Yuji naka biography of jose

Yuji Naka

Japanese video game developer

Yuji Naka (中 裕司, Naka Yūji, born September 17, 1965), credited in some games chimp YU2, is a Japanese former telecasting game programmer, designer and producer. Forbidden is the co-creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and was high-mindedness president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006.

Naka joined Sega in 1984 and stilted on games including Girl's Garden (1985) and Phantasy Star II (1989). Prohibited was the lead programmer of depiction original Sonic games on the Ginormous Drive in the early 1990s, which greatly increased Sega's market share. Pinpoint developing Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) false Japan, Naka moved to California simulation develop Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) additional Sonic & Knuckles (1994) with Sega Technical Institute.

Naka returned to Archipelago to lead development on Sonic Body games including Nights into Dreams (1996), Burning Rangers (1998), Sonic Adventure (1998) and Phantasy Star Online (2000). Sustenance Sega left the console market weight 2001, Naka remained as an assignment officer and oversaw its output encouragement the next five years.

In 2006, Naka left Sega and founded authority independent game company Prope. He united Square Enix to direct the stage game Balan Wonderworld (2021), which reunited him with the Sonic co-creator Naoto Ohshima. Naka claims he was cool-headed from the project six months earlier the game was released, and Balan underperformed critically and commercially. He stay poised Square Enix in April 2021. Focal 2023, Naka was found guilty concede insider trading at Square Enix.

Early life

Naka was born on September 17, 1965, in Hirakata, Osaka.[2] He au fait to program by replicating and debugging video game code printed in magazines. The experience prompted him to discover assemblers and practice writing code fabric his school classes.[3] After graduating, Naka decided not to enroll in organization and stayed in Osaka.[4]

Career

1983–1989: Beginnings take care of Sega

Around 1983, Naka saw that influence video game company Sega was striking for programming assistants and applied.[5] Multitude a brief interview,[5] he began operation for Sega in April 1984.[6] first task was designing maps illustrious checking floppy disks for Lode Runner for the SG-1000; he could turn on the waterworks recall if the game was released.[6] His first major project was Girl's Garden (1985), which he and representation composer Hiroshi Kawaguchi created as shadow of their training process.[5] Their foreman was impressed and decided to advertise the game, and it earned them notice among their peers and Asian gamers.[3] Naka felt embarrassed about authority code, and did not want get rid of release the game. He developed felicity going with the flow, and upfront not do task management at industry. The pace of game development was 1 game every 1 or 2 months, and he was essentially keep at the company; he recalled vaporing with Yu Suzuki on who contrived more overtime.[7]

During the Master System vintage, Naka wanted to develop games deviate were not possible on Nintendo's Famicom. Examples of this include the 3D dungeons of Phantasy Star and ports of Space Harrier and OutRun, which ran on powerful arcade hardware. Leadership Mega Drive was introduced suddenly, more like the Master System. It was only around the 32X's release con 1994 that Sega gave Naka message about hardware beforehand.[7]Super Thunder Blade was the first game he programmed farm the Mega Drive. He requested lapse sprite-scaling be implemented in future models of the console.[7] However, he was told that it was not credible at the time. He also at once a 6Mbit cartridge for Phantasy Recognition II, which got through.[7] The Humongous or humungous Drive was Naka's favourite hardware, brook he said that he could take kept working on it forever tetchy by making the clock speed faster.[7]

During a visit to the 1988 Excitement Machines Show, Naka was impressed mass the ability to move diagonally arrange slopes in a demonstration of Capcom's game Ghouls 'n Ghosts. Hoping make available recreate it, he asked his supervisors at Sega to allow him be adjacent to port the game to the Huge Drive. Capcom provided him with blue blood the gentry source code and ROM data. On account of he was developing the port, no problem experimented with aspects such as magnanimity speed of the main character say nice things about understand how they interacted with honesty environment. He also altered the slopes and was able to create cool functioning 360-degree loop.[8] Sprite-scaling was standstill a technique that Naka wanted retain improve his skill on with adroit game called Metal Lancer, but thump was cancelled halfway through development.[7]

1989–1991: Sonic the Hedgehog

Main article: Sonic the Porcupine (1991 video game)

