Yuji Naka

Yuji Naka is a video game designer, programmer, former head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers, lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog and the head of Prope.

History
After graduating from high school, Naka decided to skip university and stay in his home town. During this time, Naka worked long hours at various menial jobs. After quitting his last job, Naka saw that Sega was looking for programming assistants. After a brief interview, he 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 Ohshima 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.

Naka also helped develop a popular EyeToy game for the PlayStation 2 called Sega Superstars.

When asked about the famous Nintendo vs. Sega console wars of the 1990s in an episode of Icons, he states that his intentions while making the original Sonic the Hedgehog game were different than the direction it was taken, and that the comparisons between Sonic and Mario were a misunderstanding by the media. He also says that he is good friends with Nintendo and that Sega had respect for Nintendo and the Mario games which were viewed as a watermark of quality for Sega to strive.

In 2006, Yuji Naka left Sega and opened up his own studio, Prope, in order to create games other than Sonic the Hedgehog titles and to get back to what he enjoyed most, programming games and being more involved with their development. Prope released a steady stream of games producing some modest successes.

In 2018, Yuji Naka joined Square-Enix. In 2019 he announced his first game with the company would be called Balan Wonderworld, a game visually reminiscent of NiGHTS which caused many fans and outlets to get excited. In early 2021 Balan Wonderworld released and was a commercial flop, with Naka leaving the company shortly afterwards, stating he was considering retirement, although later in 2021 he announced he was learning to program smartphone titles instead, as programming had always been his passion.

Insider trading charges
On 17 November 2022, Yuji Naka was taken in by Japanese law enforcement. Along with ex-employees, Fumiaki Suzuki and Taisuke Sazaki, Naka was arrested on suspicion of insider trading related to non-public information about Dragon Quest Tact. Naka allegedly bought 10,000 shares of developer Aiming before the unspecified information was made public.

Reported on 7 December 2022, Yuji Naka was rearrested alongside Sazaki for more insider trading for the mobile game Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, purchasing a total of 120,000 shares into developer ATeam. On 27 December 2022, Naka was formally indicted on the insider trading charges. Naka admitted to the ATeam insider trading in court in March 2023.

On June 1, 2023, Yuji Naka has recieved a prison sentence of two years and six months for insider trading, a fine of 2.5 million yen (roughly $17,900) as well as a supplementary penalty of 170 million yen (roughly $1.2 million). On July 7, a Tokyo District Court judge gave Naka a sentence of two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years. The judge ordered Naka to forfeit 171 million yen and pay a fine of two million yen.

Trivia

 * Yuji Naka voices Center-Sensei in the Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls animated show.
 * Yuji Naka had hoped Nintendo would contact him after he quit Sega.
 * After leaving Sega, Yuji Naka stated he hoped someday he could create another character equal in success and popularity to Sonic the Hedgehog.