Yuji Naka (中 裕司, Naka Yūji^?, born September 17, 1965), is a video game designer, programmer , the former head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers, the lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog and the head of PROPE. September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a cultural phenomenon. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... A game programmer is a software engineer who primarily develops computer or video games or related software (such as game development tools). ... Sonic Team is a computer and video game developer established in 1988 originally known as Sega AM8. ... Sega Corporation ) is an international video game software and hardware developing company, and a former home computer and console manufacturer. ... Sonic the Hedgehog is the platform game that launched the career of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Team. ... PROPE (pronounced: pro-pe) is an independent game development studio founded by former SEGA designer Yuji Naka. ...

After graduating High school, Yuji Naka decided to skip university and stay in his hometown of Osaka. During this time, Yuji worked long hours at various menial jobs. After quiting his last job, Yuji saw that Sega was looking for programming assistants. After a brief interview, Yuji was hired and began working on a game called Girl's Garden, which earned him critical praise and fan appreciation. He programmed the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, while Naoto Oshima designed the character and Hirokazu Yasuhara planned the stages. Naka has also produced several other titles like NiGHTS Into Dreams, Burning Rangers and Phantasy Star Online. In early games he was often credited as "YU2" (in reference to Yu Suzuki) and "Muuu Yuji". He is one of the few famous Japanese game creators to speak fluent English. Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... Osaka )   is a city in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of HonshÅ«. The city is the capital of Osaka Prefecture. ... Sega Corporation ) is an international video game software and hardware developing company, and a former home computer and console manufacturer. ... Game programming, a subset of game development, is the programming of computer, console or arcade games. ... Sonic the Hedgehog is the platform game that launched the career of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Team. ... Naoto Ohshima (大島 直人 Ōshima Naoto) is a Japanese national and former Sega employee who designed the characters of Sonic the Hedgehog and Doctor Eggman. ... Hirokazu Yasuhara is the stage designer of several of the early Sonic the Hedgehog videogames. ... NiGHTS into Dreams. ... Burning Rangers is a video game developed by Sonic Team for the Sega Saturn. ... Phantasy Star Online (PSO) was an online title for Sega Dreamcast released in 2000. ... Yu Suzuki (Japanese: , , born May 10, 1958) is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Naka also helped create a popular EyeToy game for the PlayStation 2 called Sega SuperStars, and finds mention in Shadow the Hedgehog where GUN soldiers will occasionally call out "Mister Yuji Naka is all right!" The EyeToy is a color digital camera device, similar to a webcam, for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. ... The PlayStation 2 , abbreviated PS2) is Sonys second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. ... SEGA SuperStars is a game developed by Sonic Team in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 EyeToy. ... Shadow the Hedgehog is a video game starring an anti-hero of the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Shadow the Hedgehog. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Other characters in Sonic the Hedgehog. ...

On the move

In news released on March 16, 2006, Naka announced that he intended to create his own game studio, independent of Sega and Sega Studio USA (a.k.a. Sonic Team) [1]. This decision bears resemblance to Naoto Oshima's departure of Sonic Team in 1999, when he founded Artoon. March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (76th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Artoon logo Artoon is a computer and video game third-party developer established in 1999. ...

In April, 2006 the Japanese game magazine Famitsu published a rumor saying that a game creator who recently went independent is creating a game featuring a flying clown, for the upcoming Wii system. Many people were led to believe that the developer was Naka and the game would be a NiGHTS sequel. However, according to IGN, the rumor story hinted that this had something to do with someone who created a famous bearded character, a description which didn't fit Naka. [2] Cover art for Issue 1 of Famitsu magazine, June 1986, then known as Famicom Tsūshin Famitsū abbreviated ファミ Fami) is a Japanese video game magazine published by Enterbrain, Inc. ... The Wii (pronounced as the pronoun we, IPA: ) is the fifth home video game console released by Nintendo. ... IGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games. ...

Emulation

Yuji Naka is also known for the development, during his spare time, of a NES/Famicom emulator for Sega Mega Drive, but it was never released for legal reasons.[3] This may be the first software emulator running on a console. “NES” redirects here. ... The Sega Mega Drive ) is a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. ...

External links

• Official Prope website (Japanese)
• Sonic Team Speaks (archived by the WaybackMachine)
• Sega Stars: Yuji Naka History of Yuji Naka
• Yuji Naka's profile at MobyGames