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Yuji Naka isn’t really bad: How a Sega legend gradually became one of gaming’s greatest villains

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hello and welcome to the CCP where the

turbo graphic 16 lives on and it's

always turbo time boy I tell you what

things sure have changed for programmer

and video game producer Yuji Naka when I

was growing up back in the 80s and 90s

Yugi Nako was universally acclaimed as

the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog back

then Nako was just a young brilliant

strikingly handsome Visionary who had

taught himself how to program computers

while he was still in Japanese High

School the guy skipped college for

Pete's sake just like Mark Zuckerberg

Bill Gates Steve Jobs Jack dorsy and

Walt Disney you know all the best people

Yugi Naka knew what he wanted from The

Starting Gate and thus he went straight

into the video game industry

transforming childhood ideas and

Ambitions into a career that would

eventually put him on equal footing with

shago mamoto at least for a time because

overtime noa's Legacy has begun to Decay

and crumble stories have emerged

characterizing Naka as a temperamental

Primadonna willing to steal credit and

use others for the sake of securing his

own future turning the Sega hero into

one of contemporary Gaming's most

notable bad guys perhaps no Yugi nakaka

story is as Infamous as that told by

former Sega producer mark subbotnik on

the Retro Hour podcast in 2021 sobotnik

claims that while veloping a never

released Dreamcast game called gist

Force this is gist force it was a Star

Fox clone developed by Sega of America

as a Dreamcast launch title it was

during the development of this game that

sobotnik and his team were visited by

Yugi Naka who at this point in his

career had become one of sega's most

important and influential producers

according to subbotnik Naka was

allegedly Covetous of the game engine

developed for Guist Force thus he

proceeded to openly discuss in Japanese

with his associates plans to fire most

of the Guist Force team and to take the

game's technology as well as one of its

Engineers for use in developing a future

Sonic the Hedgehog game absolutely

nefarious right however subotnik

explains it just so happens that noa's

nefarious plans were overheard by The

Game's development team and wouldn't you

know it several of them including the

head engineer himself happened to speak

fluent Japanese as a consequence the

engineers quit the project and sought

work elsewhere ruining Guist Force's

chance to be released initially I found

this story hard to believe for two big

reasons first subbotnik version of this

event clashes with the one told by Guist

Force's lead programmer back in the year

2000 when the Dreamcast was still on the

store shelves in issue number 137 of

electronic gaming monthly the December

2000 issue Guist Force's lead programmer

neemi Molly was interviewed for an

article about cancel games in the

article Nei Molly who no longer worked

at Sega explained that gist force was

canceled for a myriad of reasons

including delays caused by several

missed deadlines and political

infighting between members of the team

indeed even by the time the game was

canceled by Sega who thought the game

beneath their expectations the

programming itself was still only 65 to

70% completed neimi mly makes no mention

of Yuji Naka or an exodus from Sega

caused by noa's attempt to steal their

work the second reason I doubt sobotnik

story is that I know how exceedingly

difficult it is to really learn Japanese

it takes roughly 2,500 hours of study to

become proficient in Japanese which is

roughly four times as much time as it

takes to learn Spanish Japanese is just

an extremely difficult language for

English speakers to learn which is why

less than 1% of all Americans can speak

the language with any meaningful fluency

sword and of this less than 1% the vast

majority are ethnically Japanese people

living in Hawaii thus the odds that the

Guist Force Team would have any fluent

Japanese speakers much less several of

them is just incredibly improbable nor

do I think it would be likely for a

group of game developers to all walk out

on a project so late into its

development cycle because in their

industry completed game projects are the

standard by which you're measured thus

mark the botnik story on the Retro Hour

podcast was very hard for me to believe

however I did a little research on Nei

Molly gist Force's lead programmer from

both subotnik story and the electronic

gaming monthly article and it turns out

that he started his career in 1990

working at Hudson soft in seoro Japan

for him to have worked in seoro Japan

for any amount of time strongly implies

that Nei mly most likely really does

speak enough Japanese to interpret the

nefarious plans of eugi G Naka had Naka

actually made such a public statement

about his intentions to dissolve the

Guist Force team and steal their code

it's possible that Yugi Naka really did

visit Sega of America to oversee Mark

subotnik team working on Guist Force but

it's likely that such a visit wasn't

casual friendly curiosity but rather an

investigation by Sega of Japan into a

game that had missed multiple deadlines

and wasn't nearing completion Naka may

have mentioned the need to dissolve the

team but not as a plot for personal gain

but as a managerial necessity and if he

suggested salvaging or reusing the game

engine and retaining some staff who

could use it then that would have been a

reasonable plan of action considering

the fact that Sega had invested their

own time and money into the project

without any marketable results thus it's

possible to interpret Yugi noa's actions

here as sound management of company

resources in the face of a fruitless

project stuck in development hell that's

a positive interpretation anyway but

these days positive stories about Yugi

Naka are few and far between today the

prevalent tendency is to bury the man

and this seems to be symptomatic of a

larger less questionable reality the

fact that not many people are left in

the world that actually like Yuji Naka I

mean look at him look at that handsome

smug better than you smile who could

dislike such a face apparently everyone

but if you think Yugi Naka is a jerk at

least there's little doubt about his

credibility as one of the great game

makers of all time right right no longer

now doubts have Arisen about Yuji noa's

abilities as a game developer too

something that was previously

unimaginable from the mid 80s and

straight through the 1990s noa's record

as a programmer for Sega was impeccable

he ported the super scaling arcade game

Space Harrier to the 8-Bit Master System

a feat that seemed utterly impossible

when you consider the downgrade and

Hardware that he was working with he

programmed the original Fantasy Star

where once again he squeezed every ounce

of potential out of the Master System

generating the brilliant 3D scrolling

dungeons the game is most famous for but

he also worked on the excellent Fantasy

Star sequel for the Sega Genesis and he

is also credited with programming the

Genesis Port of ghouls and ghost which

is renowned for its quality but of

course Yugi Naka was most famous for

being the head programmer on Sonic the

Hedgehog Sonic 2 as well as Sonic 3 and

Sonic and Knuckles the man was a legend

and like guo mamoto one of the few true

big names of video games that everyone

recognized maybe not by your mom she was

more interested in Tom celic but maybe

your math teacher and your weird Cousin

Carl actually knew who Yugi Naka was and

they probably thought he was pretty cool

too however once the gaming industry

shifted towards more advanced Hardware

in the mid and late '90s with the Sega

Saturn and the Dreamcast noa's Legacy as

a game maker was never quite as

impeccable nights into dreams in 199 96

was noa's first 3D game and not

incidentally his very last as an actual

programmer it's widely regarded as an

essential title for the Saturn but there

are those who believe that well this

game just wasn't as much fun to play as

it was provocatively original as

original as a 3D clone of the arcade

classic loopin from 1982 can actually be

that is come on look at them side by

side and tell me that Knights isn't just

loopin mixed with the ring from Sonic

the Hedgehog I've been told that this

game is a lot of fun now I've also been

told that Citizen Kane is one of the

best movies ever made Rose butd after

this critical hit game Yuji Naka was a

full-fledged producer and his first

original game was Sonic R developed by

traveler tale which has the dubious

honor of being the very first bad 3D

Sonic game that was ever officially

released it's essentially a cart racer

but with 3D Sprites that awkwardly

stumble around as the camera struggles

to keep up with every twist and turn the

critics were not kind to this wacky game

back in the day but the Absurd

soundtrack has become kind of a classic

[Music]

everywhere don't you feel sometimes you

just need to

run in 1998 Yugi Naka saw two more major

releases as a producer burning Rangers

for the Sega Saturn and Sonic Adventure

for the Dreamcast burning Rangers is a

lot like nights into dreams in so far as

it was widely praised by game critics

but perhaps with a bit too much fervor

my view is that it's a fairly sloppy 3D

platformer with drab graphics and a ton

of popup and jittery polygons Sonic

Adventure directed by tekashi isuka was

much better this was a true event game

which properly showcased what the Sega

dream cast was all about Sonic Adventure

was both a critical and Commercial

Success for both Yugi Naka and Sega then

in 1999 Yuji NOA would get into the

director's role once more with cho cho

rocket for the Dreamcast a fun but

relatively simple puzzle game about

guiding a herd of mice safely to a

Launchpad critics were all about this

game and it added Credence to the idea

that Yuji Naka was a genius level game

master the year 2000 was also strong

with Yugi Naka producing both Samba de

Amigo a fun rhythm game for the

Dreamcast and fantasy Star online a

multiplayer action RPG that made use of

the dreamcast's online functionality

this is a cult classic and popular with

a small niche of Hardcore enthusiasts to

this very day 2001 saw the release of

Sonic Adventure 2 which was fun but not

as well regarded as Sonic Adventure 1

and there were a couple of Game Boy

advanced games in there too and then the

Dreamcast failed Sega announced their

exit from the console industry and the

next 20 years of Yuji noa's career was

pretty disappointing in 2003 Billy

Hatcher and The Giant Egg was a pretty

good game for the Nintendo GameCube but

it was neither a critical or Commercial

Success Sonic Heroes was also released

for all the big Platforms in 2003 and it

established a trend of General

mediocrity and critical indifference

that has plagued 3D Sonic games all the

way to the pr

with this game I think the Sonic series

established itself as a niche

exclusively for Sonic the Hedgehog Mega

fans an interesting group of people to

say the least then Shadow the Hedgehog

would be released in 2005 to similar

effect and then Sonic Riders In 2006

which was mostly panned also released in

2006 was the infamous Sonic 06 for the

PS3 and Xbox 360 a disaster of a game

that was widely regarded as the worst

Sonic game ever

made um why are you helping

me no special

reason Yugi Naka started off as this

game's producer but he left Sega in the

middle of development to start his own

game studio called prop why did Yugi

Naka do this did he realize Sonic 06 was

doomed to failure in 2004 Sega was

bought in a hostile takeover by Sammy

did he not like working under the new

Sega ownership after all lots of top

Sega Talent was either fired or quit

during the same time period well

according to an article with Brandon

Sheffield at gamed developer.com in

December of 2008 Naka revealed that he

simply disliked his position as a

producer at Sega and he wanted to step

back into a more Hands-On creative role

closer to the way he worked as a young

programmer in the 80s and '90s thus

starting prop was supposed to be Yuji

noa's big opportunity to once again

display his full creative potential

however things didn't didn't really turn

out that well from what I can tell probe

seems to have been set up to aim

squarely at the lucrative casual gaming

Market that had only just emerged thanks

to the success of smartphones and

Nintendo's Wii a console for babies and

old people between 2009 and 2017 Pro

produced around 26 games for Play on iOS

or Android based devices one of noa's

first games under the prop label got

some notoriety steming from the sheer

novelty of Naka becoming essentially an

indie game developer the game was let's

tap a rhythm game that was originally

released for the Nintendo Wii making

unique use of the gimmicky Wii remotes

but other than the strange method of

play you literally tap your hands to

trigger an action the game was

underwhelming there was also let's catch

which is yet more wi shovelware as was

Ivy the Kiwi a Flappy Bird clone with a

Twist and a game called Fishing Resort

which is a fishing game in case you

didn't know so yeah probe made a ton of

iPhone games and we shovelware but then

there was rodea the sky Soldier an

original character-driven action game

that was finished for the Wii in 2011

this was Pro's chance to make a big

splash and prove yugin nakaka still had

the magical touch it was for the time a

massively ambitious game with unique

zipline flying mechanics big colorful

levels and a cast of cool anime

characters on an Epic Fantasy Adventure

rodea the sky Soldier had style and

genuinely appealing personality but more

importantly the game play was good

indeed possibly very good it's no

exaggeration to say that rodea the sky

Soldier was Yuji noa's best game since

the Dreamcast and it was according to

some fans of the game one of the best

games ever made for the Wii but there

was a problem despite being completed in

2011 the game's publisher Cawa

Corporation refused to release the game

insisting on a simultaneous launch for

both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS

kakawa games took up the development of

the Wii U Port of rodea the sky Soldier

themselves and unfortunately for pro

this took over 3 years and rodea the sky

Soldier wasn't released until November

2015 and exclusively for the Wii U and

the 3DS because by this time the Wii was

history and thus propes version of the

game game was never officially released

and that's a bummer because despite

having slightly better graphics rodea

the sky Soldier for the Wii U was

essentially a different game and this

new version like totally sucked however

not all was lost in order to give people

a chance to experience the original

version of the game the initial release

of rodea the sky soldier on the Wii U

came bundled with a free copy of propes

version of the game in the form of a

bonus disc Nintendo Force's review of

rodea summarizes this situation nicely

my advice buy rodea the sky Soldier for

the Wii U toss the Wii U disc into a

nearby sewage canal and pop the Wii disc

into your machine and let her spin

woohoo now I couldn't have said it

better myself the rodea the sky Soldier

episode is very unfortunate for both

Yugi Naka and his company prop it was a

very good game doomed to obscurity by

odd decisions of the publisher and

unfortunately this also led to propes

implosion as a game development company

by 2017 Yugi Naka openly admitted that

the only remaining employee at prop was

well Yugi Naka himself I can't help but

think that had rodea been released in

2011 for the Wii Yugi Naka would have

been able to retain much more of his

credibility as a big-time Visionary game

maker and perhaps prop would have been

able to continue on in a positive

direction instead Yuji Naka was hired by

Square Enix the makers of Final Fantasy

and Dragon Quest and in 2018 he was

given his own Division and a bunch of

money in order to make a big time game

worthy of his status as an industry

Legend unfortunately what Naka made was

ball in Wonderland released in 2021 a

game allegedly so terrible it was

regarded by many to be the worst game of

the year and that's the same year that

cyberpunk 2077 was released just [Music]

