the limits.
http://www.facebook.com/mfukushima
http://twitter.com/fukutopika
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michinorifukushima
bunkersofism.comcontributer.

Akihiro Toda

Production Directior

Akihiro produced several hit titles in Japan for overseas markets and has gathered a wealth of knowledge on complete game title production for multiple platform and regions.

An experienced game producer and personnel manager, Akihiro originally studied and worked as a game artist and utilises his design sense in his current producer role.
http://www.facebook.com/toda.akihiro
http://twitter.com/ak_toda

Takuya Seki

Chief Engineer

Takuya worked with Sony on such famous titles as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus (Both PS2), where he held the position of lead programmer. At Sony Takuya developed a reputation for extreme speed in game development and is now applying his skills to several new ventures with Istpika.
Technical interview about Shadow of the Colossus

Jeremy Burton

Aus Director

Jeremy has work in various IT companies as network manager to business development office. Originally a fine art graduate from Curtin University, he has brought networking,business and planning skills to Istpika. He is the founder and Director for the Perth studio of Istpika.

Naoyuki Yamada

Technical Director

Social application enthusiast specializing in marketing and development. He also runs his own blog – http://www.socialapplication.jp/
http://www.facebook.com/yamadanaoyuki
http://twitter.com/satully

Advisory / Breakthrough Partners

Yuji Akaba

Yuji Akaba is a Co-founder and a Managing Director of Breakthrough Partners. The mission of Breakthrough Partners is to help entrepreneurs start up, develop and build world-class venture business based in Japan, or based on cross-border alliances with companies in Silicon Valley, China, Korea, India, Israel and so forth. While it works with companies in all stages, it has a unique approach to work with a would-be CEO of the company as co-founders to help with all aspects of venture business development. As an advocate for entrepreneurship in Japan, Mr Akaba is often invited to speak on the topic in industry conferences and seminars. He also assists Japanese Government develop policies and action programs to foster high-technology start-ups in Japan. Before establishing Breakthrough Partners, he was a Managing Director of Techfarm Asia Ventures, an Asian arm of Techfarm based in Silicon Valley. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Tokyo, an MS and the Degree of Engineer both in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
http://www.facebook.com/yuji.akaba
http://twitter.com/YujiAkaba
http://www.linkedin.com/in/yujiakaba

Koji Morihiro

Koji Morihiro is Co-founder and a Managing Director of Breakthrough Partners where he plays an extremely hands-on role in founding and growing globally competitive start-up businesses primarily in Japan and serves on the board of several companies. Prior to starting Breakthrough Partners in 2002, Koji was a partner at Techfarm in Silicon Valley where he supported all aspects of building the start-up business from ideas to industry leading public company. He was also a key fundraiser for the investment fund and the start-ups he supported. Koji started his career with Fujitsu Limited in Japan where he led many international business initiatives for the semiconductor group. Koji holds a BA in Physics, BS and Masters in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University.