Yuji Naka facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yuji Naka
中 裕司
Naka in 2015
Born	(1965-09-17) September 17, 1965 (age 59) Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Other names	YU2
Occupation	Game designer, producer, programmer
Years active	1984–2022
Employer	Sega (1984–2006) Prope (2006–2022) Square Enix (2018–2021)
Notable work	Sonic the Hedgehog series Phantasy Star series Nights into Dreams
Children	2

Yuji Naka (born September 17, 1965) is a famous Japanese video game developer. He is best known for helping create the Sonic the Hedgehog game series. He used to be the head of Sonic Team at Sega until he left in 2006.

Naka started working at Sega in 1984. He helped make games like Girl's Garden (1985) and Phantasy Star II (1989). In the early 1990s, he was the main programmer for the first Sonic games on the Mega Drive. These games made Sega much more popular. After making Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) in Japan, Naka moved to California. There, he worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994), and Sonic & Knuckles (1994) with Sega Technical Institute.

Naka later returned to Japan to lead Sonic Team. He worked on games such as Nights into Dreams (1996), Burning Rangers (1998), Sonic Adventure (1998), and Phantasy Star Online (2000). When Sega stopped making game consoles in 2001, Naka stayed on as a leader for five more years.

In 2006, Naka left Sega and started his own game company called Prope. He later joined Square Enix to direct the game Balan Wonderworld (2021). This game brought him back together with Naoto Ohshima, who also helped create Sonic. Naka said he was removed from the Balan Wonderworld project before it was finished. The game did not do well. He left Square Enix in April 2021.

Early Life and Learning

Yuji Naka learned how to program by copying and fixing video game code he found in magazines. This experience made him want to learn more about computer programming. He practiced writing code even during his school classes. After finishing school, Naka decided not to go to university. He stayed in his hometown.

Building a Career in Games

Starting at Sega (1983–1989)

Around 1983, Naka saw that the game company Sega was looking for programming helpers. He applied and started working for Sega in April 1984. His first big project was Girl's Garden (1985). He created this game with composer Hiroshi Kawaguchi as part of their training. Their boss liked the game so much that he decided to release it. This made Naka and Kawaguchi well-known among other developers and Japanese gamers.

During the time of the Master System console, Naka wanted to make games that were new and exciting. He worked on games with 3D areas like Phantasy Star. He also helped bring popular arcade games like Space Harrier and OutRun to the Master System. The Mega Drive console came out suddenly, and Naka programmed Super Thunder Blade for it. He really liked working on the Mega Drive.

Naka was very impressed by a game called Ghouls 'n Ghosts in 1988. He liked how characters could move diagonally on slopes. He wanted to bring this game to the Mega Drive. Capcom, the company that made the game, gave him the game's code. While working on it, Naka experimented with how fast the main character moved. He even created a full 360-degree loop in the game.

Creating Sonic the Hedgehog (1989–1991)

Sega's president, Hayao Nakayama, wanted Sega to have a main character and game series to compete with Nintendo's Mario games. Yuji Naka had an idea for a game where a very fast character rolled into a ball through long, winding tubes. He thought of a hedgehog that could roll into a ball to attack enemies. This idea came from his old high school notebook.

Naoto Ohshima designed the character, and Hirokazu Yasuhara designed the levels. Naka wanted the game to show how fast the Mega Drive could be. He wanted players to feel excited by the speed. He also thought about how he could not finish Super Mario Bros (1985) faster even when he got better at it. He wanted his game to let players speed through levels once they mastered them. This game took Naka about a year and a half to make, which was longer than any game he had worked on before.

Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 and was a huge hit. It made the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive in North America) very popular. It helped Sega gain a large share of the game market against Nintendo. Naka felt he did not get enough credit for the game's success, so he left Sega for a short time.

Sonic Sequels and Time in California (1991–1994)

Yuji Naka rejoined Sega after being offered a job at Sega Technical Institute (STI) in California. He received a better salary and more freedom to create. At STI, Naka led the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This game was also a big success. However, making the game was sometimes hard because of language and cultural differences between the Japanese and American developers.

After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 came out in 1992, Naka did not want to make another Sonic game with the American team. So, a new team made only of Japanese developers was formed. This team, led by Naka, created Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994. Naka had wanted to make Sonic 3 a 3D game, but it would have taken too long. They decided to make it a 2D game again to finish it on time. Naka also had a special idea for Sonic & Knuckles. It used "lock-on cartridge" technology. This meant that when combined with Sonic 3, it would create a complete game experience.

Returning to Japan and Sega Saturn (1994–1998)

After Sonic & Knuckles was released, Naka went back to Japan. He was offered a role as a producer. He was very impressed by games like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, which made him want to return. When Naka came back, Sonic Team officially became a brand. They started working on a new game called Nights into Dreams (1996) for Sega's Saturn console. Naka was not happy that the Saturn was not truly 3D. He decided to make Nights first, promising to work on a 3D Sonic game later. However, Nights took longer than expected. Naka later felt bad that he could not make a Sonic game for the Saturn. Many people thought this was a reason why the console did not do well.

