Tag: Yuji Naka
News Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Found Guilty Of Insider Trading
Receives suspended sentence and huge fine
The former Square Enix and Sega developer Yuji Naka has now been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, with a probation period of four years. He's also received fines of two million and 171 million yen. Website and social media account 'SEGAbits' shared a bit more detail about this based on a...
News Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Could Face Over Two Years In Prison
Veteran developer admitted to insider trading
Former Sega and Square Enix developer Yuji Naka could face a prison term of two years and six months in relation to the insider trading trial held in Tokyo, Japan, as reported by denfaminicogamer (thanks, Time Extension). In addition, Naka may be fined 2.5 million JPY along with a surcharge
News Yuji Naka Appears To Admit Guilt Over Insider Trading Case
Trial now in session at Tokyo District Court
Yuki Naka, the former head of Sonic Team, is now standing trial at the Tokyo District Court over charges of insider trading after an investigation at Square Enix. The creator had allegedly invested in development companies based on information gained prior to it being made publically available, thus...
News Yuji Naka Has Now Been Formally Indicted Over Insider Trading Offenses
Developer was previously arrested twice
Update [Wed 28th Dec, 2022 12:15 GMT]: Following on from the arrests of Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sazaki, the two have now been formally indicted over alleged insider trading offenses. As reported by NHK (thanks, VGC), the two were charged for conducting insider...
News Yuji Naka Erases Former Co-Worker And Sonic Creator Naoto Ohshima From Team Photo
Update: Naka adds more detail
Update: Naka has posted some tweets which appear to give a little more insight into the altered photo: It would seem that Naka is referring to the fallout surrounding the release of the much-derided Balan Wonderworld, which was created alongside Ohshima. Original Story [Tue 5th Jul, 2022 21:30 BST]: Things are...
News Square Enix Declines To Comment On Yuji Naka's Balan Wonderworld Lawsuit
Update: Square Enix's response
Update #2 [Fri 13th May, 2022 11:45 BST] As part of Square Enix's earnings briefings today, the company has confirmed it had a lawsuit case with Yuji Naka, but has declined to comment further. The only response the prominent Japanese developer gave was to say that Balan Wonderworld "is a game that we recommend with...
News Sonic's Run On "Non-Sega Hardware" Made Yuji Naka Both Sad And Happy
It's been 20 years since Sonic showed up on GameCube
Following the short-lived lifespan of Dreamcast, Sega made the decision to exit hardware development and become a third-party developer and publisher. While it was somewhat welcome news for fans of other companies at the time, it was no doubt a difficult period for the team at Sega. One person...
News Sonic's Co-Creator Yuji Naka Made A New Game, And You Can Play It Right Now
The catch? It's a mobile release
After the release of Balan Wonderworld earlier this year, Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka announced in September he had started developing simple mobile games with Unity. Now, just months later, he's done it - for the "first time" in 37 years, he's made a game all by himself - and he wants everyone to
News Sonic And Balan Wonderworld Creator Yuji Naka Is Now Making Smartphone Games
Retirement can wait
One of the most underwhelming releases in 2021 has been Balan Wonderworld - by Sonic the Hedgehog creator, Yuji Naka. This title reportedly had the potential to trigger epileptic seizures, was accused of featuring a
Video Yuji Naka Actually Made This Hidden Gem During The Wii Generation
Before Balan
Earlier this week, it was discovered Balan Wonderworld creator Yuji Naka had left Square Enix. In an update on social media, Naka confirmed he had resigned and is now considering calling time on his career. While it's sad he may end on this note, Naka has actually had quite a wonderful career - working on Sega games like Nights into...
News Yuji Naka Parted Ways With Square Enix Following Balan Wonderworld's Release
Update: Is now considering retirement
Update: Following the widespread response to the news he left Square Enix, Yuki Naka posted a tweet with a short update, below. We've also included a translation shared by Gematsu, which broadly aligns with machine translations of the text. I resigned from Square Enix at the end of April,” Naka said in a...
News Yuji Naka Is Really Excited For 2022's Sonic Movie Sequel
"As expected Tails is going to appear now"
It's been 15 years since Yuji Naka last anything to do with a Sonic the Hedgehog game. Having worked as the lead programmer on Sonic's original adventure, he left Sega in 2006 – not long after producing Sonic Riders – and since then, he's more recently popped up with Balan Wonderworld
Random Yuji Naka Has Never Heard Of Sonic's "Official" Codename
"Even though I was the one who made it!"
Sonic is one of video gaming's most enduring characters, so it's little wonder that there's been plenty of attention given to his origins over the years. It's been commonly accepted that the mascot's codename during the initial development of his Mega Drive debut was "Mr. Needlemouse" but it would seem that...
News Sonic Co-Creator Says Balan Wonderworld Is His "One Chance" To Make A New 3D Platformer
"I don’t think I’d be good at making RPGs"
Former Sonic Team boss Yuji Naka – who is perhaps most famous for co-creating Sonic the Hedgehog alongside Hirokazu Yasuhara and Naoto Ohshima – has stated that his latest venture, Balan Wonderworld, could be his one and only chance at making a successful 3D platformer at Square Enix, his current...
News Sonic Creator Yuji Naka Is Making An "Original Action Game" With Square Enix
Excited?
Yuji Naka, who you'll no doubt know as the lead programmer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog games, has revealed that he is working on an "original action game" at Square Enix. The Sonic creator joined Square Enix in January 2018; at the time, he said that he wished to "develop an enjoyable game" without sharing any further details. In a...