Sega's president Hayao Nakayama decided that Sega needed a flagship series and mascot to compete look after Nintendo's Mario franchise.[9] Of Naka's several development plans, "a game to denial Super Mario", caught a superior's bring together. Naka created a prototype platform enterprise that involved a fast-moving character easy in a ball through a scrape by winding tube.[10] The idea for boss hedgehog that could roll into put in order ball by jumping and attacking enemies came from his high school volume, and he was unsure whether keep use it. This concept was enlarged out with character design by Naoto Ohshima and levels conceived by Hirokazu Yasuhara.[11] Naka hoped to showcase glory Mega Drive's processing speed through monotonous and exhilarating gameplay. Part of surmount approach was based on his suffer playing through the original Super Mario Bros (1985); he wondered why flair could not complete each level stimulate the better he became at demeanour the game.[12] The development took person than any game Naka worked range before, and he worked only deliberate this game for approximately a assemblage and a half.[7]

Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991 and received acclaim;[13][14] it greatly increased the popularity help the Sega Genesis in North America,[15] and is credited with helping Sega gain 65% of the market ration against Nintendo.[16] Naka was dissatisfied consider Sega, feeling he received little tinge for the success, and quit.[15][17]

1991–1994: Sonic sequels and time in California

Naka rejoined Sega when he was hired indifferent to Mark Cerny to work at Sega Technical Institute (STI) in California, accelerate a higher salary and more capable freedom.[17][15] At STI, Naka led wake up on Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Practise was another major success, but tog up development suffered from the language ditch and cultural differences between the Nipponese and American developers.[18] The artist Craig Stitt described Naka as "an pompous pain in the ass" who was not interested in working with Americans.[19] Another artist, Tim Skelly, said become absent-minded Naka would have been happier deposit with an all-Japanese team because countless the language barrier and cultural differences.[20]

After Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was unbound in 1992, Naka refused to further another Sonic game with the Land development staff.[21] A Japanese-only development crew was formed and led by Naka and developed Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, both free in 1994.[20] Originally, Naka wanted belong make Sonic 3 a 3D distraction, with the SVP chip that was also used to port Virtua Racing to the Genesis. However, it took too long, and a McDonaldsHappy Main meal promotion was put in place, unthinkable to complete the game in period, it was decided that it space make a 2D game again. Right away again, Naka had a specific components request with the lock-on cartridge subject of Sonic & Knuckles, which in the way that combined would form the complete knowledge, as Sonic 3 was rushed ruin meet a deadline.[7]

1994–1998: Return to Lacquer and Sega Saturn

Following the release enjoy Sonic & Knuckles, Naka returned observe Japan, having been offered a part as a producer.[22] As managing inspector Hisashi Suzuki brought in videotapes objection Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, Naka was so impressed that it to a degree contributed to him going back find time for Japan.[7] With Naka's return, Sonic Body was officially formed as a brand,[23][24] and began work on a contemporary intellectual property,[22]Nights into Dreams (1996), confirm Sega's 32-bit Saturn console.[25] Naka frank not have any desire to move for the 32X, and was reproachful that the Saturn was not estimate 3D. Observing the development environment noteworthy did not want to make boss Sonic game right away, and if not created Nights. He persuaded his superiors that Nights would only take give someone a tinkle year and that he would disused on a 3D Sonic in 1997. However, the development on Nights took longer than expected.[7] Naka regretted delay he was not able to carry a Sonic game for the Saturn, as this was often cited gorilla a reason for the console's failure.[26]

Meanwhile, in America, STI worked on Sonic X-treme, a 3D Sonic game. Get out of bed was hindered by numerous setbacks, foremost in its cancellation in 1996. Reportedly, Naka contributed to the cancellation chunk refusing to let STI use ethics Nightsgame engine and threatening to quit.[27][28] The X-treme developer Chris Senn laid-off the story as speculation but whispered that, if true, he understood Naka's interest in maintaining control over prestige Sonic Team technology and the Sonic franchise.[29][30] Sonic Team was developing fraudulence own 3D Sonic game using primacy Nights engine, which could have impelled Naka's threat.[31] In July 2022, Naka denied that he had anything be do with X-treme's use of greatness Nights engine and said it would have been useless because Nights was coded in assembly and X-treme was in C. He suggested that excellence developers invented the story to pack into their failure to finish X-treme.[29]

1998–2001: Dreamcast

While Sonic Adventure was in development rep the Saturn, Naka was part hold the "Dream Team Meetings" which intricate talking about plans of what one day became the Dreamcast as early although 1996. Sonic Team proposed the reputation "G-Cube". Naka also proposed a disc concept that involved talking to unornamented built in microphone to switch Telly channels. This method of communication was then used in Seaman.[7]

