Iranian-American programmer Nasir Gebelli was instrumental in the evolution of video games and notably programmed the first three Final Fantasy games himself, consequently earning the adoration of Doom Guy John Romero, who previously called Gebelli his "programming god, my idol." After spending years out of the public eye, Gebelli recently appeared in a Japanese documentary chronicling the origins of Final Fantasy to discuss his work history and creative process, and to casually say that programming some of the most influential JRPGs in history "was pretty simple."
A shorter version of the documentary from NHK World Japan, Legendary Games Chronicle: Final Fantasy, is available to watch for free online. An expanded version featuring Gebelli was more recently released in Japanese. I haven't been able to find the full video listed online, but a clip of Gebelli was shared on Twitter by Japanese gaming hound Genki. This is the first interview that the famous programmer has done in many years, and it earned yet another shoutout from Romero: "Without Nasir, there is no DOOM. His work was the inspiration for so many game developers."
