Editing Yuji Naka (section)

==History==
===Early life===
Yuji Naka developed an interest in computers earlier on by his favorite musician that used coding to make music. He began his career working at Nihon Microcomputer Academy part-time during high school and was tasked with porting games between gaming platforms.<ref name="2009NintendoPowerEarlyLife">{{Cite journal |journal=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume=242 |date=June 2009 |pages=46–48 |title=Power Profiles: Yuji Naka |quote='''Questionnaire''': How did you first become involved in the video game industry? / '''Yuji Naka''': I started at Sega. When I was a high school student, I worked for the company part time. I was porting games from one platform to another. Going back further, the reason I first got interested in computers was because my favorite musician was using them to make music. From there, I started coding games.}}</ref> Originally, he wanted to work at [[Wikipedia:Namco|Namco]], a video game company that ironically became defunct after its merge in 2006, the same year Naka left Sega. But Yuji Naka couldn't, because he didn't get very good grades in high school and couldn't go to university. Back then, [[Sega]] and [[wikipedia:Taito|Taito]] were the only companies that would hire people without a university degree; Naka chose the former.<ref name="2009NintendoPowerJoiningSega">{{Cite journal |journal=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume=242 |date=June 2009 |pages=46–48 |title=Power Profiles: Yuji Naka |quote='''Questionnaire''': Why did you originally choose to work at Sega rather than some other publisher? / '''Yuji Naka''': I wanted to go to Namco. [Laughs] But I didn't get very good grades in high school. That's why I didn't go to university. Back then, Sega and Taito were the only companies that would hire people without a university degree. So I choose Sega. [Laughs]}}</ref>

After joining Sega in 1984, Yuji Naka would stay at their boarding house, Sega Omori dormitory. He would spend his first month training his skills, which followed immediately to making his first game.

As Yuji Naka was in the middle of his training, his section manager tasked him with a project, "think about making a game for girls", as part of his training. Naka collaborated this assignment together with [[Hiroshi Kawaguchi]], who was also in the middle of his own training. Two months later, the manager called Naka and simply said, "''Well, I'm going to sell it.''" After a five month development period, ''[[Wikipedia:Girl's Garden|Girls' Garden]]'' was released in 1985, with positive reviews noting to be "one of the more technically impressive games" on Sega's hardware for its time.<ref name="Girls Garden"/>

===''Sonic the Hedgehog''===
Yuji Naka would later find himself in charge of programing the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' game, while [[Naoto Ohshima]] designed the characters and [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]] designed the levels. Naka has also produced many other titles like ''[[wikipedia:Nights into Dreams|Nights into Dreams...]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Burning Rangers|Burning Rangers]]'', ''[[w:c:pso:Phantasy Star Online|Phantasy Star Online]]'', ''[[Sega Superstars]]'', ''[[w:c:billyhatcher:Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg|Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg]]'' and ''[[w:c:rodea-the-sky-soldier:Rodea the Sky Soldier|Rodea the Sky Soldier]]''. In early games he was often credited as "YU2" (in reference to Yu Suzuki) and "Muuu Yuji". He is one of the few famous Japanese game creators to speak fluent English.

When asked about the famous [[Nintendo]] vs. Sega [[Wikipedia:Console war|console wars]] of the 1990's in an episode of ''[[Wikipedia:Icon (TV series)|Icons]]'', he states that his intentions while making the original ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game were different than the direction it was taken, and that the comparisons between Sonic and Mario were a misunderstanding by the media. He also says that he is good friends with Nintendo and that Sega had respect for Nintendo with their ''[[Mario]]'' games, which were viewed as a watermark of quality for Sega to strive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://xbox.gamespy.com/articles/654/654750p4.html|title=Sega's Yuji Naka Talks!|publisher=[[Wikipedia:GameSpy|GameSpy]]|quote='''Yuji Naka''': I will go on the record here and state that we at Sega have always had nothing but the utmost respect for Nintendo and the Mario games. Even when they were our direct competitor in the hardware arena, we have viewed the games as a watermark of quality for us to strive towards. It is a pleasure and an honor for us to work with Nintendo as a third party today.|accessdate=3 January 2015}}</ref>

Yuji Naka would later reflect on his time in the video game industry, from his beginning through the fable "console wars" to leaving the [[Sonic the Hedgehog series|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series]] in the June 2009 issue of ''[[Nintendo Power]]''. He was asked how he saw the video game industry change over time. Naka, interestingly, compared the games, such as Sonic's classic games, made during the console war as novels, games that allowed the players freedom to use their imaginations, while the direction taken by the video game industry turned games into movies with marketing's pursuit for realism, laying out everything, and diminishing the player's creative response to the games. What he missed the most was being involved with hardware development, reflecting that it was fun battling [[Nintendo]] in that area.<ref name="2009NintendoPowerTime">{{Cite journal |journal=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume242 |date=June 2009 |pages=46–48 |title=Power Profiles: Yuji Naka |quote='''Questionnaire''': You addressed this a little bit already regarding the longer development cycles, but how would you say the video game industry has changed during the time you've been involved with it? / '''Yuji Naka''': Previously, games didn't need to be realistic. Now a big part of a game's marketing is how realistic it is. Think of it like the difference between a novel and a movie. Games used to be like novels in that there was a lot of room for the player's imagination. With current games, everything is laid out for the player. The biggest change for me, personally, over the past 25 years is that I'm no longer involved in hardware development. I used to work on the hardware side, and in those days, I was battling Nintendo! [Laughs] That's no longer the case, obviously. But for me, I think those hardware battles were more fun. [Laughs]}}</ref>

===Leaving during mid-development of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (2006)===
In May 2006, while [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)|''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (2006)]] and ''[[Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'' were in production behind closed doors, it was announced that Naka was leaving [[Sega]] to create his own game studio, [[wikipedia:Prope|Prope]].<ref name="YujiNakaLeavesSonicTeam"/> This decision bears resemblance to [[Naoto Ohshima]]'s departure of [[Sonic Team]] in 1999, when he founded [[wikipedia:Artoon|Artoon]].

