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Yuji Naka

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Yuji Naka (中 裕司 Naka Yūji?) is a former video game designer, programmer and producer. He was the lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Sega Genesis and a former, executive head of Sonic Team.

History[edit | edit source]

Early life[edit | edit source]

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.[8] Originally, he wanted to work at 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 Taito were the only companies that would hire people without a university degree; Naka chose the former.[9]

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, 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.[3]

Sonic the Hedgehog[edit | edit source]

Yuji Naka would later find himself in charge of programing the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, while Naoto Ohshima designed the characters and Hirokazu Yasuhara designed the levels. Naka has also produced many other titles like Nights into Dreams..., Burning Rangers, Phantasy Star Online, Sega Superstars, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg and 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 console wars of the 1990's in an episode of 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.[10]

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 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.[11]

Leaving during mid-development of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)[edit | edit source]

In May 2006, while 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, Prope.[4] This decision bears resemblance to Naoto Ohshima's departure of Sonic Team in 1999, when he founded 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.[12]

Square Enix[edit | edit source]

In 2018, Naka joined Square Enix and founded its action game brand, Balan Company, with Ohshima. Naka directed 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.[13] Naka later confirmed this on his Twitter account, where he also stated that he was considering retirement.[14] In September 2021, Naka stated that he was teaching himself programming in order to work on a mobile phone game.[15]

Criminal Charges[edit | edit source]

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.[16]

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.[6] Naka was formally indicted on 27 December 2022 for the insider trading charges.[7]

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.[17] 3 months later on 1 June 2023, prosecutors moved forward and demanded Yuji Naka serve two and a half years in prison.[18] 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).[19]

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.[20]

Notable non-Sonic works[edit | edit source]

Credits[edit | edit source]

Games[edit | edit source]

Lead Programmer[edit | edit source]

Producer & Lead Programmer[edit | edit source]

Producer[edit | edit source]

Executive Producer[edit | edit source]

Supervisor & Producer[edit | edit source]

Advisor[edit | edit source]

Compilations[edit | edit source]

Special Thanks[edit | edit source]

A Special Bow To[edit | edit source]

Crossovers[edit | edit source]

Animation[edit | edit source]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Yuji Naka's first game, Girls' Garden, came out 8 months prior to the original Super Mario Bros., 1985.
  • According to an interview with Nintendo Power, when Yuji Naka played the original Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System, he would dash through the first level as fast as he could to reach the level-skip cheat in the next level. This inspired him to create a game, such as Sonic, where the goal was to finish the level as soon as possible.[21]
  • During development of the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Naka reportedly suffered from motion sickness during play-testing. Because of this, the game's pace was slowed down in the final version.[citation needed]
  • The Level Select cheat code in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is accessed by putting Yuji Naka's birthday into the Sound Test (19, 65, 9, 17).
  • In the 2009 issue of Nintendo Power, Yuji Naka would respond to the questionnaire's curiosity on Sonic's longevity, stating he himself doesn't know what makes Sonic the Hedgehog special.[22]
  • In 2004, Naka would help develop Sega Superstars as a Producer, giving Sonic the Hedgehog his first appearance in a game rated higher than "E for Everyone" by the ESRB, before future, talented creatives worked on the mainline titles.
  • According to Yuji Naka, he was the one to approach Nintendo about the idea of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.[23]
  • Naka was given a Ferrari as a golden handshake to persuade him to rejoin the Sonic Team when he left in the early 1990s.[24]
  • Yuji Naka was originally supposed to appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog film as an extra, but self-admittedly was forgotten by both parties during production.[25]
  • In Shadow the Hedgehog, the GUN Soldiers will sometimes say, "Mr. Yuji Naka is alright."

