I want a book by Nasir about all his Apple games, geez I'd even pay $200 for this, it would be a dream come true! My childhood consisted of playing so many games by this mysterious, unknown genius programmer.
Such a delicious interview... I come back to watch this every now and then, my favorite meeting between two giants of gaming from the days of my youth. I know Gebelli is set for life and I really hope that Romero is in a good enough situation that he doesn't have to worry about his financial situation; he really deserves it and I wish him happiness with his new life in Galway. Thank you Mr. Romero for everything and for such great memories, please post more whenever you can!
Kool! It's really great that you've honored him by uploading this interview to your channel. Never had an Apple II during the 80s, so I hadn't really heard of the games he created. A friend went to work for SquareSoft (out in Santa Clara) around 1995. His first project was a translation of Final Fantasy ?? to the Windows 95 platform. On another note, I've been on the prowl lately for a good IIgs since it can run nearly anything written for the Apple II (or so I've heard). Tried to learn 6502 assembler in the mid 80s, but found it completely mystifying with all the indexing of memory via X, Y registers used in conjunction with the accumulator and what not. First assembler I actually managed to master was the 68000 family in 1987. Maybe a more complex CPU, but simpler from the assembly programmer's perspective by far.
I heard that Nasir's royalty share ranged 25-40% per copy of a game sold, taking into account that Final Fantasy sold about 10 USD or more than your average copy of a Dragon Quest game, not only was Square saved financially, but it also meant Nasir got pretty rich off the games too. After Final Fantasy to Secret of Mana, every game he programmed for afterwards sold like crazy in Japan, and he made so much he doesn't have to work another day in his life; quite the miracle and lucky man he recovered from his divorce and personal losses in roughly a decade.
This is a fascinating interview. Thanks so much for posting it! Legends! You're one of the reasons I got into programming, after seeing Doom and wanting to learn to make something like that. Much respect!
Hilarious that the filming is so 90's. I enjoy having something to listen to as I code and videos like this are very entertaining. Thanks for posting John.
I was curious to see who the game dev "Nasir" was and to read their story. Not only did I find this but he's interviewed by John Romero! Thank you for creating and sharing this!
Great interview. One minor nitpick...that trendy 90s camera work. Yikes. G4 used to use those weird angles too. At least you didn't do MTV style fast cuts.
Should of been John Carmack that interviewed him from programmer to programmer, but you can feel the respect John Romero has for the guy, so much so for the legend that Nesir seems to be like you know I’m a regular guy you know, but I am good at what I do.
Hey Mr.Romero! My gaming hero. Read masters of Doom again a while back. Was wondering what your opinion of the 2016 Doom title would be. I honestly think it lacks the creepiness and immersion of the original doom games. I often find myself closing out of Doom 2016, to play some Doom 1 or 2. Still my favorite shooter of all time.
John Romero Oh man, thanks for replying. Never thought I'd talk to the legend himself. Thank you for the years of great memories playing doom. I can always count on it for some bad ass demon slaying action. The game's soundtrack is one of my favorite aspects. Eerie music playing while hearing imps growl down dark corridors. Takes me back.
John Romero I wish I would've been able to be of age when those games were in development. Such a great time in gaming history. I feel like that train has left the station sometimes. Woulda love to have been involved. Such a legendary engine, and legendary game.
This is so cool! Incredible that an Iranian was the lead (only?) programmer of some of the most iconic and important Japanese games. Wish the sound was mixed a little better in this video though.
It sounds pretty crazy that he didn't have source code. How was he able to debug his games? According to Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nasir told him over the phone what to debug in Final Fantasy III... in hex! How was he able to do that?
He wrote the games in assembly, which is just one step away from the hex characters. It's not easy at all to do it like that but as long as you know what opcodes translate into what hex values it is doable. It helped that the NES was a limited system and Nasir was crazy good. :)
Thanks for posting this interview, John! I've asked several times before for that Apple Reunion DVD just to see Mr. Gebelli! Did Nasir really retire from gamedev since Secret of Mana, that's 24 years ago! Any idea what he's doing nowadays?
Really great stuff. Thank you for sharing. The command wheel in Secret of Mana was so amazing. Most games don't feature a menu system that snappy even now. Did Nasir speak at all about developing Secret of Mana on the failed Sony/Nintendo CD system?
