Yuji has apparently left Square Enix

[Ryannumber1gamer]

3 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

I am hoping this topic isn't simply evolving into a full on rant about Balan Wonderworld rather than a discussion about everyone's feelings about Naka's departure from Square.

I mean, the topic is about Naka leaving Square, which is a direct result of Balan’s development and reception. Talking about how Naka handled Balan and it’s reception is pretty relevant to his leaving,

[Zoomzeta]

2 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I mean, the topic is about Naka leaving Square, which is a direct result of Balan’s development and reception. Talking about how Naka handled Balan and it’s reception is pretty relevant to his leaving,

Just feeling we're talking less about Naka's current situation and more so about everything that went wrong in past tense.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Just now, Zoomzeta said:

Just feeling we're talking less about Naka's current situation and more so about everything that went wrong in past tense.

There isn’t much to say about his current situation though. He left Square, that’s it. Maybe he’ll go to another studio, or maybe he’ll go back to his old company, which is still kicking with a skeleton crew. But discussing the events leading up to it, the development and failings of Balan, the whole “one shot” thing, and all of that is still relevant to if you think Naka getting ousted is justified or not. It’s all pretty relevant.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

3 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

8 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

I am hoping this topic isn't simply evolving into a full on rant about Balan Wonderworld rather than a discussion about everyone's feelings about Naka's departure from Square.

I mean, the topic is about Naka leaving Square, which is a direct result of Balan’s development and reception. Talking about how Naka handled Balan and it’s reception is pretty relevant to his leaving,

Pretty much, it's like trying to bring up the sinking of the Titanic while leaving out the catalyst of the iceberg.

Just now, Zoomzeta said:

Just feeling we're talking less about Naka's current situation and more so about everything that went wrong in past tense.

His current situation is pretty much in the same era as his blunder with Balan Wonderworld. It all ties in with how he handled it and where he is now as a result. What else do you want us to talk about? Where he'll apply for job applications???

[Scritch the Cat]

53 minutes ago, mitsunari88 said:

While I respect Yuji Naka, doesn't he have a history of being a little... stubborn regarding certain things?

Even during his time at Sonic Team I thought there were stories about how he wanted things a certain way to the point of being a little picky. For example I know the voice director said for the older 3D games that he was adamant about having the voice actors look like their respective characters. While I know the voice acting industry is different in Japan (but this isn't typical in Japan either), the voice director tried to argue with that.

That isn't to say Yuji Naka isn't a visionary or hasn't done some great things. But what I am saying is that his track record shows that he can get fixated on certain things with other aspects being sacrificed. He can shoot his own foot many times. 

We also don't know the full story, but I think this is less a company issue than potential a leadership issue. I wish the best for him though. He is someone that works great with other people when some of his ideas can be reigned in it seems.

 

Honestly based on the bad stories I've heard about Naka, he seems like an unpleasant man to work for.  I can respect him as a programmer and grant that he had some good ideas, but it's a stretch to say I sympathize with him at this point.  With too many bad marks on his career as of now, I think if he is to continue making games, he ought to take those lumps, work on some more games as simply an employee, and gain some humility and understanding that not everyone thinks like him.  Moreover, that he is not necessarily right and they're not necessarily wrong.  I'd say at the very least, he should apologize for how BWW turned out if he tries run another project and wants any hope of it being well-regarded.

[Empire88]

Yeah I agree. I am not saying I sympathize with him at all. I was more being respectful and saying "He had good ideas" even though he is stubborn and shoots his foot. I tend to be a more reserved person and not good at criticizing people so I feel the need to add buffer to make it sound like I am not trying to hate on him just to.

So I am saying his leadership is the issue. We are on the same page haha. I just feel bad sometimes if I come off too strongly. But yes he seems way too stubborn and unwilling to listen even if he has done good things occasionally.

Edited to clarify 

Edited June 4, 2021 by mitsunari88

[ryu238]

12 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

This is kind of what I mean. Naka apparently didn't stop to consider about how game design has progressed from a point in time. He decided he needed to reinvent the wheel and fix something that was never broken. Why do we need to go by a one button design for the full game, despite it's determent? The Genesis Sonic games did that. Why couldn't the player be able to jump and use a costume ability? Because then it wouldn't operate on one button like Sonic, etc.

This only worked for the Genesis games because movement was limited across a 2D plain. Pressing up or down on the D-pad wouldn't make you go in those directions, making them free to be used in conjuction with the action button to perform moves like the spin dash. In a 3D plain the character moves in the direction the analog stick is pressed, making such combination unviable. Hence why they put the spin dash onto a separate button in the Adventure series, which Naka himself worked on. He should've known this!

[King Scoopa Koopa]

I do wonder where he goes from here. I thought I'd read he was happier as a programmer, rather than the higher leadership roles he's taken over the years. Isn't that part of why he left SEGA?

[Scritch the Cat]

On 6/4/2021 at 10:14 AM, ryu238 said:

This only worked for the Genesis games because movement was limited across a 2D plain. Pressing up or down on the D-pad wouldn't make you go in those directions, making them free to be used in conjuction with the action button to perform moves like the spin dash. In a 3D plain the character moves in the direction the analog stick is pressed, making such combination unviable. Hence why they put the spin dash onto a separate button in the Adventure series, which Naka himself worked on. He should've known this!