Gallery[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ phantomriverstone (27 March 2017). Anecdotes About Yu Suzuki From Yuji Naka. DenFamiNicoGamer Talk Show. Retrieved on 6 March 2023. "Koji Aizawa: There's something I've always wanted to ask Naka-san but haven't been able... / Yuji Naka: What's that? / Aizawa: You often write "YU2" as your alias, don't you. Looking at it, since you're Yuji, I wondered why the "2". Apparently there's a theory that since there was already Yu Suzuki (of Virtua Fighter and Shenmue), it was to show you were the second and were aiming to outdo Yu-san. I wondered if you had that kind of intention... What is the real meaning of YU2? / Naka: Yu-san is Yu Suzuki, and he used to write "YU". I'm Yuji so it's also "YU", but since Yu-san was using that "YUJI" was suggested so I decided to make it "2". It didn’t mean I was trying to better Yu-san, but that I'm next after him, a sign of respect. You see, I added the "2" with the feeling that there's no way I could surpass him; I would be after him, or beneath him."
  2. ↑ 電ファミニコゲーマー (2017年3月13日). セガの天才プログラマー中裕司が明かす「ソニック」「PSO」開発裏話。セガのネット対応は“ある男”のポケットマネーだった…？ (Japanese). 【ニコ生書き起こし】. Retrieved on 8 March 2023. "相沢浩仁: ずっと聞きたくて聞けなかった質問を中さんにしたいんですが……。 / 中 裕司: なんですか？ / 相沢: 中さんがよく、ハンドルネーム的に、「YU2」って書いてたんですよね。普通に考えると裕司だから、2なのかなって思うんですが。どうも一説には『バーチャファイター』や『シェンムー』の鈴木裕さんがすでにいらっしゃったので、その2人目、さらに裕さんを超えてやるぞとか。そういう思いがあるんじゃないかな、と思いつつ……「YU2」の本当の意味は何なんでしょうか？ / 中: 裕さんが鈴木裕で、「YU」って書いてたんですよ。ボクも裕司だから「YU」なんですけど、裕さんが「YU」使ってるし、俺は裕司だから「YUJI」にしようっていうので、「2」にしてるんです。これは裕さんを超えてやろうというより、裕さんの次というか、裕さんをリスペクトしているというか。ボクは裕さんを超えられない、絶対にその次、下にあるだろうと思って“2”ってつけているぐらいの感じなんですよ。その当時、鈴木裕さんって、本当に天才プログラマーというか、すごかったんですよ。"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 名作アルバム - 『ガールズガーデン』 (Japanese) (15 January 2002). Retrieved on 6 March 2023.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Choi, Dan (8 May 2006). Yuji Naka confirmed to be leaving Sega to form Prope. Engadget. Retrieved on 24 July 2020. "Back in March, we heard rumblings that Sega stalwart Yuji Naka was planning to leave Sega to start his own studio. Today, that rumor's been confirmed. According to Next Generation, Naka's new company is called Prope, which means "'beside' and 'near' future." Prope's web site (not linked on Next Gen) apparently explains that the name was chosen "in the hopes of bringing game entertainment much closer to users, establishing closer ties between users and us, and creating near future entertainment.""
  5. ↑ Wong, =Alistair (24 March 2019). Yuji Naka On Prope's Status: Downsized To One-Person Company (Japanese). Siliconera. Retrieved on 6 March, 2023. "Tweet 1: ご質問があったのでお答えしますと、プロぺは2017年4月末で事業を縮小して私１人の会社になりました。今年の6月で7年になるバディモンスターは運営会社様にお願いしてあります。もしよろしければプロぺのアプリや3DSのすれちがい迷宮やすれちがいフィッシング、そして僕が約20年ぶりに一部プログラムを / Tweet 2: そして僕が約20年ぶりに一部プログラムをしたレジェンドオブコイン等を遊んで頂けると嬉しいです。基本的にプロぺの仕事は土日に書類関連をやっている程度です。平日はスクウェアエニックスでみなさんに楽しんで頂けるようなゲームを作っています。"
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Taylor, Mollie (7 December 2022). Sonic co-creator arrested a second time for even more insider trading shenanigans. PC Gamer. Retrieved on 7 December 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Middler, Jordan (27 December 2022). Yuji Naka indicted in Square Enix insider trading case. Video Game Chronicle. Retrieved on 27 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Power Profiles: Yuji Naka". Nintendo Power 242: 46–48. June 2009. "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."
