Masaya Matsuura (松浦 雅也) born June 16, 1961 is a musician and video game designer based in Tokyo, Japan. He has been active with J-Pop band, PSY • S (サイズ) (or PSYCHOLOGICAL S), was one of the first Japanese musicians to release a CD-ROM, and has been credited with inventing the modern music/rhythm video game genre with PaRappa the Rapper at his studio NanaOn-Sha.
Matsuura founded NanaOn-Sha in 1993, and after quitting his band in June 1996 he had the opportunity to focus on multimedia projects and release PaRappa the Rapper for the PlayStation in December 1996 that he designed alongside artist Rodney Greenblat and writer Gabin Ito. After the success of PaRappa, he went on to create Vib Ribbon, released in 1999, cementing his position as one of the originators of the rhythm game. PaRappa the Rapper spawned Um Jammer Lammy, a spin-off set in the same universe, and a full sequel for the PlayStation 2, PaRappa the Rapper 2.
Matsuura collaborated again with Greenblat on Major Minor's Majestic March, but Greenblat is quoted to have been unhappy with the way the game turned out and the development process. More recently, Matsuura has focussed on developing mobile games, and the Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop series for the DS.
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