Meanwhile, in America, STI was working on Sonic X-treme, a 3D Sonic game. This game faced many problems and was eventually canceled in 1996. Some stories said Naka helped cause the cancellation by not letting STI use the Nights game engine. Naka later said this was not true. He explained that the Nights engine was made differently and would not have worked for X-treme.

The Dreamcast Era (1998–2001)

While Sonic Adventure was being made for the Saturn, Naka was part of meetings about Sega's next console, which became the Dreamcast. Sonic Team even suggested the name "G-Cube." Naka also thought of a way for players to talk into a microphone to change TV channels. This idea was later used in the game Seaman.

In 1998, before the Dreamcast launched, Naka and his team visited Sega of America. They saw a game called Geist Force being made. A producer named Mark Subotnick said Naka told his team in Japanese which parts they would use for Sonic games. He also suggested firing almost all the engineers. Some Geist Force developers understood Japanese and quit, which led to the project being canceled.

After the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure launched in Japan, Sega's Chairman, Isao Okawa, asked Naka to make a big online game for the Dreamcast. Naka was not excited at first because his team had never made online games. But other Sega teams were busy, so Sonic Team was the only choice. Making an online game for Japan was a big challenge. Most Japanese gamers played console games offline, and online games at the time often looked boring.

To solve these problems, Naka divided his team into three groups. They worked on different things before coming together to make Phantasy Star Online (2001). The first two groups explored what the Dreamcast could do with graphics and online play. The third group worked on other projects. This led to Chu Chu Rocket (1999), an action-puzzle game. It was the first game on the Dreamcast to support online console gaming. After Chu Chu Rocket was released, all three teams worked together on Phantasy Star Online.

In 2000, Sega changed how its game studios worked. They became separate companies. Naka felt it was important to keep the Sonic Team name. So, the company's legal name became SONICTEAM, Ltd., and Naka became its CEO.

Final Years at Sega (2001–2006)

In March 2001, Sega stopped making the Dreamcast and left the game console business. Sonic Team and other Sega studios became part of Sega again. Naka stayed on as a leader, watching over all of Sega's game releases until he left in 2006.

After Sega stopped making hardware, Sonic Team started making games for other companies' consoles. Naka really liked the Nintendo GameCube. He later wished he had brought Phantasy Star Online to the PlayStation 2.

Starting Prope (2006–2016)

Naka at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show

On March 16, 2006, Naka announced he was leaving Sega to start his own game studio, Prope. He said he wanted to make games other than Sonic the Hedgehog games. He also felt that his high position at Sega meant he spent less time directly making games. The last Sonic game Naka worked on was Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). He later regretted leaving Sega while that game was still being made, as it did not receive good reviews.

Naka and Prope made smaller games for the Wii and mobile phones. These included Wii Play: Motion and Ivy The Kiwi?. They even worked with Sega again, who published Let's Tap and Let's Catch for the Wii. Naka said he always kept a good relationship with Sega, even after leaving.

These smaller games helped Prope pay for their first big game, Rodea the Sky Soldier. It was finished in 2011 but was not released until 2015. Naka said the publisher, Kadokawa Games, would not release it until they made a version for the Nintendo 3DS. Later, they decided to make a Wii U version based on the 3DS game, which caused more delays. When Rodea the Sky Soldier finally came out in 2015, Naka's original Wii version was included as a bonus with the Wii U game. Naka then asked people on social media to play the Wii version first. In 2016, Naka received an award called the Bizkaia Award.

Working at Square Enix (2016–2022)

In 2018, Naka joined Square Enix. He formed a new group called Balan Company. This group aimed to help different teams work together. Naka said Balan Company was a group of designers and artists who wanted to make different kinds of games than what Square Enix usually made. Prope still existed, but Naka was its only employee.

Balan Company's first game was Balan Wonderworld. It was made with another company called Arzest. A key person at Arzest was Naoto Ohshima, who used to work at Sega and designed Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman. When Naka joined Square Enix, he thought about making mobile games. But he was encouraged to make action games. Naka reached out to Ohshima and Arzest, and they worked together. This was the first time Naka and Ohshima had worked together since Sonic Adventure in 1998.

Naka was removed from the Balan Wonderworld project about six months before it was released. This happened after he had disagreements with other staff. The game received many negative reviews and did not sell well. Naka left Square Enix in April 2021. In December 2021, Naka released a free mobile game called Shot2048.

In April 2022, Naka said he had sued Square Enix. He said he tried to fix problems with the game but was ignored. He felt that Square Enix and Arzest did not care about games or game fans. In July, Naka posted a photo of the Nights team with Ohshima's face covered. He showed his anger about Balan Wonderworld.

Personal Life

Yuji Naka loves racing and cars. He has mentioned his Ferrari 360 Spider in interviews. In November 2004, he raced in a car championship in Tasmania. In April 2022, Naka took part in another car race and finished in seventh place.

Games Yuji Naka Worked On

See also

In Spanish: Yūji Naka para niños