[Music] wow

wow [Music]

hey guys enjoying the video we certainly

hope so but I just need to interrupt for

a second here to tell you about rage

Shadow Legends no just kidding actually

you may have noticed a few seconds ago

that I called ball and Wonder World ball

and Wonderland oops here's the thing

guys I'm actually from an alternative

Universe a parallel world if you will

but my world is exactly the same as

yours in every way except ball and

Wonder World is called ball and

Wonderland Twinkies are filled with

chocolate Spider-Man is a Chinese guy

and the video game developer that made

the new Sonic Superstars is called azr

instead of R zest yeah in my world we

never called our zest our zest we say

ASR and we say ball and Wonderland

instead of ball and Wonder World also we

only have four fingers on each hand

interesting right well I apologize about

the discrepancy in this video hopefully

I can get back to my own world soon I

enjoy being able to speak the same

language as your version of Spider-Man

Spanish but your white Twinkies are just

disgusting also none of your gloves fit

me very well so thanks for understanding

the discrepancy and I hope you enjoy the

rest of the video bye-bye now I'm not

going to belabor how incredibly awkward

and misguided ball in Wonderland is

because at this point the internet is

overloaded with detailed reviews and

funny mems about this odd and probably

misunderstood game I'm sure that you all

have seen and heard plenty about it

already like this really strange musical

number with a corn farmer from level one

it's Unique sweet and yet somehow Bland

to the point of tastelessness sort of

like corn itself that's what this game

is it's high fructose corn syrup a

staple of our childhood diets that we as

adults now aggressively try and avoid as

much as possible lest we go blind and

have our feet amputated from type 2

diabetes so I'm sure you've already had

your fill of ball and Wonderland and yet

I'm just as sure that the vast majority

of you guys have never actually played

the game that's because ball in

Wonderland despite being in development

for 3 years and utilizing the AAA

resources of Square Enix managed to sell

less than 2,100 physical copies its

first week on the store shelves in Japan

indeed the game failed to sell anywhere

and was quickly dumped in the bargain

bins prior to the game's release though

the prospects for ball in Wonderland

seemed great the internet was buzzing

with trailers articles and tons of

promotional material in July of 2020

Square Enix published a YouTube video

showcasing behind the scenes insights

into how ball and Wonderland was being

made it featured dramatic music tons of

conceptual art some nervous looking

artists and Engineers but most

importantly this video showed that Yugi

Naka had gotten back to together with

his longtime collaborator and friend

from Sega nuto osima who can be seen

here gruffly posing with an exuberant

Yugi Naka who even wore a white top hat

for the occasion how zany is that how

can you not love this guy so who is this

Nao osima guy like Yugi Naka nauto osima

was part of a special cohort of young

talent that was recruited by Sega in the

mid 8s only Oshima was not hired for his

technical Acumen but rather his skill as

a graphical artist Naka and Oshima would

first come together working on the

original Fantasy Star games but their

big break as a team came in 1990 when

Oshima drew a brand new original game

character for Sega that was meant to

rival Nintendo's Mario no not him no one

likes him anymore no of course we're

talking about Sonic the Hedgehog

combined with Yugi noa's programming and

Innovative fast scrolling game mechanics

that literally put a new spin on the Sid

scrolling action platformer Sonic the

Hedgehog would go on to sell 15 million

copies worldwide and as sega's official

packing game for the rebranded Genesis

it would help Propel Sega into the

number one Sales spot briefly dethroning

Nintendo in the first half of the 1990s

thus it should come as no surprise to

hear that the team of Yuji Naka and NATO

oima would be brought together again and

again over the years first more or less

incidentally but then officially as the

spiritual heart and soul of Sonic team

which chapter am2 was easily sega's most

prestigious game division going all the

way into the 2000s yet surprisingly this

dream team wasn't assembled right away

and for a few years between 1991 and

1994 Yuji Naka would leave Sega of Japan

to work with the Sega Technical

Institute at Sega of America in the San

Francisco Bay Area there Yugi Naka would

work as the head programmer on Sonic 2

Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles but never

officially as a Project Director nauto

oima during the same time period

actually was promoted to be a

full-fledged game director and his first

game was Sonic CD for the Sega CD a game

some people still regard as the very

best of that first generation of Sonic

games I'm not sure if that's true but

Sonic CD is definitely my favorite Sonic

game from the time period yet despite

the fact that it was Nao Shima who

created Sonic the Hedgehog as a

character and despite Yuji Naka not

being the director of any of the

original Sonic games it is an

astonishing twist of fate that Yugi Naka

would become renowned in America as the

creator of Sonic the Hedgehog giving

credence to the popular belief that Yuji

Naka has managed to somehow self-promote

himself over the rest of the original

Sonic Team especially Nao isima who

literally is the creator of Sonic as a

recognizable piece of popular

culture but I think this is a mistake I

think noa's Fame as the so-called

creator of of Sonic the Hedgehog is an

unintended consequence of the fact that

Yugi Naka for a few years during the

development of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 lived

and worked in the United States where he

was more accessible for interviews with

the American Press and it's the American

Press and Western Sega fans who

generated the myth that Yugi Naka

single-handedly created Sonic the

Hedgehog not Naka himself for instance

there was an interview with Sega Visions

magazine in the August issue of 199 2 in

which Sega Visions asked what were some

of the things you thought about when you

first created the Sonic character a

question that clearly presupposes that

credit for Sonic belongs to Yuji Naka

Naka who admits to not being able to

speak much English responded as follows

by way of a translation at first we used

a character that looked like a rabbit

with ears that could extend and pick up

objects as the game got faster and

faster we needed to come up with special

characteristics to give our character

some power over his enemies I remembered

a character IID thought about years ago

who could roll himself into a ball and

slam into enemies hedgehogs can roll

themselves into a ball so we decided to

go from a rabbit to a hedgehog so Yuji

Naka as quoted by Sega Visions doesn't

exactly clarify that he didn't

single-handedly create Sonic the

Hedgehog but he does repeatedly use the

plural pronoun we in order to describe

the thought process that went into

picking a hedgehog as the game's

protagonist but like I said by by his

own admission Naka does not speak

English and therefore whatever Sega

Visions has put down here as his words

cannot literally be his words because

they would have been first translated

from Japanese and likely edited for

brevity a lot can be lost or mutated in

Translation and this may have included a

reference to nuto Shima the artist who

actually gave form to the Sonic the

Hedgehog concept there's obviously a

much more complex story here but Sega

Visions opted to tell the simple story

and to essentially a simple story about

a single causal agent making things

happen is both easier to tell and to

remember and so it's the simple story

that sticks around this is the reason

why so many people believe Steve Jobs

created the iPhone like all by himself

it's a simple story that's easy to pitch

and easy to catch at the same time to

his credit I found an instance when Yuji

Naka clearly indicates that the creation

of the original Sonic the Hedgehog was a

group effort and not his own private

Creation in the January 1997 issue of

Sega magazine in an interview with both

Yuji Naka and Nima about the formation

of Sonic Team Naka says the following

about the origins of Sonic one unique

thing about Sonic though was that we

started the project with five people

eventually expanding to seven and it

really was a combined effort of those

people that was my first time planning a

game like that as a team before that

typically a single person drafted the

plans for a game Sonic was made in joint

consultation with osima all the way and

we got into a really good Groove wow

these aren't the words of a man hogging

credit these are the words of a man who

understands the value of collaboration

and the necessity of relying upon the

best strengths of others in order to

realize a lofty goal clearly Yuji Naka

both respects and values nauto ashima's

contributions as a graphic designer at

least that was the case back in 1997

just months after the launch of nights

into dreams for the Sega Saturn which

was the first collaboration between Naka

and osima since they had worked together

on the original Sonic the Hedgehog game

back in 1990 but what's the situation

today in the future world of the 2020s

where UFOs and space aliens are real and

yet no one gives a [ __ ] boy howdy have

things really changed on July 5th 2022

Yugi Naka celebrated the 26th

anniversary of nights into dreams on

Twitter sharing a photo of himself and

the rest of of Sonic team that was taken

at a Japanese trade show back in the 9s

the oddest thing about this photo

however wasn't the appearance of Hudson

soft's bomber man talk about photob

bombing right no the really strange

thing was the fact that Naka had blocked

out one of the people featured in the

original photo who's missing it's nauto

osima what happened between Naka and

Oshima that would warrant this level of

Japanese High School contempt Yugi Naka

explains on Twitter how would you feel

if you were suddenly removed from a game

that you had worked hard on for 2 years

and when you went to court you found out

that they'd been talking about me behind

my back in court documents and that is

why I was removed from the game what in

the name of Google Translate is Yuji

Naka talking about it turns out this is

a reference to ball in Wonderland ball

in Wonderland as we've said was supposed

to be a big deal and mainly that's

because the game was marketed as the

momentous reun ation of nauto oima and

Yuji Naka the co-creators of Sonic the

Hedgehog and kns into dreams a game that

many people still regard as being the

functional equivalent of a true Mascot

game for the Sega Saturn since you know

the Saturn never really got a proper 3D

Sonic game together Naka Oshima also

produced burning Rangers and their final

game as a team was Sonic Adventure the

first true 3D Sonic game and one of the

most beloved games of Sega 's final

video game console the Dreamcast thus in

the eyes of Hardcore Sega fans in the

know the combination of Yugi Naka NATO

asima could only mean one thing absolute

magic and so after more than 20 years

people were eagerly looking forward to

the next game from the co-creators of

sega's greatest franchise but instead we

got ball and Wonderland universally

mocked reviled and thanks to a poorly

received free demo that was released by

square Phenix the games publisher just

weeks before its official launch in

March of 2021 ball in Wonderland was

also a major commercial flop it seems

that after playing the first level for

free relatively few people were

interested in paying full price for more

not long after its release ball in

Wonderland was on sale for 70% off to

this day the game is still available at

an extremely low price pretty much

anywhere you can find it because sadly

no one wants it plainly the development

of ball in Wonderland did not go well

and you can tell despite noa's playful

enthusiasm here in the promo video that

Nima is none too pleased with the

situation he's in I mean the dude looks

totally pissed here so what happened

indeed the production of ball in

Wonderland really was a mess and it all

comes down to that classic tale that's

as old as time too many heads too many

decision makers and no unified Vision

while the game was published by Square

Enix it was actually developed not by

one but two separate Studios

simultaneously Yugi NOA started his own

so-called Ballin company as a subsidiary

of Square Enix and it's clear that he

had big plans for the future envisioning

an entire franchise with multiple games

spin-offs lots of merchandising and

perhaps even a movie big Big Dreams of

Pokemon proportions working in

conjunction with Ballin company was azr

a video game developer founded in 2010

by now toos Shima who had left Sega back

in the days of the Dreamcast AZ rest up

until this point was mainly known for

its contributions to the Nintendo 3DS

their most famous game probably being

Yoshi's New Island a game that to be

honest wasn't really very well liked so

Ballin Wonderland was the product of

Ballin company and azr working together

but it's not all that clear how this

sort of arrangement was supposed to work

how can you coordinate two separate

teams in two separate locations well to

be fair it appears that Ballin company

never really consisted of anyone more

than just Yuji Naka himself the game's

official director and maybe a few

concept artists naosima seems to have

been officially a partner in the Venture

but this may have been little more than

marketing capitalizing on the nostalgic

Union of Naka and [Music]