I still wish they kept the ducking and mapped it to a trigger button, then activated moves by pressing another button while ducking.  That worked beautifully in Banjo-Kazooie, and it remains the most comfortable way to control Sonic.

Either way, this idea that Naka was always stubbornly devoted to one-button controls in BWW does not gel with with the narrative told in many videos I have seen on the subject.  Rather, Naka's original intent was to make a game with lots of different abilities, and his advocacy of simple controls came about as a result of wanting that all not to get confusing.

Not to say it wasn't a terrible idea, though.  In fact, the occasional lame power-up is a problem even in the best of times.  Super Mario Bros 3 is widely considered one of the best games ever made, and a lot of that is due to the power-ups, but even there, not all are winners.  The frog suit is so pathetically clumsy on land and so much of the game is land that it's only a small minority of levels where it gives you an advantage, and even then, water levels are so spammed with enemies that the fire flower is almost always a better overall choice.  Then there's the tanuki suit, which is just the raccoon suit with one more ability.  So committing to 80 power-ups was a sure way to set themselves up for failure.  Even had they managed to make some good ones, you'd have to wade through some crap ones, too, relying on trial and error to find out which were good and which weren't.

[Ratcicle King]

Naka has finally commented on the subject

 

 

He doesn't elaborate much on why he left for obvious reasons, and also comments on the future, saying he's thinking of retiring.

It's sad, but at the same time, I can see why he's thinking of that, he may have realized the current scenario of the gaming industry is ''adapt or die'', and the very specific vision he has either doesn't seem to fit with the current trends or wasn't able to be fully realized either by his and his team's own shortcomings, Square Enix meddling, or a mix of both.

 

[Natie]

each time these spiritual successor games come out people get surprised all over again that a developer who made a hit more than 20 years ago might not be guaranteed to still have it in them.

[VO.SUPER]

Edit: phew. Don't string together gibberish in the morning. 

I think retirement will do him good. 

[Empire88]

Really Yuji Naka's biggest accomplishment is creating Sonic imo. I also agree he sort of coasted by with his reputation even though his track record shows he doesn't walk the walk a lot of times.

I feel like in terms of creating basic concepts he has good ideas, but in terms of execution and leadership he has issues with micromanaging project staff and being too fixated on things for his own good. 

[Rabbitearsblog]

Sorry that Yuji Naka is leaving Square Enix.  He seemed passionate about Balan, only to have the game fall on its face in a bad way.  This may seem like a stupid question, but if Naka decided to retire in the near future, would this affect the Sonic games?

[Zoomzeta]

31 minutes ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

Sorry that Yuji Naka is leaving Square Enix.  He seemed passionate about Balan, only to have the game fall on its face in a bad way.  This may seem like a stupid question, but if Naka decided to retire in the near future, would this affect the Sonic games?

No. Not likely. He hasn't been involved with the franchise since 2006. So him retiring shouldn't really affect its current trajectory.

4 hours ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

Edit: phew. Don't string together gibberish in the morning. 

I think retirement will do him good. 

Agreed

[Rabbitearsblog]

3 hours ago, Zoomzeta said:

No. Not likely. He hasn't been involved with the franchise since 2006. So him retiring shouldn't really affect its current trajectory.

Agreed

That's good to hear.  I wouldn't want this series to be dead in the water when Naka retires.

[Shade Vortex]

I mean, I get it, he was known for Sonic in the past. But it's been a long time since then and he's had nothing to do with the series for a decade and a half. There will be zero affect on the Sonic franchise's trajectory from this particular incident, other than hopefully shutting up the people who thought Naka should for some reason come back to work on Sonic games (even though 06 was entirely his fault; he left that project with half of the development team halfway through 06's development). I think this whole fiasco has shown that for better or worse, this man is kind of all washed up; it's hard to remain an influential creator in this industry, you must be able to adapt with the times, and that's clearly something Naka could not do.

[CaptainRobo]

Aw, sorry to hear about that. I wish him good luck on what he will be doing in the future.

[RadicalLaRuby]

Perhaps the saddest thing I've personally witnessed all year.

Chilling from now on just might be better for him if he can't or refuses to adapt to the industry anymore.

[Meta77]

Hopefully he finds something else. But when i think of him I tend to remember he is one of the reasons sonic 06 flopped and he never got footing after that.

[VO.SUPER]

10 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Hopefully he finds something else. But when i think of him I tend to remember he is one of the reasons sonic 06 flopped and he never got footing after that.

As I've been studying, he seemed to have something going at Probe, up until the mess with Rodea sank the company. It's essentially just him there as far as skeleton crews go.

[Meta77]

18 minutes ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

As I've been studying, he seemed to have something going at Probe, up until the mess with Rodea sank the company. It's essentially just him there as far as skeleton crews go.

So its just a one many company now?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Meta77 said:

So its just a one many company now?

Amazingly, yes. Literally only one employee left at Prope.

[VO.SUPER]

10 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Amazingly, yes. Literally only one employee left at Prope.

It's moments like that, where I am thankful self-publishing is more of a thing these days and console makers *coughWiieraNintendocough* don't require a dev to have one.

[Zoomzeta]

2 hours ago, VisionaryofSUPER said:

As I've been studying, he seemed to have something going at Probe, up until the mess with Rodea sank the company. It's essentially just him there as far as skeleton crews go.

Actually, we don't know right now if that one person was Naka. He never actually said who was at Prope at the moment he clarified the company's status.