Game programmers today are hardcore. They always are, but in the past, they were a little more hardcore.


Shinichi Nakamoto created Bomberman, the bomb-throwing game. The game was originally released on PC in 1983, but later ported to Nintendo's popular Family Computer, or Famicom.

That port was supposedly done in 72 hours by one man, the guy who created it.

Nakamoto, who apparently was a heavy gum chewer, chewed up all his gum while doing the game's port and ended up chewing on pencils by the end of it. But according to respected Japanese journalist Hisakazu Hirabayashi, after 72 hours, Nakamoto was finished.


"In 72 hours of one's guy work, a game that sold over a million copies," Hirabayashi tweeted. "Even today, that's unbelievable."

Hirabayashi was prompted to share this bit of gaming lore with the news that Hudson was completely enveloped by parent company Konami earlier this week.

Kotaku is contacting Hudson, er Konami, to confirm this story.

ゲーム業界の生き証人、平林久和氏が語る「ハドソン」 [togetter via はちま起稿]