  9. ↑ "Power Profiles: Yuji Naka". Nintendo Power 242: 46–48. June 2009. "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]"
  10. ↑ Sega's Yuji Naka Talks!. GameSpy. Retrieved on 3 January 2015. "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."
  11. ↑ "Power Profiles: Yuji Naka". Nintendo Power: 46–48. June 2009. "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]"
  12. ↑ "Power Profiles: Yuji Naka". Nintendo Power 242: 46–48. June 2009. "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."
  13. ↑ SSF1991 . Yuji Naka is no longer working at Square Enix. Sonic Stadium. Retrieved on 4 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Romano, Sal (5 June 2021). Yuji Naka leaves Square Enix. Gematsu. Retrieved on 5 June 2021.
  15. ↑ Wales, Matt (17 September 2021). Sonic creator Yuji Naka says he's teaching himself how to program his own smartphone game. Eurogamer. Retrieved on 17 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (17 November 2022). Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka among former Square Enix employees arrested over Dragon Quest-related insider trading. PC Gamer. Retrieved on 17 November 2022.
  17. ↑ Phillips, Tom (March 2, 2023). Former Sonic boss Yuji Naka admits insider trading - reports. Eurogamer. Retrieved on March 2, 2023. "Yuji Naka: There is no doubt that I knew the facts about the game before it was made public and bought the stock."
  18. ↑ Scullion, Chris (June 1, 2023). 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. Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved on June 12, 2023.
  19. ↑ Scullion, Chris (July 7, 2023). Yuji Naka gets a $1.2 million fine and a suspended prison sentence for insider trading. Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved on July 7, 2023.
  20. ↑ Robinson, Andy (7 April 2024). Yuji Naka returns to X by accusing Dragon Quest producer of ‘lying to court’. Video Game Chronicle.
  21. ↑ Oliver, Tristan (24 September 2010). Yuji Naka Speaks of Super Mario's Inspiration. TSSZ News. Retrieved on 14 April 2018.
  22. ↑ "Power Profiles: Yuji Naka". Nintendo Power 242: 46–48. June 2009. "Questionnaire: Why do you think Sonic has struck a cord with so many gamers for so long? / Yuji Naka: I don't really know. That's why I was able to keep making Sonic games for such a long time, though, so I really appreciate it. And even though I'm at Prope now, I still get letters from kids about Sonic. That really motivates me to create better and better games."
  23. ↑ Purchase, Robert (2 October 2010). Yuji Naka: Sonic & Mario "was my idea". Eurogamer. Retrieved on 14 April 2018. "Yuji Naka: It was actually my idea, and I was the one who approached Nintendo about it. I thought it would be fascinating to see the two heroes play together or play against each other, so that was exactly what I wanted. So I don't feel anything funny about that at all."
  24. ↑ SEGA: The Beautiful Journey Continues. Panzer Dragoon Legacy. Robert Frazer (1 August 2005). Retrieved on 7 April 2018.
  25. ↑ Yuji Naka (@nakayuji) on Twitter (Japanese). Twitter (1 May 2019). Retrieved on 2 May 2019. "Yuji Naka: そう言えば映画にエキストラ出演させて欲しいとお願いしていたのですが、忘れられたようですね。かなり前なので私も忘れていました。ハリウッド映画に出演したかったんですけどね。"