It's actually quite funny because the interviewer is John Romero who himself is a legend in the 90s game industry and he is a fan of Nasir Gebelli who for him is a legend. I gotta say though you have to be mad to code in a language which doesn't even have comments or print statements :D
John Romero time for some John Romero story time. Plus given how it's been over a decade since you left ion storm, now would be a good time to look back at it in depth
Hard work and skills. Huge respect for Nasir Gebelli. I doze of when i learn programming in school. Wish i was half as smart as Gebelli is. Huge inspiration for me!
Game developer rockstar to working class programmer who just happened to be working in a burgeoning innovative field and was real good at what he did but clearly does not deify himself as much as Romero probably did hearing the legend before meeting the slightly nervous man.
I hated FF3 (subjectively speaking)"Not that he made the remake". But nonetheless. Legendary guy! I loved FF2 though! Really huge respect!!! I admire his work on past games!
Why did you keep interrupting him when he was telling a story, holy fuck that was so infuriating. You always had to get a comment in between every sentence he said LUL
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
A legend. Every FF fan should know who this guy is.
This was a fantastic interview despite the background music from SOM being really over bearing at times. Nasir is a genius. Cheers dude.
A unique and insightful interview featuring two legends. What a great 20 minutes that was!
Glad you liked it! I'll be posting more interviews with 80's game coders soon.
Well getting a reply from John Romero hasn't made my day has it! Looking forward to more similar posts. Thank you
Was Jordan Mechner there?
Yes, he was. Steve Wozniak, Bill Budge, Doug Carlston, etc etc etc.
That sadly never happened @@Romero666
oh my god, the camera guy.. from MTV? lol
No wonder Nasir wont do interviews.. lol
Hahahaha
90's 'tude duude!
Two legends together in the same room! I hope Nasir is doing well these days!
I want a book by Nasir about all his Apple games, geez I'd even pay $200 for this, it would be a dream come true! My childhood consisted of playing so many games by this mysterious, unknown genius programmer.
This guy is amazing, always been a huge fan of his work and he has greatly influenced me as a programmer. Please do another interview with him!
Cool! This was recently mentioned in the No Clip interview and I couldn't find a copy of it online, thanks! :)
Thank you very much John ❤
Such a delicious interview... I come back to watch this every now and then, my favorite meeting between two giants of gaming from the days of my youth. I know Gebelli is set for life and I really hope that Romero is in a good enough situation that he doesn't have to worry about his financial situation; he really deserves it and I wish him happiness with his new life in Galway. Thank you Mr. Romero for everything and for such great memories, please post more whenever you can!
Great guy and the interview is great as well. The camera movements, zooming, etc. made me feel nauseous though.
I know - crazy cameraman!
@@Romero666 he seemed just as excited as you were to give the interview!
Kool! It's really great that you've honored him by uploading this interview to your channel. Never had an Apple II during the 80s, so I hadn't really heard of the games he created. A friend went to work for SquareSoft (out in Santa Clara) around 1995. His first project was a translation of Final Fantasy ?? to the Windows 95 platform. On another note, I've been on the prowl lately for a good IIgs since it can run nearly anything written for the Apple II (or so I've heard). Tried to learn 6502 assembler in the mid 80s, but found it completely mystifying with all the indexing of memory via X, Y registers used in conjunction with the accumulator and what not. First assembler I actually managed to master was the 68000 family in 1987. Maybe a more complex CPU, but simpler from the assembly programmer's perspective by far.
This is a really great piece of gaming history. I'd love to see more behind the scenes stuff from the Ion Storm days.
Such an inspirational interview. Thank you for sharing!
Loved the interview but OMG the cameraman...
I just keep coming back to watch this again & again, magical.
Thanks for the interview ! You guys are incredible.
Great interview with a legend. How did Nasir become financially free so early on?
Royalties from Final Fantasy 1-3 + Secret of Mana. He has never worked as an employee of any company - always a consultant.
Mostly it was the royalties he earned working with Square, especially on Rad Racer, Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana.
