Yuji Naka
From Sega Retro
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.
Contents
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 Sega Mark III called Girl's Garden, but his massive breakthrough wasn't far off. In 1990 Yuji Naka, along with Naoto Ohshima and Hirokazu Yasuhara began work on the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Naka became a leading programmer for the newly founded "Sonic Team" which would be the team in control of most projects featuring Sega's mascot. After the completion of Sonic 2, he became the producer of Sonic Team.
On March 16, 2006 it was announced that Naka would be creating his own game studio, independent of 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]
- Space Harrier (1985) — Lead Programmer
- Great Baseball (1985) — Programmer
- F-16 Fighting Falcon (1985) — Programmer
- Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) (1986) — Programmer
- OutRun (1986) — Lead Programmer
- Spy vs. Spy (1986) — Lead Programming
- OutRun (Master System Version) (1987)
- Phantasy Star (1987) — Lead Programming (as Muuu Yuji)
- Super Thunder Blade (1988) — Executive Producer (as Muuu Yuji) [NOTE: Also Lead Programmer]
- Phantasy Star II (1989) — Producer / Programmer (as Muuu Yuji)
- Ghouls'n Ghosts (Mega Drive Version) (1989) — Lead Programmer
- Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990) — Special Thanks
- Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Program (as YU2) [NOTE: Also Project Manager]
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) — Chief Programmer [NOTE: Also Project Manager]
- 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 (1998) — 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 Version) (2001) — Producer, Director
- 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 1 & 2 (2002) — Producer
- Sonic Advance 2 (2002) — Producer
- Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus (2003) — Producer
- Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Producer
- Sonic Pinball Party (2003) — Producer
- Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003) — Producer
- Sonic Battle (2003) — Producer
- Sonic Heroes (2003) — Producer
- Sonic Advance 3 (2004) — Producer
- Feel the Magic XY/XX (2004) — Chief Producer
- Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Producer
- Puyo Pop Fever (GBA Version) (2004) — Producer
- Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Chief Producer
- Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Producer
- Sonic Rush (2005) — Producer
- Sonic Riders (2006) — Executive Producer
- 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
Song Credits
OutRun (Master System Version)
- Magical Sound Shower — Arrangement
- Passing Breeze — Arrangement
- Splash Wave — Arrangement
- Last Wave — Arrangement
Interviews
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega Visions (August/September 1992)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega.com (December 20, 1996)
- sonic:Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima interview by Hobby Consolas (Unknown Month, 1996)
- sonic:Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima interview by Saturn Power (July 1997)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Dreamcast Magazine (January 22, 1999)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Gamefan (June 1999)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Official Dreamcast Magazine (September 1999)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega Saturn Magazine (October 8, 1998)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Futuregamez (November 30, 1999)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Edge (1999)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by IGN (February 1, 2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Gamespot (February 2, 2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Famitsu (April 19, 2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Gamespot (July 3, 2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Times (September 13, 2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega.com (2001)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Nintendo (February 12, 2002)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by XenGamers (July 17, 2002)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Gamespot (September 30, 2002)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Euro Gamer (May 23, 2003)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by CVG (May 27, 2003)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega.com (June 14, 2003)
- sonic:Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka interview by Sega Score (December 12, 2003)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega Europe (January 30, 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega.com (January 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Sega.com (February 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by IGN (May 13, 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by The Next Level (June 15, 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Kikizo (June 24, 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Gameplanet (December 7, 2004)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by GameSpy (September 2005)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Kikizo (February 04, 2009)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by Nintendo Power (May 4, 2009)
- Yuji Naka interview by Gamautra (May 5, 2010)
- sonic:Yuji Naka interview by 1UP (June 25, 2010)
- Yuji Naka interview by NightsIntoDreams.Com (July 5th, 2010)
- sonic:Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka interview for Sonic Heroes website