Oshima in reality oshima's days as an

actual game designer are long long

behind him and though he's CR credited

as the character designer for ball and

Wonderland a dubious honor to be sure I

seriously doubt Oshima actually lifted

his pen to create any of the Bland

generic and wholly uninspired characters

or creatures found within ball and

Wonderland Oshima may not have been the

greatest game director of all time but

his art was always fun and Lively fall

in Wonderland by comparison looks like

mid90s Microsoft clip art come to life

no today NATO osima is a businessman

running an entire company azr rest and

it's azr rest that did the bulk of the

technical work on Ball and Wonderland

while Yuji Naka attempted to creatively

steer the project from a distance like

maybe from another planet but of course

this was going to be a problem because

noa's Vision was not only wildly

ambitious proposing something like 80

unique special abilities that could be

acquired throughout gameplay but he

allegedly also had a proclivity for

changing his mind and proposing costly

revisions after work had already been

completed and for his part Yuji Naka was

publicly very unhappy with aest he

believed that the Studio's work was

shoddy and buggy ultimately the game

took nearly 3 years to complete and

Square Enix was not happy with how

things turned out with Yuji Naka ball in

Wonderland took too long to make and

cost too much money and anybody with

eyeballs would have known that

fundamentally the game was turning out

to be a disappointment but Naka blamed

azr Rest For The Game's shortcoming and

allegedly demanded that they fix the

game free of charge at the same time

both Square Enix and aest must have had

major problems with Yuji Naka as well

because 6 months prior to the game's

release sometime around September or

October of 2020 Square Enix fired Yuji

Naka as the Director of ball in

Wonderland just weeks after he appeared

in this behindthescenes promotional

video with Nao oima the one where he's

goofing around in a white top hat look

at him who would want to fire this kind

of disarming enthusiasm it's not really

clear why this happened other than the

disastrous production of ball and

Wonderland at large noa's Vision being

unrestrained development slow and the

final product inadequate but was this

really all Yuji noa's fault he had no

direct control over how aest executed

his vision an enormous logistical

oversight and complicating everything in

the middle of production Japan was hit

by the virus you know the one and during

the same time period Naka reports that

he became very ill and that he was

unable to work as much as he wanted it's

possible that Naka suffered

complications from covid or

complications from treatment and may

have Bartered for more time to fix the

game once he was better but they said no

and so Yuji Naka went ahead and sued

Square Enix for firing him and releasing

his game in an unfinished State oddly

enough noa's complaint wasn't regarding

the overs simplistic gameplay or wacky

Gra Graphics or bizarre tone but rather

he was upset about the music Naka

alleged that Square Enix and azr failed

to make use of important original

compositions meant for the game but even

more specifically Naka thought that the

free demo released in January of 2020

misrepresented his intended final Vision

because it didn't have the right music

it's not clear to me what Naka actually

accomplished from this lawsuit nor is it

all that clear who won or whether or not

they settled out of court which most

likely did but Square Enix did in fact

confirm to Bloomberg that both the

lawsuit was real and that ball in

Wonderland was a game that Square Enix

actually recommended with confidence oh

so then noa's bosses at Square Enix did

like the game then they wouldn't lie

would they anyway it was from suing

Square Enix that Yuji Naka discovered

that nauto Oshima had been part of a

group of individuals who had complained

about Naka to ball in Wonderland's head

producer at Square Enix a guy named

norio Yoshi Fujimoto as Naka himself

admitted on Twitter there was a whole

group of people unhappy with his conduct

as the game's director the producer was

mad because he needed the game to be

completed according to strict deadlines

the head of marketing was mad probably

because it was his job to publish a

working demo to promote the game and

Nako was refusing to go along because

the special music wasn't ready yet the

head of the sound team was also mad at

Naka for refusing to release a demo with

generic music and thus the managing

director Square had to get involved as

well but most alarming to me is that

according to Naka even human resources

had to be called into the situation in

my experience Human Resources only gets

involved in these sorts of conflicts

when someone crosses a line of personal

conduct so now I have this image of Yugi

Naka going ballistic and throwing ball

in Wonderland conceptual art all over

the place Al rage how to rage but nuto

oima the president of the company

developing ball and Wonderland land

under noa's creative guidance and one

half a Ballin company was also super mad

at Yuji Naka because Naka had blame the

game shortcomings on oshima's game

Studio azr rest and he insisted that azr

rest fixed the game for free did azr

rest mess up ball in Wonderland did they

fail to realize noa's Grand division

it's hard to say Naka didn't actually

work with these people in person on a

day-to-day basis and since he wasn't

actually their boss or part of R himself

they really had no meaningful

accountability to him whoever was really

at fault ultimately didn't matter

because the game came out too late cost

too much money and underperform Big Time

In the End someone had to pay and I

think Yuji Naka was a fairly convenient

scapegoat despite his charm and

disarming good looks the fact is people

tend not to like Yuji Naka and so well

[ __ ] him fire Naka and just blame the

shitty game on the fact that he wanted

special music but in the eyes of Eugene

Naka his old friend and Sonic co-creator

nauto Oshima had betrayed him with

profound impact not only had azr

delivered a game short of what he hoped

but Oshima had gone behind noa's back to

Ally himself with a contingency that

sought his termination from Square Enix

effectively ending noa's career as a

game developer in disgrace given that

it's kind of understandable why Naka

would want a black oima out of a photo

depicting the glory of his past I'm not

saying I agree with this action but I'm

just saying I understand it after ball

and Wonderland came out Yugi Naka was

not only down but he was mostly out as

well oh my God popular opinion about the

Sega Legend began to sour as Naka was

dogpiled with negative anecdotes and

public doubts about whether or not he

really ever was the great game maker we

all supposed he was in the '90s and

early 2000s now out of a job Naka

suddenly became highly active on Twitter

often ruminating about his Glory Days at

Sega or exploring Hobbies like car

racing flying drones or just hanging out

with his kids then on July 7th 20202

Naka became gaming news once again when

an old Sega story which first circulated

in the early 2000s reemerged on Twitter

the Tweet referenced an old interview

with Chris Shawn a former game designer

at the Sega Technical Institute in the

mid1 1990s who had previously worked on

the infamous Sonic extreme a Never

released 3D Sonic game that was intended

to be both the first 3D Sonic game ever

made as well as the flagship Mascot game

for the 32-bit Saturn had the game

actually come out the Christmas of 1996

as intended Chris Shawn is quoted in the

Tweet referencing a story about how at

their desperate hour of need the Sonic

extreme development team at STI reached

out to Bernie Stoler and Sega of Japan

for help finishing their languishing

game in order to finish Sonic extreme

STI needed a working 3D game engine and

level editor for the Sega Saturn Sonic

team had been working on Knights into

dreams around the same time period

knights was in reality a 2d action game

on Rails that made use of 3D polygons

for an updated effect gameplay itself

mostly consisted of attempting to steer

a Sonic like clown as it flies Loop to

Loops through a bunch of rings as I've

said before the loopin mechanic was as

old as video arcades themselves but the

goal of moving 3D objects through Rings

was an unfortunate byproduct of The

Limited 3D architecture of the late '90s

to me knights was every bit as

disappointing as games like Superman 64

or Pilot wings but at the time the Sonic

Team branding and the novelty were

sufficient to elevate Knights to a

must-play status even today Saturn fans

like to look back on Knights as an

essential Sega title a myth probably

conserved due to the sheer lack of

people alive today who've actually even

played it I mean who is actually willing

to buy the special controller that you

had to get in order to play it correctly

not a ton of people who weren't already

deeply and emotionally invested in

everything Sega like a cult anyway the

point is like it or not knights was a

working 3D action game made for the

Saturn internally by Sega employees and

by Sonic team no less therefore the

Knights game engine seemed to be the

perfect solution for the desperate time

crunched team at STI all they had to do

is take somebody else's game design

manipulate the graphics and levels to

look like a Sonic game and Bam Sonic

extreme could be in stores by Christmas

of 1996 a Generation X solution copying

someone else's work for a Generation X

problem procrastination and so Legend

has it Sega of Japan sent game code and

a Level Editor to Sega of America and

Sonic extreme was finally on the fast

track to actually being finished until

they were almost immediately told to

stop everything abandon the code and

start all over again effectively dooming

the project why according to Mike

Wallace a former producer at Sega of

America when Eugene Naka found out that

STI was using his game code from nights

into dreams in order to make a 3D Sonic

game for the Saturn he got angry and

issued Sega an ultimatum either STI stop

using his game code from knights or else

he quits so rather than lose Yuji Naka

Sega opted to take away sti's only real

chance of being able to finish Sonic

extreme by Christmas 1996 so essentially

it was all Yugi noa's fault for being a

selfish Primadonna or was it being

highly active on Twitter in 2022 Eugene

Naka saw the tweets going around about

how he had jealously guarded the night's

game engine therefore dooming the

release of Sonic extreme and he was none

too pleased referring to the famous

story as a complete lie according to

Naka this event never happened no one

from Sega of America ever asked for code

or a game engine from knights further

Naka said says that the code for Knights

was written entirely in assembly and

that it was so specialized lacking even

much in the way of documentation that no

other programmer would have been able to

use it especially not the Sonic Extreme

Team back at STI since Sonic extreme was

being coded in C+ a different higher

level computer language then someone

asked Nako what did actually happen to

Sonic extreme if he wasn't the guy who

killed it Naka says they made a Sonic

game without my knowledge and without my

permission and when they couldn't make

it themselves the project was terminated

I guess I feel like they're lying to

make it my fault as I have never seen it

and had nothing to do with it it's a

terrible story the plot thickens but

what are we to make of noa's claim here

a couple of programmers chimed in on the

Twitter thread and dismissed noa's

assertion that it would have been

impossible to translate Sonic team's

assembly code from knights into C plus

even without documentation perhaps this

would have been impractical challenging

but not literally impossible however

that's not to say that coding a complex

3D game on the Saturn and C+ would have

made much sense indeed during the 16 bit

and 8-bit era most all video games be

they Sega or Nintendo were typically

coded in Hardware specific Assembly

Language in order to maximize gameplay

performance and cut back on the use of

internal memory this would have also

pertained to the Saturn because asembly

is a so-called low-level programming

language it's more inconvenient to work

with for the programmer but it allows

for direct simple communication with the

console's hardware C on the other hand

is a so-called highlevel language that

makes for a more convenient coding

environment for a programmer but does so

at the expense of both speed and memory

so let's imagine that STI really did get

noa's code for nights into dreams it's

true that they might have eventually

been able to convert it into C+ but it's

also true that doing so would have

almost certainly ensured that the

resulting Sonic game would run like [ __ ]

indeed all existing incomplete versions

of Sonic extreme and STI went through a

few of them already ran like [ __ ]