External links[edit | edit source]

Sonic Team members
Producers Akinori Nishiyama · Takashi Iizuka · Yuji Naka · Yoji Ishii
Programmers Takahiro Hamano · Takeshi Sakakibara · Tetsu Katano · Yuji Naka · Yoshihisa Hashimoto
Designers Eitaro Toyoda · Hirokazu Yasuhara · Kazuyuki Hoshino · Makoto Yonezu · Manabu Kusunoki · Naoto Ohshima · Nobuhiko Honda · Hiroshi Miyamoto · Sachiko Kawamura · Shinichi Higashi · Shiro Maekawa · Shun Nakamura · Takashi Yuda · Yasushi Yamaguchi · Yoshitaka Miura · Yuji Uekawa
Directors Hiroshi Nishiyama · Kenjiro Morimoto · Morio Kishimoto · Takashi Iizuka
Sound engineers Hideaki Kobayashi · Jun Senoue · Kenichi Tokoi · Mariko Nanba · Masaru Setsumaru · Naofumi Hataya · Takahito Eguchi · Tatsuyuki Maeda · Teruhiko Nakagawa · Tomoya Ohtani
Other Tomoko Kanemoto · Yui Karasuno
Relationships Tails (best friend) · Eggman (arch-nemesis) · Knuckles (frenemy) · Amy (self-proclaimed girlfriend;admirer) · Metal Sonic (robotic doppelgänger) · Big (close friend) · Shadow (arch-rival) · Rouge (close friend) · Cream (close friend) · Chaotix (Vector, Espio, Charmy) (close friends) · Omega (ally) · Blaze (close friend) · Silver (friendly rival) · Jet (rival in speed)
Transformations Super Sonic (Super Sonic 2 (Super Sonic Cyber)) · Hyper Sonic · Darkspine Sonic · Excalibur Sonic · Werehog · Shatter Sonic
Equipment Sonic's shoes, Custom Shoes, Stomping Shoes, Wall Jump Shoes, Air Boost Shoes (footwear) · Grind Shoes (grinding footwear) · Rings · Light Speed Shoes/Light Chip, Crystal Ring, Bounce Bracelet, Flame Ring, Magic Gloves, Mystic Melody, Antigravity (Level Up Item) · Red Gem, Blue Gem, Green Gem, White Gem, Yellow Gem, Sky Gem, Purple Gem (Gems) · Blue Star, Blue Star II (Extreme Gear) · Speed Star, Cyclone (race cars) · Tornado (biplane)
Moves Spin Attack · Spin Jump · Spin Dash · Super Peel Out · Insta-Shield · Homing Attack · Jump Dash · Light Dash · Light Attack · Somersault · Fire Somersault · Bound Jump · Speed Up · Sonic Wind · Time Stop · Chaos Control · Skid · Blue Tornado · Kick · Boost Mode · Gun Drive · Homing Smash · Mach Speed · Scale · Slow · Thunder Guard · Tornado · Trick Action · Boost · Hop Jump · Humming Top · Air Boost · Slide · Stomp · Quick Step · Cartwheel · Drift · Wall Jump · Foot Sweep · Drift · Double Jump · Side Step · Vault · Vault Dash · Wall Climb · Wall Run · Wall Spin Dash · Drop Dash · Cyloop (Quick Cyloop) · Parry · Dodge · Sonic Boom · Wild Rush · Phantom Rush · Homing Shot · Spin Slash · Loop Kick · Recovery Smash · Grand Slam · Cyclone Kick · Cross Slash ·
Major games Rad Mobile (cameo appearance) · Sonic 1 (first major appearance) ·  · Sonic CD · Sonic 2 · Sonic 3 & Knuckles · Sonic 3D Blast · Sonic Adventure · Sonic Adventure 2 · Sonic Advance · Sonic Advance 2 · Sonic Battle · Sonic Heroes · Sonic Advance 3 · Shadow · Sonic Rush · Sonic Riders · Sonic '06 · Sonic & the Secret Rings · Sonic Rush Adventure · Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity · Sonic Unleashed · Sonic & the Black Knight · Sonic Free Riders · Sonic Colors · Sonic 4: EP I · Sonic Generations · Sonic 4: EP II · Sonic Lost World · Sonic Mania · Sonic Forces · Sonic Frontiers · Sonic Superstars · Sonic Dream Team
Key people Yuji Naka (co-creator) · Naoto Ohshima (co-creator) · Hirokazu Yasuhara (co-creator) · Yuji Uekawa (redesigner)
Voice actors English Deven Mack (Sonic Prime) · Roger Craig Smith (2010 - present) · Jason Griffith (2005 - 2009) · Ryan Drummond (1999 - 2004)
Japanese Tomokazu Seki (Werehog) · Jun'ichi Kanemaru (1998 - present)
Theme songs "It Doesn't Matter" · "We Can" · "His World" · "Endless Possibility" · "Knight of the Wind" · "Live Life" · "Reach for the Stars" · "Speak with Your Heart" · "Fist Bump" · "I'm Here" · "Second Wind"
Related Alex Kidd · Chili dog (favorite food) · Christmas Island (birthplace) · June 23 (birth date) · Statue in Japan · Team Sonic
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