News Yuji Naka Thanks Sonic Fans For Encouraging Movie Director To Change Controversial Design
"Thank you so much"
Yesterday, the Sonic The Hedgehog movie director Jeff Fowler revealed the blue blur would be redesigned after fans of Sega's longtime mascot made it "loud and clear" how unhappy they were with his overall look. Much like the general public, Yuji Naka – the co-creator of Sonic and individual who is perhaps most responsible for...
News Sonic's Co-Creator "Feels Responsible" For Movie Trailer Backlash
"I would have liked to appear in a movie"
The first trailer for the forthcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie went down like a fart in a lift, it's fair to say. Very few people had anything positive to say about the clip, which gave us our first glimpse of Sonic and Robotnik in their big-screen forms. While Jim Carrey appears to be relishing the role...
Random Sonic The Hedgehog Creator Yuji Naka Thinks Nintendo Has Changed
Indie collabs paving the way
Now that we know Brace Yourself Games is working on a cross-over between Crypt of the NecroDancer and The Legend of Zelda series, it has raised questions about what else could be on the horizon. When the Sonic The Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka first found out about an indie developer working with one of Nintendo’s most...
News SEGA’s GBA Version Of ChuChu Rocket! Arrives On The Japanese Wii U Virtual Console This Month
The Dreamcast port returns
Around the turn of the millennium when Sonic Team was in its prime with releases such as Sonic Adventure and Phantasy Star Online, Nintendo's Game Boy Advance was fortunate enough to receive a port of the Dreamcast title, ChuChu Rocket! Released in 2001 alongside the launch of Nintendo's latest portable system at the...
The two rivals talk Sonic, Mario and much more besides
Cast your mind back to the console war of the early '90s and one thing springs to mind - Sega vs Nintendo. The titanic struggle between these two Japanese giants dominated the video game industry for the best part of a decade, with the incumbent Nintendo - along with world-famous mascot Mario -...
News Yuji Naka's Rodea the Sky Soldier is Finished
What's keeping it?
One of the most promising Wii games still to see release is Rodea the Sky Soldier from Yuji Naka's PROPE studio. We haven't seen much of the game since January, but the good news is that development work has finished. The bad news is that publisher Kadokawa Games is yet to tell Naka its plans for releasing his latest game,...
News Rodea the Sky Soldier Flying to Wii and 3DS
Check out Yuji Naka's newest project in action
We recently heard word that Yuji Naka, former head honcho of Sega's Sonic Team, was working on a brand new and highly secret project for both the Nintendo Wii and 3DS systems, but so far we've seen very little in the way of screenshots and absolutely no video of the game in action at all. Well the wait...
News Buying Ivy the Kiwi? Helps Save Real Kiwis
10p donated to Save the Kiwi Trust
You don't see many video games about kiwis, though this is Rising Star Games' second game to feature the flightless bird following DS romp New Zealand Story. The lack of kiwi-based games might be due to the increasing danger of extinction faced by its real-life counterpart, but if you want to do something about...
News Mario and Sonic Olympics was Yuji Naka's Idea, says Yuji Naka
Idea pitched before he left Sega
The man behind Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka, had left Sega by the time Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was underway, but Mr Naka has said that he came up with the concept before his departure. Speaking to the audience at this year's Eurogamer Expo in London, Mr Naka said: It was actually my idea, and I was...
News Ivy the Kiwi? Emerges from its European Egg on October 29th
Yuji Naka's latest opus nearly hatched
Ivy the Kiwi? for Wii and DS is the latest game from Yuji Naka, best known for his involvement in the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. It's been out in North America for some time, but a European release is just around the corner, with publisher Rising Star Games announcing the game will launch on Friday,...
Competition Ivy the Kiwi? Contest Winner!
The envelope please
We'd like to congratulate Acerocksyourworld on being the lucky winner of our Ivy the Kiwi? Competition. You'll soon be receiving your very own copy of the Wii release along with an autographed piece of Ivy the Kiwi? artwork taken directly from XSEED's E3 2010 booth. We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who...
We take Yuji Naka's unique platformer for a spin
Only getting a few minutes to play Ivy the Kiwi? at the recent E3 trade show in Los Angeles, it was difficult to get a good feel for what the games had to offer. While it was certainly fun getting to see them in action and having the gist of the gameplay fully explained, a part of me still wanted to...
News Ivy the Kiwi? Gets Release Date
Unique platformer is on the way
XSEED Games have just announced that their upcoming Wii and DS releases of Ivy the Kiwi have officially gone gold and are set to be released at North American retailers on August 24th. Ivy the Kiwi is a unique platforming title created by legendary Sonic creator Yuji Naka along with his Prope Studio developers and is...
News Yuji Naka Not Interested in Making Sonic Games
Just as well, really
Even though he was creating blue hedgehog games for the best part of fifteen years, people still assume Yuji Naka hasn't had his fill of his most famous character just yet. It turns out he has. Speaking to Siliconera, Mr Naka said: Right now, I want to create new things. Even if I had the opportunity to create some kind of new...
News Download Versions of Ivy the Kiwi? Rated by ESRB
Tiny bird to fly to WiiWare and DSiWare
Last month we brought you our First Impressions of upcoming PROPE project Ivy the Kiwi?, as well as an exclusive interview with the game's creator Yuji Naka. In Japan, the game received small versions available via WiiWare and DSiWare, so naturally our intrepid reporter Corbie Dillard asked about the...
News Ivy the Kiwi Story - Chapter One
It's story time!
Xseed have just sent over some more information on their upcoming Ivy the Kiwi releases for Nintendo Wii and DS due to hit store shelves this summer. They've also sent the first part of their ongoing story for the games that will be released in parts between now and the official release date. You can check out Chapter One below and...