I heard that Nasir's royalty share ranged 25-40% per copy of a game sold, taking into account that Final Fantasy sold about 10 USD or more than your average copy of a Dragon Quest game, not only was Square saved financially, but it also meant Nasir got pretty rich off the games too. After Final Fantasy to Secret of Mana, every game he programmed for afterwards sold like crazy in Japan, and he made so much he doesn't have to work another day in his life; quite the miracle and lucky man he recovered from his divorce and personal losses in roughly a decade.
25-40%??? can i get a source on that? @@NicholasStabile
absolute CHAD@@Romero666
Imagine a random foreign dude comes into your tiny software company, and he turns out to be the legendary coder.
To be fair, they already knew who he was and already liked what he did!
@@DaVince21 They originally wanted him for his 3D programming. Rad Racer and 3D World Runner were requests from Masafumi Miyamoto to make a 3D game.
Thank you for this preservation of important gaming history, Mr. Romero!
This is a fascinating interview. Thanks so much for posting it! Legends!
You're one of the reasons I got into programming, after seeing Doom and wanting to learn to make something like that. Much respect!
a brilliant and cool guy. hope he's still healthy, happy, and reaping the benefits of his work. changed a lot of lives.
I had no idea about this guy, thanks for uploading, really fascinating
Hilarious that the filming is so 90's. I enjoy having something to listen to as I code and videos like this are very entertaining. Thanks for posting John.
I was curious to see who the game dev "Nasir" was and to read their story. Not only did I find this but he's interviewed by John Romero! Thank you for creating and sharing this!
"The Dreamcast is the next thing coming out..."
Feels bad, man...
Wow, Gebelli is a very cool and collected man. I wonder what he is up to these days...
So cool and humble.
Great interview. One minor nitpick...that trendy 90s camera work. Yikes. G4 used to use those weird angles too. At least you didn't do MTV style fast cuts.
I know - the cameraman went nuts
Should of been John Carmack that interviewed him from programmer to programmer, but you can feel the respect John Romero has for the guy, so much so for the legend that Nesir seems to be like you know I’m a regular guy you know, but I am good at what I do.
Hey Mr.Romero! My gaming hero. Read masters of Doom again a while back. Was wondering what your opinion of the 2016 Doom title would be. I honestly think it lacks the creepiness and immersion of the original doom games. I often find myself closing out of Doom 2016, to play some Doom 1 or 2. Still my favorite shooter of all time.
Thanks! I do like the new DOOM. I'm more fond of the originals, but I think id did an exceptional job living up to the franchise.
John Romero Oh man, thanks for replying. Never thought I'd talk to the legend himself. Thank you for the years of great memories playing doom. I can always count on it for some bad ass demon slaying action. The game's soundtrack is one of my favorite aspects. Eerie music playing while hearing imps growl down dark corridors. Takes me back.
John Romero I wish I would've been able to be of age when those games were in development. Such a great time in gaming history. I feel like that train has left the station sometimes. Woulda love to have been involved. Such a legendary engine, and legendary game.
This is so cool! Incredible that an Iranian was the lead (only?) programmer of some of the most iconic and important Japanese games.
Wish the sound was mixed a little better in this video though.
he had the code in his head, before programming it in
that is whats called, memory!
true genius! you had to be back then!
I still enjoy playing Final Fantasy, thank you Nasir!
Man, that 90s action cam though, haha.
It sounds pretty crazy that he didn't have source code. How was he able to debug his games? According to Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nasir told him over the phone what to debug in Final Fantasy III... in hex! How was he able to do that?
He wrote the games in assembly, which is just one step away from the hex characters. It's not easy at all to do it like that but as long as you know what opcodes translate into what hex values it is doable. It helped that the NES was a limited system and Nasir was crazy good. :)
Thanks John!
Two legendary founders of gaming as we know it today.
15:25 He did Secret of Mana on SNES, FF 1-3 on NES
Thanks for posting this interview, John! I've asked several times before for that Apple Reunion DVD just to see Mr. Gebelli! Did Nasir really retire from gamedev since Secret of Mana, that's 24 years ago! Any idea what he's doing nowadays?
Interesting!
Not knowing anything about Nasir, I was expecting lots of Apple II stuff, but instead heard a lot of interesting Squaresoft stuff.
That sound at the beginning of the Secret of Mana title screen always creeped me out as a kid.
Really great stuff. Thank you for sharing.