compiling Assembly Language into C and

then building a game in C on top of that

wouldn't necessarily have been all that

helpful indeed from what is actually

known about Sonic extreme it really was

written entirely in C which was probably

a fundamental error I mean just look at

this disaster but Naka also claims that

the knights program was so special that

it's impossible to use for anything else

strongly imp implying that the code was

just unusable for a single game by

necessity oh really then how does Yuji

Naka explain burning Rangers for the

Sega Saturn in 1998 in an interview with

Sega Saturn Magazine from July of 1998

Yugi Naka states that burning Rangers

had been built upon the kns into dreams

game engine despite the fact that

burning Rangers is an extremely

different game either Naka is misquoted

and burning Rangers really isn't based

on Knights into dreams or Yugi Naka is

wrong to say that STI could have never

built a 3D game out of the code made for

Knights because Sonic team did that

exact same thing and here it is

personally I'm open to either

possibility there are a couple of other

odd things about noa's version of events

on Twitter Naka complains that STI both

made a Sonic game without his knowledge

and without his permission and I think

by revealing that this would frustrate

or anger him that Naka may have

accidentally implied that the story is

at least partially true and maybe Naka

did in some way oppos the creation of

Sonic extreme by way of his Knights code

because if the story was made up just to

use Naka as a scapegoat wouldn't his

outrage be limited to that parameter why

would Naka care if they made a Sonic

game without his knowledge or permission

surely Yuji Naka is aware of the fact

that he is not the sole Creator or owner

of Sonic the Hedgehog and surely it

ought to be nauto Oshima who's miffed at

the complete lack of creative control

over something he designed not Naka so

then why would STI need you Yuji noa's

permission second I find it really hard

to believe that Yugi Naka had no idea

that STI was trying to make a 3D Sonic

game he had to have known how let's go

back to the '90s to find out the 1990s

in America Bill Clinton was the

president everyone wore flannel Marvel

Comics were more popular than ever

baseball cards were money Moulder scolly

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was actually

less popular than this guy gney cheese

and Sonic the Hedgehog had become the

official mascot of Sega Sonic's super

cool persona and blazing fast video

games drove the success of the company

Sonic meant console sales merchandising

and gave Sega an opportunity to stand

toe-to-toe with Nintendo Sonic was so

much a part of sega's apparent success

story in the '90s that it's perfectly

reasonable to infer that Sega needed

Sonic the Hedgehog going forward it

would have been Unthinkable for instance

to imagine Sega releasing a brand new

video game com console without Sonic the

Hedgehog and yet the unthinkable did

happen twice the shortlived 32x add-on

for the Sega Genesis released in

November of 1994 never got a proper

Sonic game and neither did the Sega

Saturn released in the US in May of 1995

despite being around until 1998 it also

never got a proper entry in the main

Sonic series sure there were spin-offs

and repackaged Sega Genesis games but

nothing Sonic fans really wanted or

expected did this is crazy because even

the Master System in Sega Game Gear had

proper Sonic games the Dreamcast

released in 1999 was careful to make

sure it launched with a true Sonic game

so what in the heck happened to the 32x

and the Saturn bad planning and

diminishing returns by 1993 the

long-term plans for both the Mars 32x

and the Sega Saturn had been established

along with plans for a cheaper cartridge

only version of the Sega Saturn called

the Sega Jupiter sega's Next Generation

ation of consoles would all be based

entirely upon an agreement with Hatachi

where in Sega agreed to use hitachi's

new sh2 microprocessor for all of their

new 32-bit game consoles however by the

summer of 1993 Sega panicked realizing

that the future of console gaming was

going to be 3D thus late in 1993 Sega

changed the proposed hardware specs for

both the 32x and the Saturn by adding a

second Hitachi sh2 processor this new

configuration allowed the Saturn and the

32x to simulate the 3D polygonal

architecture of the PlayStation and N64

but at a heavy price the Saturn and 32x

had to be programmed in assembly and the

additional hardware and programming

required to make 3D graphics with twin

processors meant that both consoles were

hard to make games for this slowed

potential third-party support for either

platform and even if Sega themselves had

dedicated teams of game designers they

were now split working on several

consoles simultaneously keeping in mind

that in 1993 Sega was still heavily tied

up with the Sega Genesis which would

continue to be relevant for the next

couple of years the Confluence of all

these things the last minute revision of

new hardware that was difficult to

program for the introduction of two new

consoles that were incompatible with

each other and the need to keep making

games for the Genesis all meant that

there was going to be a shortage of

games all around Sega and its third

parties were guaranteed to be spread too

thin so in the face of this incredibly

challenging scenario who is going to

make the next Sonic the Hedgehog from

what little we know it seems clear that

this was sega's intention a new Sonic

game for not only the Genesis as usual

but also the 32x and the Sega Saturn the

Sega Jupiter was cancelled fairly early

on and of course it was going to be our

boy our hero Yugi Naka and hero Kazu

yasuhara and tekashi UDA and like

literally a hundred other people who

throughout 1993 and 1994 were all

working hard hard on Sonic 3 and Sonic

and Knuckles for the Sega Genesis Sonic

and Knuckles was developed at STI in

California by an all Japanese

development team and was officially

released in October of 1994 to Wi a

claim indeed Sonic 2 had also been

developed at STI by a Japanese team in

much the same way and that included Yuji

Naka himself who had come to STI in 1991

after being persuaded to move to

California by sti's founder Mark sney

yes that Mark sney after Yugi Naka had

quit Sega of Japan because of a dispute

with management regarding his pay thus

from 1991 to 1994 Yuji Naka worked at

STI as part of Sega of America and for

the sole purpose of being the lead

programmer for Sonic 2 Sonic 3 and of

course Sonic and Knuckles when Sonic and

Knuckles launched in the fall of 1994

Naka was most likely still at STI in

California ensuring the game was

completed in time for Christmas this

would have been just before the 32x

launched in North America and the Sega

Saturn launched in Japan both of which

occurred in November of 1994 looking at

a timeline we can see that Yugi Naka and

what we might call Sonic team had been

working on Sonic 3 and Sonic and

Knuckles throughout the entirety of 1993

and up to October of 1994 a much longer

development cycle than was required for

either Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic 2 but

then who is working on the next Sonic

game for the 32x and the Sega Saturn

well what about Nao Shima after the

success of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991

and Yuji Naka left Sega of Japan to work

at STI in California NAA osima stayed in

Japan to lead the development of the

acclaimed Sonic CD for the Sega CD

attachment arguably the greatest 2D

Sonic game of the time period wouldn't

nauto osima have been absolutely perfect

to lead the production of a sequel to

Sonic CD for either the 32x or the Sega

Saturn let's look at the Timeline Sonic

CD was released in Japan in September of

1993 around the the same time that the

32x and Sega Saturn hardware specs had

been more or less determined if osima

started a new project that winter in

1993 then it's conceivable that he could

have led the completion of a sequel to

Sonic CD in time for the release date of

either the 32x and North America or the

Saturn in Japan again both of which

occurred in November of 1994 indeed I

think it's likely that this was sega's

original plan if you examine na oshima's

career at Sega there is a mysteriously

wide gap between his completed game

projects between the release of Sonic CD

in September 1993 and the release of

oshima's next game nights into dreams

for the Sega Saturn in July of

1996 it appears as if nuto Oshima

produced nothing new at Sega this is

over a year and a half without a game

credit obviously this is just a

hypothesis and I can't really prove it

right now but it's hard to imagine

natuto oima was doing anything other

than Sonic the Hedgehog during this same

time period just as hard as it is to

believe that Yugi Naka didn't know that

STI had begun work on a 3D Sonic game in

1994 seeing as Yugi Naka actually worked

at STI that very same year indeed one of

noa's goals while working at STI was in

fact to make the first 3D Sonic game in

an interview with Sega Magazine from

February of 1995 which was translated by

gron at the Mega Drive shock Yugi Naka

and his Sonic 3 teammate tekashi isuka

and tekashi UDA talk about their

original intentions to make Sonic 3 the

very first 3D Sonic game as early as

1993 in 1993 Sega revealed the Sega

virtual processor also known as the SVP

chip the SVP was a cheater chip that is

a microprocessor meant to be inserted

into Game cartridges that could greatly

enhance the performance of the Sega

Genesis if you've ever seen Star Fox on

the Super Nintendo then you know exactly

what I'm talking about but the one and

only Sega game that ever utilized the

SVP chip was the 1994 HomePort of

virtual racing which is ridiculous

looking by today's standards but

absolutely blew people away at the time

by rendering 3D polygons on the freaking

Sega Genesis what also blew people away

however was the price tag the SVP chip

pushed the retail price for virtual

racing on the Sega Genesis all the way

up to $100 which was about twice the

cost of your typical game in that same

time time period but at least one other

game was originally supposed to utilize

the SVP chip that I know of Sonic 3 for

the Sega Genesis in 1994 was originally

supposed to use the SVP chip and the

game itself was going to be the first

true 3D Sonic game according to tekashi

UDA the rendered 3D characters from the

title screen of both Sonic 3 and Sonic

and Knuckles represent something like

what they originally intended the game

to look like Naka planned on giving the

game a 3D isometric perspective similar

to the Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game

from 1993 an extremely interesting game

that was exclusive to Japan and which

was played with a track ball controller

similar to Marble Madness or centipede

unfortunately due to the very high cost

of the SVP chip Yuji noa's dreams of

making a 3D Sonic game died early but

surely noa's plan to successfully

Pioneer a 3D Sonic game was not

forgotten indeed there is yet another

famous rumor that sometime in 1994 Yuji

Naka visited STI and witnessed a

presentation for a 3D Sonic game that

would be produced for the 32x indeed it

is this 3D Sonic game that would

eventually become Sonic extreme for the

Sega Saturn in 1995 and 1996 allegedly

Naka was so unimpressed with what he

witnessed at this presentation that all

he could muster in response was a

sardonic good luck or perhaps he said

this in Japanese goodu because Yuji Naka

does not speak English here he is

explaining to people on Twitter that he

has depended upon Google translate like

so many of

us actually sometimes this exact

anecdote goes that it was tekashi isuka

who is present for the revelation of

Sonic extreme and perhaps he was just

confused for Naka or is it the other way

around I guess the Japanese staff at STI

in 1994 all looked the same to everyone

else at Sega of America the point is

that allegedly some key figure from the

Japanese staff at STI in 1994 was

unimpressed with Sonic extreme and thus

it is highly probable that Yugi Naka

would have actually known about and

perhaps even followed the development of

Sonic Extreme as a project he worked on

a 3D Sonic game himself he wanted to do

a 3D Sonic game and he was working at

STI in California when Sonic extreme was

already being made did Yuji Naka know

about Sonic extreme of course Yugi Naka

knew about the game in light of this I

can't help but suspect that Yugi Naka is

not being totally honest when he says

that he didn't know about the

development of Sonic extreme and that he

had nothing to do with the kns engine

being taken away from STI leading to the

cancellation of the game he must have

known about it because he was there but

what would have been his motive people

typically infer that he must have just

hated STI or just wanted to be a jerk

but I suspect there might be another

reason Yuji Naka didn't want people

seeing his code for nights into dreams

that is in his code perhaps there may

have been clues that nights into dreams

had also started off its existence as a

failed 3D Sonic game for the Sega Saturn

but first we have to talk about 1994

sega's long-term plans for Sonic the

Hedgehog and how bad planning through

everything into total chaos as of 1993

it's clear that Sega had the following

lineup aiming for more or less

simultaneous Sonic releases across three

major platforms yujin Naka isuka and

Yuma would tackle Sonic 3 for the the

Sega Genesis and of course Sonic and

Knuckles NATO osima and the crew fresh

off of Sonic CD would tackle a Sonic

game for the cd-based Sega Saturn let's

call it Sonic crackers and finally it's

clear that the American wing of STI was

given the task of developing a Sonic

game for the American 32x Sonic Mars in

fact was the original working title but

then Sega cancelled Sonic crackers

sometime in 1994 moved the game over to

the 32x and recyc Assets in order to

release knuckles chaotics in April of

1995 also in 1994 probably at more or

less the same time Sega moved STI in

America off of the 32x and over to the

Sega Saturn what happened well as Tom

kinsky said it's possible that the

development of Sonic crackers simply

went poorly however I think it's also

likely that Sega of Japan thought a 2d

Sonic game wouldn't make much of an

impact now that the Sega Saturn was

being reconceived as a 3D game console

on par with Sony's Playstation and the

Nintendo 64 they may have realized too late that the Sega Saturn needed to have

late that the Sega Saturn needed to have a properly 3D Next Generation Sonic game

