NC

Out team develops SDKs (Software Development Kits) for mobile games. We also develop the apps to support game operation. We have also developed the “NC Certification Device” to help users identify themselves when logging onto games and “Yeti”, a game streaming play service.

The clients of the products that we produce are mainly internal developers. We pay much attention to developing the products that are easy for them to use. We not only provided user guides, but also developed a website where they could view the logs by themselves when errors occurred. We develop platforms as a team, and therefore, we frequently communicate with multiple organizations and make decisions.

We deal with mobile technologies, and therefore, the members are younger than those of other teams. Our team members clearly have strong personalities. Therefore, we make efforts to collaborate as a team.

In case there is an inquiry or an issue that is difficult to deal with, the issue is shared and addressed together with the team members during the daily meeting that we have for ten minutes every day.

We also design SDK together. For instance, when we develop an API to view the products in a game, we let not only the people that are directly involved, but also the ones that are interested participate in the meetings. We gather various ideas through the meetings.

Programming is also a human work. There may be situations where we create “B”, instead of “A”, due to miscommunication. It is important to accurately understand the request.

We rarely work by ourselves. We always work with multiple people. Since there are many occasions where my code should be viewed by others, we should develop the codes that are easy to understand, and I believe that this is also a part of communication.

Developing an easy code is also to care for others. We should always think for the other’s perspective. The same logic applies to communications. Communications start from one’s attitude to care for others.

Problems may always occur. In such a case, I admire the ones that try to take swift actions to address the problems, instead of trying to figure out who is responsible. I think it will be better to join hands, instead of playing a tug of war, blaming each other for the problem.

This may be a biased opinion, but the female programmers that I used to work with tended not to show their ability to others, even in the case where they had excellent abilities. This also applies to the ones that are genuinely good. I wish they could have more confidence and show their ability to other when necessary.

We deliver results as a team. To deliver good results, one should not only care about his (or her) work, but also help others. We work together based on such a mindset, and it tends to attract the people with similar mindsets to the team. It feels the most rewarding and proud when PMs or other teams say that they enjoy working with our team the most.

When I was an elementary school kid, my parents bought me a msx computer. There was a book about basic language programming at home. I tried them one by one, since I had a computer. It was very fun. Tapping on the keyboard alone was fun. That was how I got interested in computers and started to attend a private computer academy. I detested learning how to play piano; but I enjoyed going to the private computer academy.

Msx was a computer optimized for game plays. You could play games just by inserting a pack. I still remember a game called < Castle >. I had much fun in programming and gaming and started to like both of them.

I did not intend to join a game company when I graduated the college as a computer science major. Just before graduation, my friends prepared for the official recruitment processes of large conglomerates. I did not want to work for the companies where I should wear formal suits. I did not think that such a formal atmosphere would suit me. One day, a recruitment banner happened to appear on the website of the game that I used to play. I submitted my application, just thinking that it would be ‘fun’. I did not consider things like welfare benefits, annual wage, and etc.

That was how I entered the game industry, and it has been 15 years since I joined NC. I developed games’ billing and operation systems, etc. and started mobile programming. I changed my area of expertise, because it seemed fun. When something is fun and interesting, they are also fun to study. I have studied them one by one, and this is how far I have come.

Games are the only one that I could concentrate to the extent I would forget about the passage of time. These days, I play < Devil Survivor >, which reminded me of the ones that I played through Nintendo DS. In college, I was very much into the Japanese games that were not even officially released and played them with a dictionary in hand. My Japanese improved a lot after one month.

Whenever I do not know about something, I try to find the solutions in books. When I was first appointed as the Head of Team, I studied what other heads of team would normally do. I learned programming quite naturally. I just did it, because it was fun. I did not dislike the things that we did at work. However, being a head of team required efforts. I read countless books. I still read them whenever there is time, and I try to attend as many trainings for the Heads of Team provided by the Company as possible.

Compared to the time when I just joined the company, the working environment changed much. It would be difficult for you to believe, but at the time there were people that smoked inside the office while working late. There were times when working late and on weekends was quite common. However, I now work with the generation that prioritizes their private lives over work. Adaptation to these changes is always required. This is also a way to collaborate. I cannot run the team only based on the way I want, and I think I should adapt to the changes. Of course, sometimes I behave like an old fart without even knowing it……I make conscious efforts not to do so.

The things that I like may change constantly. However, at the moment, I like development the most. I would feel happy when the products that I launch get good reviews from the users and are stably serviced. I am the one that takes actions when things are fun. I want to live a happy life while working like this.