Difference between revisions of "Yuji Naka"

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Yuji Naka

Place of birth: Osaka, Japan
Date of birth: 1965-09-17 (age 59)
Role(s): Programmer, Designer, Producer, Executive

Yuji Naka (中裕司), born 17 September 1965 in Osaka, Japan, is a video game designer, programmer, the former head of Sonic Team (usually credited by his alias, YU2), and currently the head of the video game development company, Prope.

History

When Yuji Naka 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.

Being a large fan of Namco, Yuji Naka aimed to work for them after he graduated from college. However, Namco only accepted work from university graduates, and thus Yuji Naka would not be eligible as he did not want to go to university.

He did however score a job at Sega as a programming assistant. His first release was a game for the SG-1000 called Girl's Garden. Yuji Naka's distinction was producing/project managing projects while simultaneously handling the lead programming of them. Examples of this are the early Sega Mega Drive titles, Space Harrier II and Phantasy Star II.

In 1990 he, along with Naoto Oshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara, began to conceive Sonic the Hedgehog and then leading the now dubbed Sonic Team, putting his leadership and programming talents into work.

On March 16, 2006 it was announced that Naka would be creating his own independent game studio, with partial financial backing from Sega. Naka left Sega to set up this studio, called Prope, but has since come back as a consultant for various Sega titles, including Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

Production history

Girl's Garden (1984) — Designer [NOTE: Also Lead Programmer]
Great Baseball (1985) — Programmer
F-16 Fighting Falcon (1985) — Programmer
Hokuto no Ken (Master System Version) (1986) — Programmer
Spy vs. Spy (Master System Version) (1986) — Lead Programming
Space Harrier (Master System Version) (1986) — Produced by (as Nitta Tai Yuji), Screenplay by (as Nitta Tai Yuji), Proposed by (as Nitta Tai Yuji)
OutRun (Master System Version) (1987) — Lead Programming
Phantasy Star (1987) — Main Program (as Muuuu Yuji)
Space Harrier 3D (1988) — Special Thanks (as Muuu Yuji)
Super Thunder Blade (1988) — Executive Producer (as Muuuu Yuji) [NOTE: Also Lead Programmer]
Phantasy Star II (1989) — Produced and Programmed by (as Muuuu Yuji)
Ghouls'n Ghosts (Mega Drive Version) (1989) — Lead Programmer
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive Version) (1991) — Program (as YU2) [NOTE: Also Project Manager]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive Version) (1992) — Chief Programmer (as Yuji Naka (YU2)) [NOTE: Also Project Manager]
Sonic Spinball (Mega Drive Version) (1993) — A Special Bow to [NOTE: Manual credit]
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: Flickies' Island (1996/1997) — Advisor (SOJ) (Sega)
Sonic Jam (1997) — Producer
Sonic R (Saturn Version) (1997) — General Producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.), Producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.)
Burning Rangers (1998) — Producer
Sonic R (PC Version) (1998) — General producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega), Producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega), Supervisor (Sega)
Sonic Adventure (1998) — Producer
ChuChu Rocket! (Dreamcast Version) (1999) — Producer & Director
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999) — Superviser (as Y.Naka), Produce (as Y.Naka)
Samba de Amigo (2000) — Producer
Samba de Amigo Ver. 2000 (2000) — Producer
Phantasy Star Online (2000) — Producer
ChuChu Rocket! (GBA Version) (2001) — Producer & Director, Producer & Director (Original Staff)
Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Producer
Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 (2001) — Producer
Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2001) — Producer
Sonic Advance (2001) — Producer
Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Producer
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (2002/2003) — Producer
Sonic Advance 2 (2002) — Producer
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus (2003) — Producer
Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Producer (Sonic Adventure DX Staff), Producer (Sonic Adventure Original Staff)
Sonic Pinball Party (2003) — Producer
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 1: Phantasy Star generation:1 (2003) — Special Thanks (Sonic Team)
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003) — Producer
Sonic Battle (2003) — Producer
Sonic Heroes (2003) — Producer
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 11: Hokuto no Ken (2004) — Special Thanks
Sonic Advance 3 (2004) — Producer
Sega Superstars (2004) — Producer
Astro Boy (2004) — Chief Producer
Virtua Quest (2004) — Special Thanks (Sega Corporation (Japan))
Feel the Magic XY/XX (2004) — Chief Producer
Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Producer
Puyo Pop Fever (GBA Version) (2004) — Producer
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 17: Phantasy Star generation:2 (2005) — Special Thanks (Sonic Team Div)
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (PS2 Version) (2005) — Chief Producer
Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Chief Producer
Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Producer
Sonic Rush (2005) — Producer
Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005) — Chief Producer
Sonic Riders (2006) — Executive Producer
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 19: Fighting Vipers (2005) — Executive Supervisor)
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 20: Space Harrier II ~Space Harrier Complete Collection~ (2005) — Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 23: Sega Memorial Selection (2005) — Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 24: Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi (2006) — Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 25: Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box (2006) — Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 26: Dynamite Deka (2006) — Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 27: Panzer Dragoon (2006) — Executive Supervisor
Phantasy Star Universe (2006) — Executive Producer
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Original Executive Producer
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — Original Executive Producer
NiGHTS into Dreams (PS2 Version) (2008) — Special Thanks
Let's Tap (2008) — Producer
Let's Catch (2008) — Producer

Song Credits

OutRun (Master System Version)

Magical Sound Shower — Arrangement
Passing Breeze — Arrangement
Splash Wave — Arrangement
Last Wave — Arrangement

Interviews

Magazine articles

Main article: Yuji Naka/Magazine articles.

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 Being a large fan of [[Namco]], Yuji Naka aimed to work for them after he graduated from college. However, Namco only accepted work from university graduates, and thus Yuji Naka would not be eligible as he did not want to go to university.
-He did however score a job at [[Sega]] as a programming assistant. His first release was a game for the [[SG-1000]] called ''[[Girl's Garden]]''. Yuji Naka's distinction was producing/project managing projects while simultaneously handling the lead programming of them. Examples of this are the early [[Sega Maega Drive]] titles, ''[[Space Harrier II]]'' and ''[[Phantasy Star II]]''.
+He did however score a job at [[Sega]] as a programming assistant. His first release was a game for the [[SG-1000]] called ''[[Girl's Garden]]''. Yuji Naka's distinction was producing/project managing projects while simultaneously handling the lead programming of them. Examples of this are the early [[Sega Mega Drive]] titles, ''[[Space Harrier II]]'' and ''[[Phantasy Star II]]''.
 In 1990 he, along with [[Naoto Oshima]] and [[Hirokazu Yasuhara]], began to conceive [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] and then leading the now dubbed [[Sonic Team]], putting his leadership and programming talents into work.