a properly 3D Next Generation Sonic game for their next Generation Hardware STI

for their next Generation Hardware STI had already started a 3D Sonic game for

had already started a 3D Sonic game for the 32x so it must have seemed

the 32x so it must have seemed reasonable to believe STI had a good

reasonable to believe STI had a good Head Start toward completing a 3D

Head Start toward completing a 3D project for the Saturn relatively

quickly are you serious me meanwhile around the same time Sonic 3 was

around the same time Sonic 3 was released on Groundhog Day February 2nd

released on Groundhog Day February 2nd 1994 and though it was a drastically

1994 and though it was a drastically large Endeavor for the time period

large Endeavor for the time period involving over a hundred people and it

involving over a hundred people and it was critically acclaimed it proceeded to

was critically acclaimed it proceeded to be the worst selling Sonic game ever

be the worst selling Sonic game ever made up to that point eventually selling

made up to that point eventually selling around 3 million copies worldwide which

around 3 million copies worldwide which sounds great until you compare it to

sounds great until you compare it to Sonic 2 from 1992 which was made by a

Sonic 2 from 1992 which was made by a team of about 50 people in half the time

team of about 50 people in half the time and sold more than 5 million copies in

and sold more than 5 million copies in just North America alone Sonic 1 is an

just North America alone Sonic 1 is an even more stark contrast since it was

even more stark contrast since it was made by a team of about 13 people in

made by a team of about 13 people in less than a year and went on to sell

less than a year and went on to sell more than 15 million copies in North

more than 15 million copies in North America thus you can see clearly what

America thus you can see clearly what Sega probably saw in 1994 Sonic the

Sega probably saw in 1994 Sonic the Hedgehog was costing more and more to

Hedgehog was costing more and more to produce with longer development cycles

produce with longer development cycles and drastically diminishing returns then

and drastically diminishing returns then in November of 1994 the 32x was released

in November of 1994 the 32x was released in North America and it was a spect

in North America and it was a spect spacular failure the console had very

spacular failure the console had very few games at launch and even its very

few games at launch and even its very best games were only average in terms of

best games were only average in terms of quality and it's literally true that by

quality and it's literally true that by Spring of 1995 the 32x had a much more

Spring of 1995 the 32x had a much more impressive library of cancelled games

impressive library of cancelled games than it did actual games on the store

than it did actual games on the store shelves the 32x situation was a

shelves the 32x situation was a veritable dumpster fire and Sega took

veritable dumpster fire and Sega took extreme evasive action by swiftly

extreme evasive action by swiftly abandoning the console this more or less

abandoning the console this more or less explains why Knuckles chaotics was such

explains why Knuckles chaotics was such a rush rushed afterthought of a game

a rush rushed afterthought of a game Sega desperately needed to Pat out the

Sega desperately needed to Pat out the 32x library as soon as possible and at

32x library as soon as possible and at the same time they were probably hoping

the same time they were probably hoping a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn would

a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn would have more impact than recent 2D Sonic

have more impact than recent 2D Sonic games looking at the sales figures of

games looking at the sales figures of Sonic 3 probably spooked Sega Executives

Sonic 3 probably spooked Sega Executives in 1994 and I reckon they thought 2D

in 1994 and I reckon they thought 2D Sonic had little to no future in the

Sonic had little to no future in the company indeed this may be the very

company indeed this may be the very reason Knuckles chaotics was released

reason Knuckles chaotics was released without the inclusion of Sonic the

without the inclusion of Sonic the Hedgehog as a character that and the

Hedgehog as a character that and the fact that the game is really not very

fact that the game is really not very good and was obviously rushed to the

good and was obviously rushed to the market so by the fall of 1994 sega's

market so by the fall of 1994 sega's three conso plan for Sonic the Hedgehog

three conso plan for Sonic the Hedgehog now look like this the 32x would never

now look like this the 32x would never get a real Sonic game and indeed it had

get a real Sonic game and indeed it had no future so it's done the Saturn would

no future so it's done the Saturn would launch in Japan without a Sonic game but

launch in Japan without a Sonic game but perhaps this wasn't such a big deal

perhaps this wasn't such a big deal since Sonic games did little to drive

since Sonic games did little to drive sales in Japan anyway instead STI would

sales in Japan anyway instead STI would work on Sonic extreme probably with the

work on Sonic extreme probably with the Saturn's September mber 1995 American

Saturn's September mber 1995 American release date in mind and in the meantime

release date in mind and in the meantime Sonic was officially finished on the

Sonic was officially finished on the Sega Genesis with the release of Sonic

Sega Genesis with the release of Sonic and Knuckles in October of 1994 Sonic

and Knuckles in October of 1994 Sonic and Knuckles was actually the second

and Knuckles was actually the second half of Sonic 3's intended game content

half of Sonic 3's intended game content but the Sonic 3 project grew so large

but the Sonic 3 project grew so large and was so ambitious that the ROM cart

and was so ambitious that the ROM cart could not facilitate sufficient memory

could not facilitate sufficient memory without also driving up the price of the

without also driving up the price of the game drastically the solution was the

game drastically the solution was the so-called lock on cartridge which

so-called lock on cartridge which allowed players to combine two separate

allowed players to combine two separate games Sonic 3 and then Sonic and

games Sonic 3 and then Sonic and Knuckles into a single massive game

Knuckles into a single massive game fully loaded with all the intended

fully loaded with all the intended levels playable characters and so forth

levels playable characters and so forth thus the only way to really get the full

thus the only way to really get the full experience was to buy two games at full

experience was to buy two games at full price and possibly as a direct

price and possibly as a direct Consequence the sales for Sonic and

Consequence the sales for Sonic and Knuckles the second half of the Sonic 3

Knuckles the second half of the Sonic 3 couplet only reached 1.24 million copies

couplet only reached 1.24 million copies in North America less than half of Sonic

in North America less than half of Sonic 3 sales figures which were already the

3 sales figures which were already the most disappointing ever recorded for a

most disappointing ever recorded for a Mainline Sonic entry Ever After the

Mainline Sonic entry Ever After the release of Sonic and Knuckles in the

release of Sonic and Knuckles in the fall of 1994 Yuji NOA left STI in

fall of 1994 Yuji NOA left STI in California and returned to Sega of Japan

California and returned to Sega of Japan where he immediately began learning to

where he immediately began learning to program for the newly launched Sega

program for the newly launched Sega Saturn now in multiple interviews from

Saturn now in multiple interviews from the time period Yuji Naka has said that

the time period Yuji Naka has said that after Sonic 3 he wanted to move away

after Sonic 3 he wanted to move away from doing Sonic the Hedgehog however

from doing Sonic the Hedgehog however given the drastically diminishing

given the drastically diminishing returns from the Sonic franchise I think

returns from the Sonic franchise I think it's actually more likely that Sega

it's actually more likely that Sega simply didn't want Naka working on any

simply didn't want Naka working on any more Sonic games for the Sega Saturn and

more Sonic games for the Sega Saturn and anyway as we've already shown by the end

anyway as we've already shown by the end of 1994 Sega of America had already

of 1994 Sega of America had already begun working on Sonic extreme which was

begun working on Sonic extreme which was Now sega's official Plan B for

Now sega's official Plan B for showcasing Sonic on the Saturn nuto

showcasing Sonic on the Saturn nuto Shima on the other hand reemerges at

Shima on the other hand reemerges at Sega of Japan early in 1995 after his

Sega of Japan early in 1995 after his mysterious year and a half Gap where in

mysterious year and a half Gap where in Oshima produced no new games for Sega of

Oshima produced no new games for Sega of course I've already said that I believe

course I've already said that I believe this is because Oshima was working on

this is because Oshima was working on Sonic crackers for the Saturn and

Sonic crackers for the Saturn and perhaps indirectly on Knuckles chaotics

perhaps indirectly on Knuckles chaotics after Sonic crackers was cancelled

after Sonic crackers was cancelled though osima is not credited for either

though osima is not credited for either game except for his character designs

game except for his character designs but in April 1995 NAA osima would be

but in April 1995 NAA osima would be reunited with Yuji Naka in Japan under

reunited with Yuji Naka in Japan under the banner of Sonic team which actually

the banner of Sonic team which actually took real formal shape at this point

took real formal shape at this point with its own logo and with Yuji Naka

with its own logo and with Yuji Naka serving as its deao leader I'd also like

serving as its deao leader I'd also like to point out that Sonic team's new logo

to point out that Sonic team's new logo was this very cool graphic of Sonic the

was this very cool graphic of Sonic the Hedgehog's blue head which really makes

Hedgehog's blue head which really makes me second guess the idea that Yugi Naka

me second guess the idea that Yugi Naka was simply tired of doing Sonic games in

was simply tired of doing Sonic games in 1995 I mean Sonic is right there in the

1995 I mean Sonic is right there in the freaking name and logo plainly Naka

freaking name and logo plainly Naka osima and notably tekashi isuka had all

osima and notably tekashi isuka had all come back together in Japan to do a

come back together in Japan to do a proper Sonic the Hedgehog game at least

proper Sonic the Hedgehog game at least eventually or else they wouldn't have

eventually or else they wouldn't have bothered to take this name officially

bothered to take this name officially but instead of making that next gen

but instead of making that next gen Sonic game implied by this cool logo

Sonic game implied by this cool logo Sonic team's first game was nights into

Sonic team's first game was nights into dreams which would officially begin

dreams which would officially begin development in April of 1995 and knights

development in April of 1995 and knights as you know is not a Sonic game but if

as you know is not a Sonic game but if you recall Naka left California in the

you recall Naka left California in the fall of 1994 and for a period of about 6

fall of 1994 and for a period of about 6 months he worked alone getting used to

months he worked alone getting used to programming for the Saturn and its

programming for the Saturn and its tricky twin Hitachi microprocessors what

tricky twin Hitachi microprocessors what exactly did Yugi Naka do during that

exactly did Yugi Naka do during that time period unless he tells us

time period unless he tells us specifically we have no way of knowing

specifically we have no way of knowing for sure however you can consider the

for sure however you can consider the fact that Yugi Naka had historically

fact that Yugi Naka had historically intended Sonic 3 to be 3D and the fact

intended Sonic 3 to be 3D and the fact that he came back to Japan reuniting

that he came back to Japan reuniting with Na osima and isuka who worked with

with Na osima and isuka who worked with them on Sonic 3 and the fact that their

them on Sonic 3 and the fact that their new Venture was called Sonic team and

new Venture was called Sonic team and Sonic the Hedgehog was their official

Sonic the Hedgehog was their official logo to me it seems very likely that

logo to me it seems very likely that during those 6 months of experimentation

during those 6 months of experimentation with the Sega Saturn that Yuji Naka

with the Sega Saturn that Yuji Naka would have tried at least tried to make

would have tried at least tried to make some kind of functional 3D Sonic game

some kind of functional 3D Sonic game for the Saturn one that at the very

for the Saturn one that at the very least performed better than the version

least performed better than the version he likely witnessed at STI in California

he likely witnessed at STI in California the actual results of noa's 6-month

the actual results of noa's 6-month crash course for programming on the

crash course for programming on the Saturn would become the foundation for

Saturn would become the foundation for nights into dreams a game where the

nights into dreams a game where the player controls a Sprite that flies all

player controls a Sprite that flies all over the screen and loop to Loops along

over the screen and loop to Loops along a horizontal xais that occasionally

a horizontal xais that occasionally twists or rotates sort of like riding a

twists or rotates sort of like riding a roller coaster with an invisible track

roller coaster with an invisible track according to Naka his earliest builds of

according to Naka his earliest builds of Knights into dreams allowed for total 3d

