Yuji Naka

Yuji Naka (中 裕司 Naka Yūji, born September 17, 1965), is a video game designer and head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers.

Related Topics:
September 17 - 1965 - Video game - Sonic Team - Sega

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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 and Phantasy Star Online. In early games he was often credited as "YU2" (in reference to Yu Suzuki) and "Muuu Yuji".

Related Topics:
Program - Sonic the Hedgehog - Naoto Oshima - Hirokazu Yasuhara - NiGHTS Into Dreams - Phantasy Star Online - Yu Suzuki

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Naka also helped create a popular EyeToy game for the PlayStation 2 called Sega SuperStars.

Related Topics:
EyeToy - PlayStation 2 - Sega SuperStars

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Naka is often viewed by the gaming public as Sega's equivalent to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto.

Related Topics:
Nintendo - Shigeru Miyamoto

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Some in the gaming industry have been critical of Naka due to some of his actions. These include forcing Sonic team to change most of the Sonic R music from standard Sonic the Hedgehog sounding music to europop, and refusing to let STI employees use his newly created NiGHTS engine to make Sonic X-treme.

Related Topics:
Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic X-treme

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