Yuji Naka

aka: Muuuu Yuji, Yūji Naka, 中 裕司
Moby ID: 43207

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Yuji Naka (中 裕司) was born 17th September, 1965 and is the head of Sonic Team. He joined SEGA in the mid-eighties when Namco wouldn't hire him because he didn't have a college degree. His first project was Girl's Garden, an action game for the SG-1000. It was written in collaboration with Hiroshi Kawaguchi. After that, Naka worked on a number of Mark III titles, including the first two Phantasy Star games.

He achieved his status as SEGA's Shigeru Miyamoto for his programming work on Sonic the Hedgehog and masterminding a number of other major SEGA titles, including NiGHTS Into Dreams and Phantasy Star Online. In early games he was often credited as "YU2" (in reference to Yu Suzuki) and "Muuu Yuji".

He left SEGA in May 2006 to found independent developer PROPE, Ltd..

Naka was arrested in November 2022 for insider trading related to Dragon Quest Tact, essentially ending his career spanning almost four decades.

Credited on 78 games

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SHOT2048 (2021, Android) By
Balan Wonderworld (2021, PlayStation 5) Director
Rodea the Sky Soldier (2015, Nintendo 3DS) Producer
Rodea the Sky Soldier (2015, Wii) Producer
Digimon: All-Star Rumble (2014, Xbox 360) Producer
Monster Manor (2013, Nintendo 3DS) Producer
Superdimension Iliad (2012, Xbox 360) Thanks to
Wii Play: Motion (2011, Wii) Producer
Let's Catch (2009, Wii) Producer
Let's Tap (2008, Wii) Producer
NiGHTS into Dreams... (2008, PlayStation 2) Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2007, Xbox 360) Chief Programmer
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006, Game Boy Advance) Program
Phantasy Star Universe (2006, PlayStation 2) Executive Producer
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.24 - Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi (2006, PlayStation 2) Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.26 - Dynamite Deka (2006, PlayStation 2) Executive Supervisor
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.25 - Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box (2006, PlayStation 2) Executive Supervisor
Sonic Riders (2006, Xbox) Executive Producer
Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005, Nintendo DS) Chief Producer
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.23 - Sega Memorial Selection (2005, PlayStation 2) Executive Supervisor

[ full credits ]

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