Original Final Fantasy programmer reappears after years of silence, casually says writing his legendary code "was pretty simple" and it could even be better
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."
Japanese national TV managed to track down and do a rare interview with Nasir Gebelli, the genius Iranian-American Programmer that programmed the first Final Fantasy game! #FinalFantasyHe lead the programming for the first 3 Final Fantasy games. What a legend! pic.twitter.com/GnGkWeLeTnJanuary 11, 2025
"I was making games for Apple back in the 80s or late 70s," Gebelli recalls in the documentary. "I started doing some video games for Apple 2 computers. I probably did, in a couple of years, 10, 15 games. All action games. That was my specialty." Gebelli's works include games like Phantoms Five, Cyber Strike, Star Cruiser, Space Eggs, and Gorgon.
"I thought it was pretty similar to what I was doing for Apple in the same processor," he says of work on Final Fantasy. "I already knew just about every machine code for that processor. So as far as
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