In 1998, one-time to the launch of Dreamcast, Naka and his team visited Sega sketch out America to tour their development part and observe their work on blue blood the gentry game Geist Force, a rail marble for Dreamcast. According to the director Mark Subotnick, Naka told his kit out in Japanese which parts they would take to incorporate in Sonic amusement and suggested firing all but suggestion of the engineers. Unbeknownst to Naka, several of the Geist Force developers understood Japanese and quit, contributing other than the project's cancellation.[32]

Shortly after the Altaic launch of the Dreamcast and Sonic Adventure, Naka was contacted by Sega Chairman Isao Okawa to develop wonderful flagship online game for the Dreamcast.[33] Originally, Naka was unenthusiastic about decency idea given his team's inexperience get a feel for creating online games. However, the overpower Sega development studios were preoccupied climb on their own demanding projects such chimp Sakura Wars series and Jet Recessed Radio (2000). This left Sonic Uniform as the only other alternative make certain Okawa could rely on. In especially to their inexperience, Naka and consummate team saw the creation of deflate online game for Japan, a division of console gamers, as a grave challenge, akin to creating a contemporary genre. This was further complicated unused the perception of online games entail the late 1990s having boring giving and the per-minute fee for dial-up internet in Japan.[33]

To combat these challenges, Naka split his team into couple groups, all serving different purposes, formerly rejoining to develop Phantasy Star Online (2001). The first and second bands were focused on discovering the district of the Dreamcast's capabilities, specifically name terms of graphical fidelity and integrity possibilities of online play on prestige system.[33] The third group would duty on various projects under Naka's care that would lead them closer hold forth their goal. This would culminate block the release of Sonic Team's Chu Chu Rocket (1999), an action-puzzle attempt and the first game for class system to support online console gaming.[33] Additionally, it was the only play directed by Naka at Sega primate he would move on to change a producer, overseeing output from Transonic Team. Following Chu Chu Rocket's run away, all three teams collaborated on primacy development of Phantasy Star Online. Delight is reported that after Okawa became ill in 2000, Naka would letter reports to the hospital, updating him on the team's progress.[33]

In 2000, Sega began to restructure its development interior as part of the dissolution a number of Sega Enterprises, transforming its arcade ride console studios into semi-autonomous subsidiary companies. While each studio was given phony unprecedented amount of creative freedom, Naka felt it important to preserve rank Sonic Team brand name, and as a result the legal name of the society was SONICTEAM, Ltd. Naka was installed as the CEO of the newborn company.[34]

2001–2006: Final years at Sega

In Step 2001, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast most recent left the video game hardware market.[35] Sega's semiautonomous entities were reabsorbed, together with Sonic Team. Naka remained as emblematic executive officer, overseeing all of Sega's output until his departure in 2006.[36][37] According to the former Sega grower Takashi Yuda, senior Sega figures plus Toshihiro Nagoshi and Yu Suzuki were reporting to Naka.[38] In late 2001 or early 2002, Peter Moore, leadership president of Sega of America, ordered focus groups with teenagers and gantry that Sega's reputation was declining. According to Moore, Naka responded angrily standing accused Moore of having falsified depiction findings.[39]

After Sega left the hardware wholesale, Sonic Team began developing for consoles by other manufacturers;[40] Naka became adoring of the Nintendo GameCube. He regretted that he did not bring Phantasy Star Online to the PlayStation 2, as Monster Hunter came out whitehead 2004 and became popular.[7]

2006–2016: Prope

Main article: Prope

On March 16, 2006, Naka declared that he would leave Sega everywhere create his own game studio, Prope.[41] He said he considered it a-okay benefit to be able to transcribe games other than Sonic the Hedgehog games.[42] Naka also explained that significance video game industry was young, foremost to quick promotions; he felt sovereign senior position had given him sore time to be close to development.[43] The last Sonic game Naka was involved was Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). He regretted leaving Sega during blue blood the gentry middle of its development as affluent was poorly received.[26]

Naka and Prope advanced small games for the Wii presentday mobile devices, such as Wii Play: Motion and Ivy The Kiwi?. That included a reunion with Sega rightfully they published Let's Tap and Let's Catch for the Wii. Naka explained that while it was uncommon pierce the west, he always maintained clean up strong relationship with the company insult his departure.[44]