Knights into dreams allowed for total 3d Freedom of movement without being tied

Freedom of movement without being tied to a rail but the Sprite moved so fast

to a rail but the Sprite moved so fast in every direction that gameplay was

in every direction that gameplay was disorienting I can't help but think that

disorienting I can't help but think that Knights looks and plays suspiciously

Knights looks and plays suspiciously Like An Unfinished semi-broken build of

Like An Unfinished semi-broken build of what might have been intended to be a 3D

what might have been intended to be a 3D Sonic game if you've ever seen 3D games

Sonic game if you've ever seen 3D games being made by amateurs you may have

being made by amateurs you may have witnessed how surprisingly easy it is

witnessed how surprisingly easy it is for inexperienced programmers to get a

for inexperienced programmers to get a 3D Sprite to move in every direction

3D Sprite to move in every direction like a crazed alien mosquito buzzing

like a crazed alien mosquito buzzing around in outer space the hard part is

around in outer space the hard part is getting that same Sprite to behave

getting that same Sprite to behave normally according to semi-realistic

normally according to semi-realistic physics if we were to take Knights into

physics if we were to take Knights into dreams off of its forced rails and if it

dreams off of its forced rails and if it were to be endowed with some kind of

were to be endowed with some kind of gravity then it looks exactly like it

gravity then it looks exactly like it could have been a prototype for a 3D

could have been a prototype for a 3D Sonic game a really shitty one is it

Sonic game a really shitty one is it possible that this could have been the

possible that this could have been the real reason why Yugi Naka refused to

real reason why Yugi Naka refused to allow his Knights into dreams game

allow his Knights into dreams game engine and Level Editor to be used for

engine and Level Editor to be used for Sonic extreme is it possible that access

Sonic extreme is it possible that access to the game's raw code might have

to the game's raw code might have revealed clues that Naka had made yet

revealed clues that Naka had made yet another pass it producing a 3D Sonic

another pass it producing a 3D Sonic game which for whatever reason had to be

game which for whatever reason had to be abandoned and then repurposed it looks

abandoned and then repurposed it looks to me like knights was supposed to

to me like knights was supposed to recreate that exact same sense of speed

recreate that exact same sense of speed and excitement that the original Sonic

and excitement that the original Sonic the Hedgehog brought to the Genesis but

the Hedgehog brought to the Genesis but perhaps getting that sense of motion was

perhaps getting that sense of motion was difficult to realize in true 3D kns into

difficult to realize in true 3D kns into dreams for instance does contain these

dreams for instance does contain these awkward intervals where you control

awkward intervals where you control these kids that can walk around on a 3D

these kids that can walk around on a 3D plane in all directions these intervals

plane in all directions these intervals are very short but they play out a lot

are very short but they play out a lot more like a conventional 3D platformer

more like a conventional 3D platformer and as you can see they are extremely

and as you can see they are extremely awkward a really bad part of the game if

awkward a really bad part of the game if I'm being honest nobody likes this

I'm being honest nobody likes this portion of the game and thus it begs the

portion of the game and thus it begs the question as to why these moments were

question as to why these moments were even included I suspect the reason is

even included I suspect the reason is simple this true 3D platforming gameplay

simple this true 3D platforming gameplay which you'd expect to find in an XG

which you'd expect to find in an XG sequel to Sonic 3 was what this game was

sequel to Sonic 3 was what this game was originally supposed to be because Naka

originally supposed to be because Naka wanted to build a prototype for a true

wanted to build a prototype for a true 3D Sonic game was this maddening Topsy

3D Sonic game was this maddening Topsy Turvy gameplay of nights into dreams

Turvy gameplay of nights into dreams actually intended to be this loopy or is

actually intended to be this loopy or is this character and this ring grabbing

this character and this ring grabbing gameplay merely a clever reskin even the

gameplay merely a clever reskin even the main character really just looks like a

main character really just looks like a distorted silhouette of Sonic the

distorted silhouette of Sonic the Hedgehog but if nights into dreams

Hedgehog but if nights into dreams really did start off as a Sonic game and

really did start off as a Sonic game and I really think that it probably did then

I really think that it probably did then why on Earth was it isn't it finished

why on Earth was it isn't it finished and published as the next Sonic the

and published as the next Sonic the Hedgehog game well as I've said before

Hedgehog game well as I've said before given the lagging sales of Sonic 3 and

given the lagging sales of Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles and the fact that

Sonic and Knuckles and the fact that Sonic never managed to gain much

Sonic never managed to gain much attention in Japan in the first place

attention in Japan in the first place it's possible that Sega executive simply

it's possible that Sega executive simply didn't want yet another Sonic game on

didn't want yet another Sonic game on their Flagship Japanese console on the

their Flagship Japanese console on the other hand it's plain to anyone with

other hand it's plain to anyone with eyeballs that Yugi Naka himself loves

eyeballs that Yugi Naka himself loves Sonic the Hedgehog and it's practically

Sonic the Hedgehog and it's practically unimaginable that Sonic Team wouldn't

unimaginable that Sonic Team wouldn't have at least made a pass at a 3D Sonic

have at least made a pass at a 3D Sonic game on the their first outing as an

game on the their first outing as an official game studio with that name and

official game studio with that name and that logo thus I think it may have been

that logo thus I think it may have been the case that what Naka initially

the case that what Naka initially started coding by himself just wasn't

started coding by himself just wasn't quite usable as a Sonic game and so

quite usable as a Sonic game and so making the best out of a bad situation

making the best out of a bad situation Sonic Team transformed his work into

Sonic Team transformed his work into something else nights into dreams in

something else nights into dreams in support of this I'd like to point out

support of this I'd like to point out that kns into dreams had a pretty

that kns into dreams had a pretty tumultuous and difficult development

tumultuous and difficult development cycle the game was started in April of

cycle the game was started in April of 1995 after noa's 6-month crash crash

1995 after noa's 6-month crash crash course and it wouldn't be released until

course and it wouldn't be released until July of 1996 that's a year and 9 months

July of 1996 that's a year and 9 months from the release of Sonic and Knuckles

from the release of Sonic and Knuckles until the debut of nights into dreams

until the debut of nights into dreams which is a relatively short game even

which is a relatively short game even for the time period in interviews with

for the time period in interviews with both Sega Saturn magazine and famitsu in

both Sega Saturn magazine and famitsu in 1996 as translated by schmu laian Yugi

1996 as translated by schmu laian Yugi Naka reveals that working with the Sega

Naka reveals that working with the Sega Saturn was a major challenge though the

Saturn was a major challenge though the new hardware also opened up new

new hardware also opened up new possibilities Naka stated that his

possibilities Naka stated that his recently finished nights into dream game

recently finished nights into dream game is completely different from what Sonic

is completely different from what Sonic team had originally envisioned he claims

team had originally envisioned he claims originally they wanted to make an

originally they wanted to make an appealing 2D action game similar to

appealing 2D action game similar to Sonic the Hedgehog but decided to

Sonic the Hedgehog but decided to utilize 3D Graphics maximizing the

utilize 3D Graphics maximizing the potential of the Saturn's twin

potential of the Saturn's twin processors I think he might be referring

processors I think he might be referring to Sonic crackers here yet at other

to Sonic crackers here yet at other times in other interviews Naka claims

times in other interviews Naka claims that he set out to create a 3D flying

that he set out to create a 3D flying game from the very beginning in another

game from the very beginning in another 1996 interview the September issue of

1996 interview the September issue of official Sega Saturn magazine naka

official Sega Saturn magazine naka reiterates his story about wanting to

reiterates his story about wanting to create a 3D loop-to-loop flying game

create a 3D loop-to-loop flying game from day one but he also admits that

from day one but he also admits that development was very challenging Sonic

development was very challenging Sonic Team began with only seven staff members

Team began with only seven staff members working on the project but as production

working on the project but as production lingered they kept adding staff until

lingered they kept adding staff until nearly 30 people were working on the

nearly 30 people were working on the game at one time in this I think there

game at one time in this I think there is an oblique admission that Sonic team

is an oblique admission that Sonic team was struggling with the technical

was struggling with the technical challenges of making Knights into dreams

challenges of making Knights into dreams of 3D reality when work on the game

of 3D reality when work on the game began in early 1995 Nako was the the

began in early 1995 Nako was the the only programmer on the job Indeed Yugi

only programmer on the job Indeed Yugi Naka is famous for being something of a

Naka is famous for being something of a lone wolf Maverick when it came to

lone wolf Maverick when it came to programming throughout his early career

programming throughout his early career unilaterally working wonders on the

unilaterally working wonders on the sg1000 The Master System and the Sega

sg1000 The Master System and the Sega Genesis but the Sega Saturn was an

Genesis but the Sega Saturn was an entirely new kind of beast from a new

entirely new kind of beast from a new universe of potential and complexity and

universe of potential and complexity and eventually kns into dreams was a washing

eventually kns into dreams was a washing programmers working with Yugi Naka to

programmers working with Yugi Naka to finish the game on Twitter Naka claims

finish the game on Twitter Naka claims just two other programmers worked on the

just two other programmers worked on the the game but the official game credits

the game but the official game credits indicate that at least five additional

indicate that at least five additional programmers also worked on the game

programmers also worked on the game probably added peac meal over Time as

probably added peac meal over Time as Sonic Team pushed toward the Finish Line

Sonic Team pushed toward the Finish Line indeed I wonder if Yugi Naka himself was

indeed I wonder if Yugi Naka himself was actually physically coding the game he

actually physically coding the game he started by the end of its development

started by the end of its development since it would have been his job to

since it would have been his job to supervise all of these programmers and

supervise all of these programmers and from this point in his career supervises

from this point in his career supervises strictly what Yugi Naka did kns into

strictly what Yugi Naka did kns into dreams was Yugi noa's very last

dreams was Yugi noa's very last mainstream commercial title that he

mainstream commercial title that he actually did any real programming for

actually did any real programming for but then I found this very odd comment

but then I found this very odd comment made by NOA in an interview with

made by NOA in an interview with official Sega Saturn magazine in

official Sega Saturn magazine in September of 1996 the interviewer asked

September of 1996 the interviewer asked Naka a very simple innocuous technical

Naka a very simple innocuous technical question they asked does Knights into

question they asked does Knights into dreams use the Saturn's 2D power as well

dreams use the Saturn's 2D power as well as its 3D capabilities can you give us

as its 3D capabilities can you give us some examples of where this is used in

some examples of where this is used in the game Naka buls at this I don't know

the game Naka buls at this I don't know I don't particularly want to talk about

I don't particularly want to talk about knights from a technical aspect if you

knights from a technical aspect if you really want to write that kind of

really want to write that kind of article that's fine with me but writing

article that's fine with me but writing about the feelings of knights would be

about the feelings of knights would be much better the average person doesn't

much better the average person doesn't understand all of these technical points

understand all of these technical points this is a very odd response from a lead

this is a very odd response from a lead programmer fresh off of completing his

programmer fresh off of completing his very first Sega Saturn game I'd think

very first Sega Saturn game I'd think that anyone working intimately with

that anyone working intimately with programming on the Saturn would have

programming on the Saturn would have been thrilled to share these exact kinds

been thrilled to share these exact kinds of details or at least just answer the

of details or at least just answer the question with a single example if any

question with a single example if any such example exists

such example exists maybe Naka really believes that Sega

maybe Naka really believes that Sega fans reading official Sega Saturn

fans reading official Sega Saturn magazine are so glib as to prefer a

magazine are so glib as to prefer a vague description of how Knights makes

vague description of how Knights makes players feel it's nauseous by the way

players feel it's nauseous by the way the game makes me feel nauseous but I

the game makes me feel nauseous but I think a better explanation is that Yugi

think a better explanation is that Yugi Naka simply doesn't know the answer to

Naka simply doesn't know the answer to the question and is obfuscating in order

the question and is obfuscating in order to save face after nearly 2 years of

to save face after nearly 2 years of development including 6 months of Naka

development including 6 months of Naka farting around with 3D programming I

farting around with 3D programming I think it's likely that Naka was

think it's likely that Naka was effectively replaced as an actual ual

effectively replaced as an actual ual programmer on nights in the middle of

programmer on nights in the middle of the game's development and thus a bunch

the game's development and thus a bunch of Sega Personnel were either hired or

of Sega Personnel were either hired or shuffled around joining the team in

shuffled around joining the team in order to finally complete the project

order to finally complete the project but my real question remains did nights

but my real question remains did nights into dreams start off as a Sonic the

into dreams start off as a Sonic the Hedgehog game I think so I have no

Hedgehog game I think so I have no explanation for why anyone would

explanation for why anyone would deliberately make this just look at this

deliberately make this just look at this mess is this really the sort of thing

mess is this really the sort of thing people make on purpose I think nights

people make on purpose I think nights into dreams is a Jackson Pollock of

into dreams is a Jackson Pollock of video games a happy accident that Sega

video games a happy accident that Sega fan have endowed with meaning and

fan have endowed with meaning and Artistry that may actually turn out to

Artistry that may actually turn out to be little more than a big sloppy mess

be little more than a big sloppy mess with an elite fan base but of course

with an elite fan base but of course this is mere speculation speculation

this is mere speculation speculation based upon some compelling evidence but

based upon some compelling evidence but speculation nonetheless more recently

speculation nonetheless more recently data miners have begun to analyze the

data miners have begun to analyze the actual game code for nights into dreams

actual game code for nights into dreams on the Saturn perhaps this work will

on the Saturn perhaps this work will reveal clues about why Yugi NOCO was so

reveal clues about why Yugi NOCO was so apprehensive about letting STI use his

apprehensive about letting STI use his code to make Sonic extreme maybe it was

code to make Sonic extreme maybe it was a Sonic game game to begin with or maybe

a Sonic game game to begin with or maybe it was just a spectacular embarrassing

it was just a spectacular embarrassing mess or maybe Yuji Naka just hates Sega

mess or maybe Yuji Naka just hates Sega of America so much that he was allowed

of America so much that he was allowed to indirectly sabotage his own company

to indirectly sabotage his own company or maybe in some way it was all three or

or maybe in some way it was all three or if we take Yugi Naka at his word then it

