Yuji Naka

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Yuji Naka

When Yuji Naka (also known as YU2) was 17 years old, he decided that he wanted to program video games. He owed this fascination to Ryuichi Sakamotos "Yellow Magic Orchestra" program, which allowed the composition of music on your computer. (Yuji was also not alone with this inspiration. Many big names in the gaming industry have shared this - among many others Kenji Eno, creator of "D".)

Anyway, Yuji Naka made himself known at a game convention and had to move from Osaka to Tokyo. Being a large fan of Namco, he aimed to work for them after he graduated from college. However, Namco only accepted work from university graduates - assuming that anyone who had not done at least that would not be near good enough for them. Yuji Naka was devastated, but he did not want to go to university, and so made his entrace into the gaming industry through "Service Games".

At the beginning of his career he mainly worked on projects for the SG-1000 Mark III, but his massive breathrough wasn't far off. By the time 1990 hit the calendars, Naka became a leading programmer for "Sonic Team" who would be the team to be in control of the projects featuring Sega's mascot.

After the completion of Sonic 2, he became the producer. Today he is the president of Sonic Team.

Production History

• Girl's Garden — Lead Programmer
• Great Baseball — Programmer
• F-16 Fighting Falcon — Lead Programmer
• Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) — Programmer
• Space Harrier (1985) — Lead Programmer
• Outrun - Lead Programmer
• Spy vs. Spy (1986) — Lead Programming
• Phantasy Star (1988) — Lead Programmer ("Muuu Yuji")
• Super Thunderblade — Lead Programmer
• Phantasy Star II (1989) — Producer, Lead Programmer ("Muuu Yuji")
• Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990) — Special Thanks
• Dai Makai Mura (aka "Ghouls & Ghosts") — Lead Programmer
• Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Programmer ("Yu2")
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) — Lead Programmer
• Sonic Spinball (1993) — A Special Bow to
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Sonic & Knuckles (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• NiGHTS into Dreams (1996) — Producer, Lead Programmer
• Christmas NiGHTS (1996) — Producer, Programmer
• Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Advisor
• Sonic Jam (1997) — Producer
• Sonic R (1997) — General Producer, Supervisor
• Burning Rangers (1998) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure (1999) — Producer
• ChuChu Rocket! (2000) — Producer, Director
• Samba de Amigo (2000) — Producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (2000) — Supervisor, Producer
• Samba de Amigo Ver.2000 (2000) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online (2001) — Producer
• ChuChu Rocket! (GBA) (2001) — Producer, Director
• Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Ver.2 (2001) — Producer
• Sonic Advance (2002) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2002) — Producer
• Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 (2002) — Producer
• Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Advance 2 (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Pinball Party (2003) — Producer
• Sonic Battle (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Heroes (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Advance 3 (2004) — Producer
• Feel the Magic XY/XX (2004) — Chief Producer
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Producer
• Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Chief Producer
• Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Producer
• Sonic Rush (2005) — Producer
• Sonic Riders (2006) — Executive Producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Original Producer/Game Plotter
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — Original Senior Producer

Interviews

Being the producer of most of Sonic's games has earned Yuji Naka the rights to many interviews with those in the gaming industry. Some of those interviews may be found below (courtesy of Sonic World):

• Oct. 1992 - Sega Visions Interview with Yuji Naka
• Dec. 1996 - Sega.com Interview on Yuji Naka's life
• July 31, 1999 - NextGenOnline Interview regarding sequels
• Aug. 9, 1999 - GameWeek Interview with Naka on piracy, emulation
• Oct. 1, 1999 - IGNDC Intereview with Yuji Naka
• Nov. 30, 1999 - FutureGamez Interview with Yuji Naka about Sonic Team
• Jan. 3, 2000 - Core Magazine Interview with Yuji Naka
• Feb. 9, 2000 - ODCM Interview with Yuji Naka