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If you enjoy reading this site, you might also want to check out these Think Services sites:
 Game Career Guide (for student game developers.)
 Indie Games (for independent game players/developers.)
 Finger Gaming (news, reviews, and analysis on iPhone and iPod Touch games.)
 GamerBytes (for the latest console digital download news.)
 Worlds In Motion (discussing the business of online worlds.)
 Game Set Watch (the Group's alt.game weblog.) |
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Jeffery: Yu Suzuki Still With Sega As 'Creative Officer'
by Brandon Sheffield, Leigh Alexander
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August 12, 2008
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Famed game designer Yu Suzuki, known for helming the Outrun, Space Harrier, and Shenmue franchises, is still working with Sega Corp, according to new information provided by Sega representatives.
Yesterday, as part of Gamasutra's in-depth interview on the state of everything Sega, Sega of America president Simon Jeffery was asked for specifics on the notable, but recently low-profile creator.
At the time, Jeffery noted of Suzuki: "He's kind of his own man right now. Every now and again, he'll come up with an idea, and I don't think anything has come out of that yet, but we're still working with him. He's not an employee anymore..." -- adding when Gamasutra asked for clarification on whether he was employed at Sega, "not as far as I know."
"I can safely say that Yu Suzuki is in fact still a Sega employee," said Jeffrey in a corrective statement made to Gamasutra today, adding that Suzuki "...is a Creative Officer of Sega Corp."
Suzuki has largely been under the radar in recent years, famously working on Shenmue Online in China for a number of years, and heading a prototype-only arcade title called Psy Phi for Sega in 2006.
His last known credit is more contemporary, though. He reportedly worked on Sega Race TV, a late 2007 Lindbergh arcade board-based racing title. The game, which featured link play and running AI commentary throughout the races, was also released in Western markets.
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Whats funny is all those men, despite the ambitious projects that dealt blows to their company's financial standing, were also responsible for some of the greatest things to ever happen to those companies, and to gaming.
An ambiguous "Creative Officer" title and utter lack of commercial activity signals to me that Yu Suzuki has been, in a sense, "blacklisted" within the company in at least a similar way that drove all the other men I mentioned to end up leaving.
Yu Suzuki deserves better than this, IMHO, Shenmue deserved MUCH more respect than it got, and regardless of how things work out for Yu Suzuki in the future, he will always be a tremendous inspiration to me as an aspiring game developer.