Programmed by Nasir

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The original Final Fantasy game was programmed by an American-educated Iranian, Nasir Gebelli. He also programmed the second and third games in that series and, after a long break, the wonderful Secret of Mana 2. After that he left the games industry, turning up for interviews in 1998 and 99, and there disappears from history.

1up has a somewhat fluffy article on the development process of Final Fantasy that holds a gem or two, and video of Nasir at the Apple II reunion from '98 is online, though with terrible audio.

An amusing point is that due to an expired Japanese work visa, Final Fantasy II and III were finished in San Francisco since it was easier for the team to move there than sort out Nasir's situation in Japan. Some things change slowly. Ψ