Yuji Naka
From Sega Retro
Yuji Naka |
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Place of birth: Hirakata, Osaka prefecture, Japan |
Date of birth: 1965-09-17 (age 59) |
Company(ies): Sega of Japan |
Role(s): Programmer, Designer, Producer, Executive |
Education: Nishinoda Technology Senior High School |
Yuji Naka (中 裕司) 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 learned how to program by copying and debugging game code published in magazines, and these experiences prompted him to learn how to use assemblers and write his own programs. The electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra was also an influence on the young Naka.
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 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.
The last time, Yuji Naka did any hands-on coding was NiGHTS into Dreams, with Sonic Team members Tetsu Katano and Takahiro Hamano succeeding him in that regard.
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.
Production history
Games
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Videos
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Music
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Books
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Hardware
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Accessories
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- 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
- Sonic the Hedgehog (anime) (1996) — Supervisor
- 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.)
- Sonic R (PC Version) (1998) — General producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega), Producer (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega), Supervisor (Sega)
- Sonic Adventure (1998) — Producer
- Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999) — Superviser (as Y.Naka), Produce (as Y.Naka)
- Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Producer
- Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2001) — Producer
- Sonic Advance (2001) — Producer
- Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Producer
- Sonic Advance 2 (2002) — Producer
- Sonic X (2003) — Executive 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)
- 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
- Sonic Mega Collection Plus (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. 25: Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box (2006) — Executive Supervisor
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — Original Executive 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
External links
- Yuji Naka on Twitter
- Legendary Sonic Team creators reveal the truth of Sonic the Hedgehog's birth, success and rebirth on his 25th anniversary (June 24, 2016)
Magazine articles
- Main article: Yuji Naka/Magazine articles.