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Yuji Naka
\u4e2d \u88d5\u53f8
Naka in 2015
Born	(1965-09-17) September 17, 1965 (age 59) Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Other names	YU2^[1]
Occupation(s)	Game designer, producer, programmer
Years active	1984\u20132022
Employers	Sega (1984\u20132006) Prope (2006\u20132022) Square Enix (2018\u20132021)
Notable work	Sonic the Hedgehog series Phantasy Star series Nights into Dreams

Yuji Naka (\u4e2d \u88d5\u53f8, Naka Y\u016bji, born September 17, 1965), credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game developer. He is the co-creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006.\n

Naka joined Sega in 1984 and worked on games including Girl's Garden (1985) and Phantasy Star II (1989). He was the lead programmer of the original Sonic games on the Mega Drive in the early 1990s, which greatly increased Sega's market share. After developing Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) in Japan, Naka moved to California to develop Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) and Sonic & Knuckles (1994) with Sega Technical Institute.\n

Naka returned to Japan to lead development on Sonic Team games including Nights into Dreams (1996), Burning Rangers (1998), Sonic Adventure (1998) and Phantasy Star Online (2000). After Sega left the console market in 2001, Naka remained as an executive officer and oversaw its output for the next five years.\n

In 2006, Naka left Sega and founded the independent game company Prope. He joined Square Enix to direct the platform game Balan Wonderworld (2021), which reunited him with Sonic co-creator Naoto Ohshima. Naka said he was removed from the project six months before Balan Wonderworld was released, and it underperformed critically and commercially. He left Square Enix in April 2021. In 2023, Naka was found guilty of insider trading at Square Enix.\n

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Year\n	Game\n	Role\n
1985\n	Girl's Garden\n	Game designer, programmer\n
Great Baseball\n	Programmer^[7]^[70]^[71]\n
F-16 Fighting Falcon (Master System ver.)\n
1986\n	Black Belt\n
Spy vs. Spy (Master System ver.)\n
Space Harrier (Master System ver.)\n
1987\n	OutRun (Master System ver.)\n
Phantasy Star\n	Lead programmer\n
1989\n	Phantasy Star II\n	Producer, lead programmer\n
Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Genesis ver.)\n	Programmer\n
1991\n	Sonic the Hedgehog\n
1992\n	Sonic the Hedgehog 2\n	Chief programmer\n
1994\n	Sonic the Hedgehog 3\n	Producer, lead programmer\n
Sonic & Knuckles\n
1996\n	Nights into Dreams\n
Sonic 3D Blast\n	Advisor\n
1997\n	Sonic Jam\n	Producer\n
Sonic R\n
1998\n	Burning Rangers\n
Sonic Adventure\n
1999\n	ChuChu Rocket!\n	Director, producer\n
Sonic Pocket Adventure\n	Supervisor\n
2000\n	Samba de Amigo\n	Producer\n
Phantasy Star Online\n
2001\n	Sonic Adventure 2\n
Puyo Pop\n
Sonic Advance\n
2002\n	Sonic Mega Collection\n
Sonic Advance 2\n
2003\n	Sonic Pinball Party\n
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg\n
Phantasy Star Online Episode III\n
Sonic Battle\n
Sonic Heroes\n
2004\n	Puyo Pop Fever\n
Astro Boy\n	Chief producer\n
Sonic Advance 3\n	Producer\n
Sega Superstars\n	Chief producer\n
Feel the Magic XX/YY\n
2005\n	Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love\n
Bleach Advance: Kurenai ni Somaru Soul Society\n
Sonic Gems Collection\n
The Rub Rabbits!\n
Shadow the Hedgehog\n	Producer\n
Sonic Rush\n
Puyo Puyo Fever 2\n	Chief producer\n
Bleach GC: Tasogare ni Mamieru Shinigami\n
2006\n	Bleach: The Blade of Fate\n
Doraemon: Nobita no Kyouryuu 2006 DS\n
Sonic Riders\n	Executive producer\n
Phantasy Star Universe\n
2008\n	Let's Tap\n	Producer\n
2009\n	Let's Catch\n
Ivy the Kiwi?\n
2011\n	Wii Play: Motion\n
Fishing Resort\n
2013\n	StreetPass Mansion / Monster Manor\n
2014\n	Digimon All-Star Rumble\n
Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls\n	Voice acting (\"Center-sensei\")\n
2015\n	Rodea the Sky Soldier (Wii ver.)\n	Producer\n
StreetPass Fishing / Ultimate Angler\n
2016\n	StreetPass Chef / Feed Mii\n
2017\n	Legend of Coin\n	Programmer^[72]\n
2021\n	Balan Wonderworld\n	Director^[73]\n
Shot2048^[74]\n	Game designer, programmer\n

v t e Sonic Team
Sonic the Hedgehog	\n Sonic the Hedgehog \n 2 \n CD \n 3 \n & Knuckles \n 3D Blast \n Jam \n R \n Adventure \n Adventure 2 \n Pinball Party \n Battle \n Heroes \n Shadow the Hedgehog \n Riders \n '06 \n Secret Rings \n Zero Gravity \n Unleashed \n Black Knight \n 4: Episode I \n Free Riders \n Colors \n Generations \n 4: Episode II \n Lost World \n Runners \n Forces \n Origins \n Frontiers \n Superstars \n Shadow Generations \n Racing: CrossWorlds \n
Nights	\n Nights into Dreams \n Journey of Dreams \n
Phantasy Star	\n Online \n Online: C.A.R.D. Revolution \n Universe \n Phantasy Star Portable \n
Puyo Puyo	\n Puyo Pop \n Puyo Pop Fever \n Fever 2 \n 15th Anniversary \n 7 \n 20th Anniversary \n Tetris \n Tetris 2 \n
Other games	\n Burning Rangers \n ChuChu Rocket! \n Samba de Amigo \n Ulala's Channel J \n Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg \n Astro Boy \n Sega Superstars \n Feel the Magic: XY/XX \n The Rub Rabbits! \n Sakura Wars \n
Key people	\n Hirokazu Yasuhara \n Jun Senoue \n Kazuyuki Hoshino \n Naoto Ohshima \n Shun Nakamura \n Takashi Iizuka \n Tomoya Ohtani \n Yuji Naka \n
\n $\"\"$ List of games \n $\"\"$ Category \n

Early life

Career

1983\u20131989: Beginnings at Sega

1989\u20131991: Sonic the Hedgehog

1991\u20131994: Sonic sequels and time in California

1994\u20131998: Return to Japan and Sega Saturn

1998\u20132001: Dreamcast

2001\u20132006: Final years at Sega

2006\u20132016: Prope

2016\u20132022: Square Enix and Balan Wonderworld

Insider trading charges

Personal life

Works

References

External links

Yuji Naka - Japanese video game designer and programmer

Yuji Naka - Japanese video game designer and programmer