if we take Yugi Naka at his word then it was none of the above but can we take

was none of the above but can we take Yuji Naka at his word on this particular

Yuji Naka at his word on this particular issue referring back to noa's

issue referring back to noa's controversial Twitter Ty raade we're

controversial Twitter Ty raade we're left wondering who is really telling the

left wondering who is really telling the truth here did Yuji Naka really

truth here did Yuji Naka really indirectly sabot the release of Sonic

indirectly sabot the release of Sonic extreme by denying STI his game code or

extreme by denying STI his game code or is this just a rumor to deflect blame

is this just a rumor to deflect blame from what was no doubt a complete and

from what was no doubt a complete and total [ __ ] show on the part of Sega of

total [ __ ] show on the part of Sega of America's leadership on the one hand

America's leadership on the one hand it's hard to believe Yugi Naka would

it's hard to believe Yugi Naka would have actually been allowed to sabotage

have actually been allowed to sabotage Sonic extreme just because he was the

Sonic extreme just because he was the guy that coded Sonic the Hedgehog at the

guy that coded Sonic the Hedgehog at the same time nakas claimed that he didn't

same time nakas claimed that he didn't know about Sonic Extreme has to be false

know about Sonic Extreme has to be false right Naka worked at STI from 1991 to

right Naka worked at STI from 1991 to late 19 94 and he would have still been

late 19 94 and he would have still been working on Sonic and Knuckles when Sonic

working on Sonic and Knuckles when Sonic Mars was initially pitched at STI

Mars was initially pitched at STI further Naka had established Ambitions

further Naka had established Ambitions to develop a 3D Sonic game as early as

to develop a 3D Sonic game as early as 1993 himself and it's clear that he took

1993 himself and it's clear that he took direct inspiration from Sega Sonic the

direct inspiration from Sega Sonic the Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game Naka is a

Sonic the Hedgehog arcade game Naka is a man who stayed in the loop and paid

man who stayed in the loop and paid careful attention to what his cohorts

careful attention to what his cohorts were up to especially regarding the

were up to especially regarding the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise the idea

Sonic the Hedgehog franchise the idea that he wouldn't have known about Sonic

that he wouldn't have known about Sonic extreme in 1996 is crazy to me and the

extreme in 1996 is crazy to me and the fact that he'd be irritated that STI

fact that he'd be irritated that STI didn't ask his permission kind of gives

didn't ask his permission kind of gives away what he probably thought of STI

away what he probably thought of STI making a Sonic game in the first place

making a Sonic game in the first place there's a good reason Naka and Oshima

there's a good reason Naka and Oshima and isuka got back together in Japan and

and isuka got back together in Japan and they officially named their new Venture

they officially named their new Venture Sonic team they wanted the world to know

Sonic team they wanted the world to know who Sonic really belonged to Old

who Sonic really belonged to Old Japanese men yes even today Sonic

Japanese men yes even today Sonic belongs to Old Japanese men they legally

belongs to Old Japanese men they legally own the rights to the care character but

own the rights to the care character but still with the formation of Sonic team

still with the formation of Sonic team one gets the sense that these guys

one gets the sense that these guys especially Naka and Oshima wanted to

especially Naka and Oshima wanted to carve out a future for themselves as

carve out a future for themselves as Sonic the Hedgehog's official studio and

Sonic the Hedgehog's official studio and guess what that means they would have

guess what that means they would have been in direct competition with STI in

been in direct competition with STI in 1996 so the story about Naka blocking

1996 so the story about Naka blocking sti's access to his code isn't crazy

sti's access to his code isn't crazy though Sonic extreme was always going to

though Sonic extreme was always going to suck anyway Naka was right even if STI

suck anyway Naka was right even if STI got the code they were writing the game

got the code they were writing the game in C instead of assembly attempting to

in C instead of assembly attempting to compile noa's work into c means the game

compile noa's work into c means the game was going to just play like crap anyway

was going to just play like crap anyway nothing was going to help Sonic extreme

nothing was going to help Sonic extreme reach a Christmas 96 deadline so that

reach a Christmas 96 deadline so that part is not really noa's fault there's a

part is not really noa's fault there's a lot of stories like this about Yuji Naka

lot of stories like this about Yuji Naka on the internet though these are the

on the internet though these are the most popular as you can see Naka is

most popular as you can see Naka is frequently portrayed as a two-faced

frequently portrayed as a two-faced villain willing to do whatever it takes

villain willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead but how true are these

to get ahead but how true are these stories could it just be that a lone

stories could it just be that a lone wolf Maverick like Yugi Naka just lacks

wolf Maverick like Yugi Naka just lacks good interpersonal skills is it possible

good interpersonal skills is it possible that Naka struggles to make friends as

that Naka struggles to make friends as readily as he makes enemies and thus in

readily as he makes enemies and thus in the end there are just more people

the end there are just more people willing to bury his legacy I mean it

willing to bury his legacy I mean it could be a little a column A and column

could be a little a column A and column B at the same time maybe Naka is a

B at the same time maybe Naka is a two-faced villain willing to damage

two-faced villain willing to damage other people's careers at the same time

other people's careers at the same time that he was a highly talented Lone Wolf

that he was a highly talented Lone Wolf Maverick programmer who struggled to

Maverick programmer who struggled to make friends whatever the case may be

make friends whatever the case may be lots of people have beef with Yuji Naka

lots of people have beef with Yuji Naka and sometimes people get even in 2022

and sometimes people get even in 2022 Yuji Naka made the news when it was

Yuji Naka made the news when it was reported that he had been arrested in

reported that he had been arrested in Japan twice both times he was charged

Japan twice both times he was charged with insider trading which occurred

with insider trading which occurred during his ball and Wonderland days at

during his ball and Wonderland days at Square Enix now this story has been

Square Enix now this story has been grossly sensationalized because the

grossly sensationalized because the image of Yuji Naka being arrested or

image of Yuji Naka being arrested or going to jail seems to be a fitting J

going to jail seems to be a fitting J toos to the catastrophic failure of ball

toos to the catastrophic failure of ball and Wonderland and the apparent end of

and Wonderland and the apparent end of Naka career in the game industry

Naka career in the game industry essentially it's a dramatic finish to

essentially it's a dramatic finish to the Yuji Naka story a story about hubris

the Yuji Naka story a story about hubris and a Fall From Grace but what's missing

and a Fall From Grace but what's missing from the popular narrative is the fact

from the popular narrative is the fact that insider trading is extremely common

that insider trading is extremely common in Japan and not really regarded as a

in Japan and not really regarded as a noteworthy criminal offense indeed until

noteworthy criminal offense indeed until fairly recently insider trading was

fairly recently insider trading was essentially a misdemeanor with extremely

essentially a misdemeanor with extremely light finds as a penalty and the

light finds as a penalty and the Japanese people on the whole don't

Japanese people on the whole don't really view insider trading as a grave

really view insider trading as a grave moral failing but this makes Yuji noa's

moral failing but this makes Yuji noa's arrest and subsequent media exposure a

arrest and subsequent media exposure a bit suspicious to me suspicious in the

bit suspicious to me suspicious in the sense that it appears as if someone at

sense that it appears as if someone at Square Enix or the World At Large has it

Square Enix or the World At Large has it out for Yugi Naka and it's not crazy to

out for Yugi Naka and it's not crazy to think that this all might have come as a

think that this all might have come as a direct result of noa's lawsuit against

direct result of noa's lawsuit against Square Enix in retaliation for firing

Square Enix in retaliation for firing him when Naka was arrested for insider

him when Naka was arrested for insider trading it was alongside another Square

trading it was alongside another Square Enix employee named Tae Sasaki Sasaki

Enix employee named Tae Sasaki Sasaki who also appears to have been released

who also appears to have been released by Square Enix was a technical

by Square Enix was a technical production associate who worked on games

production associate who worked on games such as Dragon Quest 11 and Kingdom

such as Dragon Quest 11 and Kingdom Hearts 3 and most recently he received a

Hearts 3 and most recently he received a special thanks credit on Ball and

special thanks credit on Ball and Wonderland implying that he was an

Wonderland implying that he was an associate of eugi Naka the accusation

associate of eugi Naka the accusation was that both men being employees of

was that both men being employees of Square Enix got word that a couple of

Square Enix got word that a couple of small game companies in Japan had landed

small game companies in Japan had landed lucrative contracts to make high-profile

lucrative contracts to make high-profile games for Square Enix that were

games for Square Enix that were guaranteed to appreciate their

guaranteed to appreciate their respective company stock value in the

respective company stock value in the near future after the news was made

near future after the news was made public that is first was a company

public that is first was a company called aiming which was developing a

called aiming which was developing a game called Dragon Quest tact a spin-off

game called Dragon Quest tact a spin-off of a series that might be the most

of a series that might be the most popular in Japanese video game history

popular in Japanese video game history Yugi Naka and tauke Sasaki alongside a

Yugi Naka and tauke Sasaki alongside a third acquaintance bought tens of

third acquaintance bought tens of thousands of shares in aiming prior to

thousands of shares in aiming prior to the official announcement of Dragon

the official announcement of Dragon Quest tax development they did this with

Quest tax development they did this with the aim of selling their shares after

the aim of selling their shares after the value started to appreciate thus

the value started to appreciate thus making a sizable profit in the process

making a sizable profit in the process soon Naka and Sasaki would try the same

soon Naka and Sasaki would try the same trick on a second company called a team

trick on a second company called a team buying a ton of stock in a team prior to

buying a ton of stock in a team prior to the announcement that the company would

the announcement that the company would be making Final Fantasy 7 the first

be making Final Fantasy 7 the first Soldier this is what led to a second

Soldier this is what led to a second arrest and a second charge of insider

arrest and a second charge of insider trading for both men according to the

trading for both men according to the Press Naka traded roughly $1 million in

Press Naka traded roughly $1 million in stock of 18 after he found out about

stock of 18 after he found out about Final Fantasy 7 the first Soldier and

Final Fantasy 7 the first Soldier and it's estimated that he profited about

it's estimated that he profited about $150,000 from his sale of stock and Amy

$150,000 from his sale of stock and Amy though I'm not sure how much he really

though I'm not sure how much he really made in total from this affair however

made in total from this affair however as of making this video both Yuji Naka

as of making this video both Yuji Naka and sasakian have been sentenced for

and sasakian have been sentenced for their Crimes by the Japanese government

their Crimes by the Japanese government many people imagined that this met Naka

many people imagined that this met Naka would be going to jail but in fact he

would be going to jail but in fact he was sentenced to 2 and 1/2 years in

was sentenced to 2 and 1/2 years in prison suspended for 4 years and he was

prison suspended for 4 years and he was fined about

fined about $114,000 that is to say as long as Yugi

$114,000 that is to say as long as Yugi Naka doesn't get arrested again over the

Naka doesn't get arrested again over the the next 4 years he won't actually be

the next 4 years he won't actually be going to jail at all he's a free man the

going to jail at all he's a free man the same goes for Sasaki who is also given a

same goes for Sasaki who is also given a suspended sentence and a relatively

suspended sentence and a relatively light fine because again insider trading

light fine because again insider trading isn't really considered a very serious

isn't really considered a very serious crime in Japanese Society so we can

crime in Japanese Society so we can forget about images like this or this or

forget about images like this or this or even this none of that's happening Yuji

even this none of that's happening Yuji Naka isn't going anywhere but also sadly

Naka isn't going anywhere but also sadly it appears as if Yuji Naka isn't going

it appears as if Yuji Naka isn't going anywhere is this the end of the long

anywhere is this the end of the long prolific controversial and tumultuous

prolific controversial and tumultuous career of Yugi Naka a man once hailed

career of Yugi Naka a man once hailed and idolized as the creator of Sonic the

and idolized as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog back when it was actually still