The command wheel in Secret of Mana was so amazing. Most games don't feature a menu system that snappy even now.
Did Nasir speak at all about developing Secret of Mana on the failed Sony/Nintendo CD system?
god, that opening with the mana beast roar, nearly teared up.
rocking that Persian accent like a god :D
this camera work reminds me of WWE's unnecessary camera cuts. but then again this was made a year before i was born
Romero... you were too young here.... nostalgia :)
I was about 30 years old.
It's actually quite funny because the interviewer is John Romero who himself is a legend in the 90s game industry and he is a fan of Nasir Gebelli who for him is a legend. I gotta say though you have to be mad to code in a language which doesn't even have comments or print statements :D
I love them both. Nasir i consider the greatest inspirations interms of video games. Just amazing work on previous games!
Is the music in the background or added afterwards because it's highly distracting.
What's wrong with the cameraman? It's an interview, stop moving around
Nasir even has an easteregg in SoM's status bar if you press a certain button combo.
Mr. Romero, will we ever see a stream about the history of Ion Storm? There are not a lot of good documentaries on Daikatana and Ion Storm. Thanks.
Oldgames1000 : I will definitely do a stream about Ion. It's been long enough.
John Romero time for some John Romero story time. Plus given how it's been over a decade since you left ion storm, now would be a good time to look back at it in depth
Once as iran prince
And become a genius game developer
Hard work and skills. Huge respect for Nasir Gebelli. I doze of when i learn programming in school. Wish i was half as smart as Gebelli is. Huge inspiration for me!
nice upload romero!
i was wondering if you are working on any more doom maps?
shit. i should'nt have asked about the doom maps...
Kulax maybe....
John Romero YES! GOD HAS REPLIED TO ME!
If this dude didn't do it back then, Final Fantasy would be a NEC computer card game!
@John Romero, big fan of your work and you :) . I would be most joyful when you read this :)
have a wonderful life.
Jesus mr camera man, chill.
Amazing. How can we get in contact with this legend? As an Iranian and video game fan and designer, we need to hear more from him.
Only 5000 views ? Internet, shame on you !
Game developer rockstar to working class programmer who just happened to be working in a burgeoning innovative field and was real good at what he did but clearly does not deify himself as much as Romero probably did hearing the legend before meeting the slightly nervous man.
Where does Nasir work now?
Nasir hasn't worked since 1993. He's retired.
John Romero Ah okay, thanks.
John Romero As deserved!
Amazing interview, and I hate to complain about something so rare. But how high was this camera man??
Should have replaced the cameraman with a tripod
Talking about FF, nice SOM background music =)
Programmed by Nasir that's kept me wondering for years who Nasir? and searched the hell out of the web until i got some answers.
Wow. The music is all from Secret of Mana.
There's Final Fantasy music later on!
i m the only one here have sound issue ?
John Romero is the most humble, world-renowned celebrity of all time.
How was I not already a subscriber?
I feel like such a jerk.
Mashllah mashallah 👏😄
@JohnRomero With the reboot of Wolfenstein and Doom, what do you think of Quake's future ?
Cameraman is free stylin over here
Did John forget his password?
show us some screenshots or news of Blackroom please hehe
DwarfSroll Freax I'm fairly sure that's well canceled mate
KonstantinGaming Now we have daikataco trucker
I don't get why he would need a printer to code..?
Nasir is the only person who can calm down Romero's demons.
I don't know why the camera man is getting so much flak in the comments. It was the 90s!
I never played any of his games. :/
Japanese: hard working
Nasir: genius
This is like Jesus interviewing God. Both are from another realm. The kingdom of "We can do whatever we want that you mortals can't"
dat floppy disk on his neck
I hated FF3 (subjectively speaking)"Not that he made the remake". But nonetheless. Legendary guy!
I loved FF2 though! Really huge respect!!! I admire his work on past games!
So he's the one responsible for Ultima sucking at FF2. And half the magics in FF1 not working. XD
really is doom guy
romero, you can't do interview without interrupting? soo annoying...
Why did you keep interrupting him when he was telling a story, holy fuck that was so infuriating. You always had to get a comment in between every sentence he said LUL
mryeeboi : I know! I can’t believe I did that. I was so excited.