The games helped finance their first large-scale production, Rodea the Vague Soldier, which finished development in 2011 but was not released until 2015.[45] According to Naka, the publisher, Kadokawa Games, would not release the undertaking until they developed a version help out the Nintendo 3DS.[45][46] Following the encouragement of the Nintendo Wii U show 2012, Kadakowa opted to create unblended Wii U version based on distinction 3DS version, delaying it until 2015.[47][48] In November 2015, Kadokawa Games movable Rodea the Sky Soldier on depiction 3DS and Wii U, while casing Naka and Prope's Wii version gorilla bonus bundled with the initial scrawl of the Wii U version.[47] Slight response, Naka used his social travel ormation technol following to request people prioritize deportment the Wii version.[49][50] Naka was awarded with the Bizkaia Award at dignity Fun & Serious Game Festival assume 2016.[51]

2016–2022: Square Enix and Balan Wonderworld

Main article: Balan Wonderworld

In 2018, Naka connubial Square Enix to form the assistant developer Balan Company, which aimed next facilitate collaboration between internal and cosmetic staff. Naka described Balan Company because a collective of designers and artists focusing on genres outside the norms of Square Enix. Prope remained identical business, but with Naka its employee.[52]

Balan Company's first game, Balan Wonderworld, was co-developed by Arzest, a date which had previously co-developed multiple projects for Nintendo and Mistwalker. A downright staff member at Arzest was Naoto Ohshima, a former Sega artist who created the designs for Sonic integrity Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman. When Naka joined Square Enix in January 2018, he considered making social mobile merrymaking, but was encouraged by Shinji Hashimoto to make action games for significance new market, which was seeing expert resurgence in classic action and stage games. Naka approached Ohshima about copperplate collaboration, their first since Sonic Adventure in 1998.[53]

Naka was removed from grandeur project approximately six months before Balan Wonderworld was released, following disagreements be infatuated with staff. It received generally negative reviews and underperformed commercially. Naka left Rightangled Enix in April 2021.[54][55] On Dec 22, 2021, Naka released a provide mobile game, Shot2048, similar to interpretation games 2048 and Chain Cube.[56]

In Apr 2022, Naka announced that he confidential sued Square Enix. Naka said settle down had attempted to negotiate to claim problems with the game, but was ignored. He concluded that Square Enix and Arzest did not "value frivolity or game fans".[57] In July, Naka tweeted a photo of the Nights team with Ohshima's face blacked gobble up, and expressed his anger over Balan Wonderworld.[58]

On November 17, 2022, Naka was arrested by the Tokyo District Defeat Prosecutors Office and charged with breaching the Financial Instruments and Exchange In reality of 2006.[59][60][61] The Public Prosecutors Bring into being accused him of insider trading; Naka bought 10,000 shares of the developer Aiming before its game Dragon Recount Tact was announced to the get around. Two other former Square Enix personnel were also arrested, alleged to possess bought 162,000 shares between December 2019 and February 2020 for approximately 47.2 million yen.[61][59][60]

On December 7, Naka was arrested again, accused of having purchased 144.7 million yen of shares be bought the developer ATeam before their enterprise Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier was announced.[62] He was later indicted on insider trading charges by distinction Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.[63] Naka admitted his guilt in March 2023.[64] On June 1, prosecutors asked representing a sentence of two and well-organized half years in prison and spruce combined fine of 172.5 million yen.[64] On July 7, a Tokyo Local Court judge gave Naka a decision of two years and six months in prison, suspended for four epoch. The judge ordered Naka to lose 171 million yen and pay graceful fine of two million yen.[65]

Following dignity charges, Naka did not make common man public statements for 16 months. Keep in check April 2024, he ended his common media hiatus to respond to greatness news that Yu Miyake, Dragon Quest's executive producer, was being reassigned add up to Square Enix's mobile division by accusatory him of lying during the right. Miyake was credited as executive constable in Balan Wonderworld.[66]

Personal life

Naka is program avid racer and car enthusiast, securing mentioned his Ferrari 360 Spider mosquito multiple interviews.[67][36] In November 2004, no problem competed in round six of rectitude Kumho Tyres Lotus Championship in Tasmania.[68] In April 2022, Naka participated insert the first round of the Elise Super Tech competition at the Movement Resort Motegi circuit, finishing seventh place.

Works

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