Yuji Naka on Prope, Life After Sonic

Games TM magazine recently flew out to Tokyo to have a word with world renowned game industry figure, Yuji Naka. Starting his career programming for the first Sonic game he has been involved with the best Sega games during the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast eras; NiGHTS, Burning Rangers, the Phantasy Star Online series and every major Sonic game from the first up to Sonic Heroes. But in 2006 Yuji Naka left Sega for pastures new and set up his own company called Prope.

All has been quiet on the Prope front but games tm manage to squeeze out some details not previously known. For instance Prope’s first game is being designed for the Wii, more details of which will be released later in the year. Naka talks a lot about wanting to get his hands dirty again , programming or doing anything to be a more important part of the team, having spent so long just overseeing games and giving general direction with Sega.

Naka is a fan of the Wii and wants to show some of the potential of the console rather than just produce another mini-game collection. All in all Naka seems to be more inspired than ever:

“I want to make something that defies categorisation. If we do that I’ll be happy.”

Remembering Naka’s previous efforts we know he’s capable of doing just that.
As for his adopted son Sonic, Yuji Naka hasn’t forgotten the spiky blue blur, citing his appearance in Super Smash Bros Brawl as a recent highlight:

“Sonic moves in such a lively way in that game…I think Sonic himself must be happy too.”

Now if only Sonic could look so lively in a game made by Sega…
The interview can be read in ‘games tm’, issue 70, out now in the UK.

This post was originally written by the author for TSSZ News.