Yuji Naka
aka: Muuuu Yuji, Yūji Naka, 中 裕司
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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 76 games
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| SHOT2048 (2021 on Android) | By |
| Balan Wonderworld (2021 on PlayStation 5) | Director |
| Rodea the Sky Soldier (2015 on Nintendo 3DS) | Producer |
| Rodea the Sky Soldier (2015 on Wii) | Producer |
| Digimon: All-Star Rumble (2014 on Xbox 360) | Producer |
| Monster Manor (2013 on Nintendo 3DS) | Producer |
| Superdimension Iliad (2012 on Xbox 360) | Thanks to |
| Wii Play: Motion (2011 on Wii) | Producer |
| Let's Catch (2009 on Wii) | Producer |
| Let's Tap (2008 on Wii) | Producer |
| NiGHTS into Dreams... (2008 on PlayStation 2) | Special Thanks |
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2007 on Xbox 360) | Chief Programmer |
| Sonic the Hedgehog (2007 on Xbox 360) | Program |
| Phantasy Star Universe (2006 on PlayStation 2) | Executive Producer |
| Sega Ages 2500: Vol.24 - Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi (2006 on PlayStation 2) | Executive Supervisor |
| Sega Ages 2500: Vol.26 - Dynamite Deka (2006 on PlayStation 2) | Executive Supervisor |
| Sega Ages 2500: Vol.25 - Gunstar Heroes: Treasure Box (2006 on PlayStation 2) | Executive Supervisor |
| Sonic Riders (2006 on Xbox) | Executive Producer |
| Sega Ages 2500: Vol.23 - Sega Memorial Selection (2005 on PlayStation 2) | Executive Supervisor |
| Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (2005 on PlayStation 2) | Chief Producer |
[ full credits ]
circa 2018
source: Facebook
Frequent Collaborators
- 38 games with Masanao Maeda
- 37 games with Akira Nishikawa
- 35 games with Yoshihiro Sakuta
- 34 games with Yasushi Nagumo
- 30 games with Hisao Oguchi
- 27 games with Hideki Okamura
- 26 games with Yuji Uekawa
- 25 games with Osamu Shibamiya
- 25 games with Junichi Shimizu
- 25 games with Seijirou Sannabe
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