Editing Nobuo Uematsu (section)

===Square (1986–2004)===
Uematsu joined Square in 1986, with his first work being a few tracks for ''[[Cruise Chaser Blassty]]''. He met game designer [[Hironobu Sakaguchi]] shortly after, who asked him if he wanted to create music for some of his games, to which Uematsu agreed.<ref name="1UP"/> For the next year, he created music for a number of games which did not achieve widespread success, such as ''[[King's Knight]]'', ''[[3-D WorldRunner]]'', and ''[[Rad Racer]]''.<ref name="Biography" /> In 1987, Uematsu and Sakaguchi collaborated on what was originally to be Sakaguchi's last contribution for Square, ''[[Final Fantasy (video game)|Final Fantasy]]''.<ref name="developmentFF">{{cite web |url=http://www.develop-online.net/news/28960/Sakaguchi-discusses-the-development-of-Final-Fantasy |title=Sakaguchi discusses the development of Final Fantasy |author=Fear, Ed |date=December 13, 2007 |work=Develop |publisher=Intent Media |access-date=October 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809114048/http://www.develop-online.net/news/28960/Sakaguchi-discusses-the-development-of-Final-Fantasy |archive-date=August 9, 2011 }}</ref> ''Final Fantasy''{{'s}} popularity sparked Uematsu's career in video game music, and he would go on to compose music for over 30 titles, most prominently the subsequent games in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series. He scored the first installment in the ''[[SaGa (series)|SaGa]]'' series, ''[[The Final Fantasy Legend]]'', in 1989. For the second game in the series, ''[[Final Fantasy Legend II]]'' he was assisted by [[Kenji Ito]].<ref name="Biography"/> In late 1994, Uematsu was asked to finish the soundtrack for ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' after [[Yasunori Mitsuda]] contracted [[peptic ulcer]]s.<ref>{{cite book |year=2005 |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |publisher=[[BradyGames]] |isbn=0-7440-0424-1 |author= Kohler, Chris}}</ref> In 1996, he co-composed the soundtrack to ''[[Front Mission: Gun Hazard]]'', and created the entire score for ''Dynami Tracer''. He also created music for three of the games in the ''[[Hanjuku Hero]]'' series.<ref name="Biography"/>

Outside of video games, he has composed the main theme for the 2000 animated film ''[[Ah! My Goddess: The Movie]]'' and co-composed the 2001 [[anime]] ''[[Final Fantasy: Unlimited]]'' with [[Shirō Hamaguchi]]. He also inspired the ''Ten Plants'' concept albums, and released a solo album in 1994, titled ''Phantasmagoria''. Feeling gradually more dissatisfied and uninspired, Uematsu requested the assistance of composers [[Masashi Hamauzu]] and [[Junya Nakano]] for the score to ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' in 2001. This marked the first time that Uematsu did not compose an entire main-series ''Final Fantasy'' soundtrack. For ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' from 2002, he was joined by [[Naoshi Mizuta]], who composed the majority of the soundtrack, and [[Kumi Tanioka]]; Uematsu was responsible for only eleven tracks.<ref name="Biography"/> In 2002, fellow Square colleagues [[Kenichiro Fukui]] and [[Tsuyoshi Sekito]] asked Uematsu to join them in forming a rock band that focused on reinterpreting and expanding on Uematsu's compositions. He declined their offer at first because he was too busy with work; however, after agreeing to perform with Fukui and Sekito in a live performance as a keyboardist, he decided to join them in making a band.<ref name="1UP"/><ref name=man>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200905/N09.0527.1612.59659.htm?Page=3 |title=Nobuo Uematsu: The Man Behind The Music |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |first=Meagan |last=VanBurkleo |date=May 27, 2009 |access-date=June 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601154539/http://gameinformer.com/News/Story/200905/N09.0527.1612.59659.htm?Page=3 |archive-date=June 1, 2009}}</ref> Another employee at Square, Mr. Matsushita, chose the name [[The Black Mages]] for their band.<ref name="1UP"/> In 2003, [[Keiji Kawamori]], Arata Hanyuda, and Michio Okamiya also joined the band.<ref name="Biography" /> The Black Mages released three studio albums and performed at several concerts.