Hedgehog back when it was actually still really cool to be a Sonic fan and Sega

really cool to be a Sonic fan and Sega was still a household name synonymous

was still a household name synonymous with Nintendo or even the term video

with Nintendo or even the term video game itself he was a big player in the

game itself he was a big player in the BigTime world of gaming over time as

BigTime world of gaming over time as stories are told and then retold

stories are told and then retold narratives tend to shift some sometimes

narratives tend to shift some sometimes under the weight of new factual

under the weight of new factual information or often simply because

information or often simply because preferences and values change over time

preferences and values change over time too consequently old Heroes and old

too consequently old Heroes and old Legends often do acquire a tarnished

Legends often do acquire a tarnished image and sometimes they're Rewritten as

image and sometimes they're Rewritten as villains after leaving Sega in the early

villains after leaving Sega in the early 2000s public opinion about Yuji Naka

2000s public opinion about Yuji Naka began to shift noticeably as old enemies

began to shift noticeably as old enemies from the game industry felt the Liberty

from the game industry felt the Liberty to speak about the Sega Legend in any

to speak about the Sega Legend in any way that they preferred and often the

way that they preferred and often the results were not very good for noa's

results were not very good for noa's reputation meanwhile Naka creatively

reputation meanwhile Naka creatively floundered as a video game maker and

floundered as a video game maker and like a lot of Japanese Legends of the '

like a lot of Japanese Legends of the ' 80s and 90s he was unable to find a

80s and 90s he was unable to find a foothold in the Contemporary video game

foothold in the Contemporary video game Market meanwhile nuto oima Yuji noa's

Market meanwhile nuto oima Yuji noa's new enemy an old friend has gradually

new enemy an old friend has gradually come to completely displace noa's once

come to completely displace noa's once Mythic association with sega's most

Mythic association with sega's most beloved IP and perhaps rightly so after

beloved IP and perhaps rightly so after all it was now to Oshima who actually

all it was now to Oshima who actually designed the Sonic the Hedgehog

designed the Sonic the Hedgehog character as a character and today the

character as a character and today the world looks forward to the next chapter

world looks forward to the next chapter Sonic Superstars is the latest 2D Style

Sonic Superstars is the latest 2D Style Sonic game on the horizon and it has a

Sonic game on the horizon and it has a lot of people feeling optimistic about

lot of people feeling optimistic about Sonic's future and who's behind this new

Sonic's future and who's behind this new game none other than aest Studios the

game none other than aest Studios the same company founded by Sonic co-creator

same company founded by Sonic co-creator Nao oima and the same company that

Nao oima and the same company that worked with Yugi Naka to create ball and

worked with Yugi Naka to create ball and Wonderland it's incredible how we now

Wonderland it's incredible how we now find ourselves here today it's na osima

find ourselves here today it's na osima who creat Sonic the Hedgehog and it's

who creat Sonic the Hedgehog and it's now to osima who gets the credit and his

now to osima who gets the credit and his game looks decent it looks fine but if

game looks decent it looks fine but if I'm being honest with myself I much

I'm being honest with myself I much preferred those legendary days of high

preferred those legendary days of high adventure in my long since misspent

adventure in my long since misspent youth when Sonic the Hedgehog belonged

youth when Sonic the Hedgehog belonged to that Lone Wolf Maverick of coding

to that Lone Wolf Maverick of coding Yugi Naka is Naka really the bad guy

Yugi Naka is Naka really the bad guy that he seems to be not really no I

that he seems to be not really no I don't think so he's certainly not a bad

don't think so he's certainly not a bad game developer despite the miserable

game developer despite the miserable failure that was balling in Wonderland

failure that was balling in Wonderland he also oversaw the creation of rodea

he also oversaw the creation of rodea the sky Soldier the good version that

the sky Soldier the good version that was intended for the Wii and in the

was intended for the Wii and in the Dreamcast days he was consistently one

Dreamcast days he was consistently one of sega's best producers churning out

of sega's best producers churning out not just decent Sonic games but unique

not just decent Sonic games but unique Classics like cho cho rocket Fantasy

Classics like cho cho rocket Fantasy Star online and samb De Amigo and of

Star online and samb De Amigo and of course as an actual programmer at least

course as an actual programmer at least before the Sega Saturn Nako was Second

before the Sega Saturn Nako was Second To None working miracles on games like

To None working miracles on games like black belt space Harrier Fantasy Star

black belt space Harrier Fantasy Star Ghouls and ghosts and of course the

Ghouls and ghosts and of course the Sonic the Hedgehog series for which most

Sonic the Hedgehog series for which most degree he innovated all of the mechanics

degree he innovated all of the mechanics that made the game stand apart from the

that made the game stand apart from the competition even if he isn't the author

competition even if he isn't the author of the actual character and sure there

of the actual character and sure there are a lot of gripes and rumors about

are a lot of gripes and rumors about Yuji Naka especially coming from ex Sega

Yuji Naka especially coming from ex Sega of America employees but a lot of those

of America employees but a lot of those stories are baseless and more than a

stories are baseless and more than a little questionable for instance I

little questionable for instance I seriously doubt Yuji Naka actually tried

seriously doubt Yuji Naka actually tried to steal the game code for an unfinished

to steal the game code for an unfinished version of Guist force a a doomed Sega

version of Guist force a a doomed Sega Dreamcast game that even its lead

Dreamcast game that even its lead developer acknowledges was woefully

developer acknowledges was woefully incomplete and behind schedule at the

incomplete and behind schedule at the time of its cancellation and Yugi Naka

time of its cancellation and Yugi Naka had nothing to do with the fact that

had nothing to do with the fact that Sonic extreme was such a poorly managed

Sonic extreme was such a poorly managed mess at the time of its cancellation in

mess at the time of its cancellation in 1996 however despite his protests I do

1996 however despite his protests I do think there might actually be something

think there might actually be something real to the claim that Naka tried to

real to the claim that Naka tried to stop Sega of America from getting the

stop Sega of America from getting the knights into dreams game code issuing an

knights into dreams game code issuing an ultimatum and threatening to quit in

ultimatum and threatening to quit in order to get his way is consistent with

order to get his way is consistent with noa's history after all it's by doing

noa's history after all it's by doing just that that Yuji Naka came to work at

just that that Yuji Naka came to work at STI in the first place I find it

STI in the first place I find it impossible to believe that Yugi Naka

impossible to believe that Yugi Naka wouldn't have known about the game

wouldn't have known about the game especially since he worked at STI around

especially since he worked at STI around the time that Sonic extreme was started

the time that Sonic extreme was started and he had experience attempting to

and he had experience attempting to create a 3D Sonic game himself further I

create a 3D Sonic game himself further I think Naka betrays his true feelings

think Naka betrays his true feelings when he complains about STI failing to

when he complains about STI failing to get his approval for such a project it's

get his approval for such a project it's hard for me to believe his version of

hard for me to believe his version of events on Twitter and again I think this

events on Twitter and again I think this might be because Yugi Naka may still

might be because Yugi Naka may still have something to hide when it comes to

have something to hide when it comes to the real origins of knights into dreams

the real origins of knights into dreams as a game have you ever noticed that

as a game have you ever noticed that Yugi Naka and Sonic Team never made a

Yugi Naka and Sonic Team never made a proper sequel to nights into dreams that

proper sequel to nights into dreams that is me too and I think there are good

is me too and I think there are good reasons for that mainly because they

reasons for that mainly because they finally did figure out how to make a 3D

finally did figure out how to make a 3D Sonic game for the Dreamcast the thing

Sonic game for the Dreamcast the thing that they were probably trying to

that they were probably trying to achieve all along don't believe me but

achieve all along don't believe me but it's in the name Sonic team and it's the

it's in the name Sonic team and it's the reason Naka and Oshima got back together

reason Naka and Oshima got back together in 1995 not Knights so I have to concede

in 1995 not Knights so I have to concede maybe Yuji Naka isn't always completely

maybe Yuji Naka isn't always completely honest I mean insider trading is

honest I mean insider trading is technically not an honest way to invest

technically not an honest way to invest in a company even if it's barely a crime

in a company even if it's barely a crime and it's pretty clear to me that Yugi

and it's pretty clear to me that Yugi Naka made quite a few enemies over the

Naka made quite a few enemies over the years and based on his record with

years and based on his record with Square Enix it seems like he's fairly

Square Enix it seems like he's fairly temperamental and lots of people are

temperamental and lots of people are ready to throw this dude under the bus

ready to throw this dude under the bus me just look at that smug mug and tell

me just look at that smug mug and tell me what you feel you want to be friends

me what you feel you want to be friends with this guy this Legend This absolute

with this guy this Legend This absolute genius personally I'd at least like to

genius personally I'd at least like to meet him shake his hand and thank him

meet him shake his hand and thank him for the work he did on Fantasy Star

for the work he did on Fantasy Star absolute honesty is a rare trait

absolute honesty is a rare trait especially in the dog eat dog world of

especially in the dog eat dog world of international corporations like Sega or

international corporations like Sega or Square Enix where everyone clamors to

Square Enix where everyone clamors to take credit for what works just as much

take credit for what works just as much as they pretend not to be at fault for

as they pretend not to be at fault for whatever doesn't for a lot of these guys

whatever doesn't for a lot of these guys that's how they survived but Naka was is

that's how they survived but Naka was is a lot more than that he really actually

a lot more than that he really actually did do big things and Sega wouldn't have

did do big things and Sega wouldn't have been the same without him he's the real

been the same without him he's the real deal and you know what he seems like a

deal and you know what he seems like a good father too and while I'm at it I'll

good father too and while I'm at it I'll just add that ball in Wonderland isn't

just add that ball in Wonderland isn't that bad of a game and maybe Naka has a

that bad of a game and maybe Naka has a point about how things went with aest a

point about how things went with aest a company that doesn't exactly have the

company that doesn't exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to

greatest track record when it comes to Quality games so yeah Naka is no longer

Quality games so yeah Naka is no longer the unequivocal creator of Sonic but we

the unequivocal creator of Sonic but we were all a lot better off when he was

were all a lot better off when he was except for Sonic 6 and Shadow the

except for Sonic 6 and Shadow the Hedgehog those were pretty bad anyway

Hedgehog those were pretty bad anyway that's all thanks for watching our

that's all thanks for watching our absolutely massive retrospective about

absolutely massive retrospective about the career of Yuji Naka and his Fall

the career of Yuji Naka and his Fall From Grace what do you guys think about

From Grace what do you guys think about sega's legendary programmer is he as bad

sega's legendary programmer is he as bad as the rumors make him sound or is he

as the rumors make him sound or is he just an easy target for Western

just an easy target for Western developers that failed to ascend to his

developers that failed to ascend to his creative Heights have you played ball in

creative Heights have you played ball in Wonderland please let us know this and

Wonderland please let us know this and more in the comments and as always thank

more in the comments and as always thank you very much for watching bye-bye now

you very much for watching bye-bye now [Music]

[Music] now

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YouTube Transcript:Yuji Naka isn’t really bad: How a Sega legend gradually became one of gaming’s greatest villains

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Yuji Naka isn’t really bad: How a Sega legend gradually became one of gaming’s greatest villains