In 2009, Yuji Naka would later speak with ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' about leaving Sega. He was satisfied with the decision, stating his independence in Prope felt like the freedom old [[Sonic Team]] had during the Classic era.<ref name="2009NintendoPowerPrope">{{Cite journal |journal=[[Nintendo Power]] |volume=242 |date=June 2009 |pages=46–48 |title=Power Profiles: Yuji Naka |quote='''Questionnaire''': How are things different now that you're running your own independent studio? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages? / '''Yuji Naka''': I don't really see any disadvantages. Initially, it was really hard putting together the team. That took a long time. I feel a lot more freedom than I did recently at Sega. The way Propels now feels really close to the old Sonic Team, when it was more independent. I really like that.}}</ref>

===Square Enix===
In 2018, Naka joined [[wikipedia:Square Enix|Square Enix]] and founded its action game brand, Balan Company, with Ohshima. Naka directed ''[[wikipedia:Balan Wonderworld|Balan Wonderworld]]'', with Ohshima as character designer, and with Ohshima's Arzest developing. It was the first time the two have worked together since ''[[Sonic Adventure]]''. In June 2021, it was revealed on his Facebook page that he was no longer working at Square Enix.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sonicstadium.org/2021/06/yuji-naka-is-no-longer-working-at-square-enix/|title=Yuji Naka is no longer working at Square Enix|work=Sonic Stadium|author=SSF1991|accessdate=4 June 2021}}</ref> Naka later confirmed this on his Twitter account, where he also stated that he was considering retirement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/yuji-naka-leaves-square-enix|title=Yuji Naka leaves Square Enix|work=Gematsu|first=Sal|last=Romano|date=5 June 2021|accessdate=5 June 2021}}</ref> In September 2021, Naka stated that he was teaching himself programming in order to work on a mobile phone game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-09-17-sonic-creator-yuji-naka-says-hes-teaching-himself-how-to-program-his-own-smartphone-game|title=Sonic creator Yuji Naka says he's teaching himself how to program his own smartphone game|work=Eurogamer|first=Matt|last=Wales|date=17 September 2021|accessdate=17 September 2021}}</ref> 

===Criminal Charges===
On 17 November, 2022, Naka was taken in by Japanese law enforcement. Along with ex-employees, Fumiaki Suzuki and Taisuke Sazaki, Yuji Naka is arrested on suspicion of insider trading related to non-public information about ''Dragon Quest Tact''. Naka allegedly bought 10,000 shares of developer Aiming before the unspecified information was made public.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/former-square-enix-employees-arrested-over-dragon-quest-related-insider-trading/|title=Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka among former Square Enix employees arrested over Dragon Quest-related insider trading|work=PC Gamer|first=Ted|last=Litchfield|date=17 November 2022|accessdate=17 November 2022}}</ref>

Reported on 7 December 2022, Yuji Naka was rearrested alongside Sazaki for more insider trading for the mobile game ''Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier'', purchasing a total of 120,000 shares into developer ATeam.<ref name="ATeamCharge"/> Naka was formally indicted on 27 December 2022 for the insider trading charges.<ref name="FormallyCharged"/>

On 2 March 2023, it was reported by Japanese TV Networks TBS and NHK that Yuji Naka has admitted in court to insider trading over the ownership of ATeam's shares worth around £865,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurogamer.net/former-sonic-boss-yuji-naka-admits-insider-trading-reports|title=Former Sonic boss Yuji Naka admits insider trading - reports|work=Eurogamer|first=Tom|last=Phillips|date=March 2, 2023|accessdate=March 2, 2023|quote='''Yuji Naka''': There is no doubt that I knew the facts about the game before it was made public and bought the stock.}}</ref> 3 months later on 1 June 2023, prosecutors moved forward and demanded Yuji Naka serve two and a half years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/yuji-naka-has-reportedly-been-sentenced-to-2-5-years-in-prison-for-insider-trading/|title=Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka faces a prison sentence of two and a half years and a fine of over $1.2 million for his part in an insider trading scheme at Square Enix|work=Video Games Chronicle|first=Chris|last=Scullion|date=June 1, 2023|accessdate=June 12, 2023}}</ref> On 7 July, a Tokyo District Court judge gave Naka a sentence of two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years. The judge ordered Naka to forfeit 171 million yen (US$1.2 million) and pay a fine of two million yen (US$20,000).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/yuji-naka-gets-a-1-2-million-fine-and-a-suspended-prison-sentence-for-insider-trading/|title=Yuji Naka gets a $1.2 million fine and a suspended prison sentence for insider trading|work=Video Games Chronicle|first=Chris|last=Scullion|date=July 7, 2023|accessdate=July 7, 2023}}</ref>

On 7 April 2024, Naka made a statement on X (formerly Twitter) for the first time in 16 months since November 2022, accusing the producer of ''Dragon Quest'' Yu Miyake for lying in court documents.<ref>{{cite web|last=Robinson|first=Andy|title=Yuji Naka returns to X by accusing Dragon Quest producer of ‘lying to court’|url=https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/yuji-naka-returns-to-x-by-accusing-dragon-quest-producer-of-lying-in-court/|date=7 April 2024|access-date=26 April 2024|work=Video Game Chronicle}}</ref>