#nostalgia #tvcommercials #videogamecommercials #gamingcommercials #oldvideogamecommercials #90scommercials #90sads #1990scommercials #2000scommercials #2000sads #2001commercials #1991 #1992 #blockbuster #tacobell #nintendo #nintendocommercials #mcdonalds #dailymotion #youtube #facebook #twitter #twitch #motiongraphics #deezer #tv #dlive #instagram #stream #motion #twitchstreamer #fightingmentalillness #twitchclips #twitchretweet #twitchaffiliate #twitchshare #ant #scribaland #tiktok #greece #spotify #gelio #games #vimeo #google #motionmate #youtuber #greekquotes #vhs #fullmovies #fullmovie
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:02He created one of the most beloved characters of all time.
00:08To come up with the character of Sonic, we asked ourselves,
00:11what kind of game do we want to make?
00:12The most important thing was I wanted it to be playful.
00:20Blast processing.
00:22It was allegedly something that somehow made Sonic the Hedgehog go faster.
00:28Undoubtedly, I think Sonic was the system seller for Sega.
00:31As a mascot back then, it was just huge.
00:33And this hedgehog helped stir up some headlines.
00:38The comparisons began.
00:40It became Nintendo versus Sega, and the media wanted to compare them.
00:45The lack of long-term success of the Dreamcast was kind of a disappointment.
00:49In some ways, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
00:51I think everyone was a bit shocked at first that Nintendo and Sega had finally joined forces.
00:55since they were mortal enemies for 10, 15 years.
01:02I'd like to change. I'd like to move forward.
01:07Meet the man behind Sonic, Yuji Naka.
01:10He has lots of childlike qualities, which I think translates into his games.
01:14My Lotus.
01:39The Yuji Naka story begins on the other side of the world.
01:42The Yuji Naka story begins on the other side of the world.
01:49When I was a child, I grew up in a place in Japan called Osaka, up until I was 18.
01:53In terms of creativity, I like many things.
01:56I like cars, games, theme parks, everything.
01:59It's from all these things that I've been influenced.
02:04Well, I don't think I was too smart.
02:06I wasn't able to go to college.
02:08So after graduating from high school, I had to look for a job, and there were many candidates I targeted.
02:13They weren't looking for people, whereas Sega was.
02:16I lived in Osaka, and I wanted to move to Tokyo.
02:19So I applied to Sega, and they took me.
02:21The 18-year-old entrepreneur goes to work on his first game for Sega,
02:25a game company already established, thanks to arcade titles like Zaxxon.
02:311984 was when I joined Sega.
02:33Girls' Garden was the first game I was involved with.
02:35I was a programmer.
02:37It was the first game I worked on for the SG-1000.
02:42In 1986, Sega introduces a brand-new console, the Sega Master System.
02:47Naka works on games like F-16 Fighting Falcon.
02:50The Master System, I thought at the time, you know, back then I certainly wasn't working in the game industry,
02:54I was just a kid playing video games like everyone else, but I felt that that box,
02:58the level of sophistication that it kind of oozed out of it was just a lot cooler than Atari or
03:03Coleco.
03:05The F-16 Fighting Falcon game was back then given the limited things you had to work with,
03:08I would say it was very, very realistic for the time,
03:10and if you went back and played it now, I think you'd have the same feeling.
03:13And Phantasy Star, a role-playing game filled with solid quests and masterful stories.
03:18I think at the time Phantasy Star was a fairly different type of RPG,
03:21and I don't think we can say that now, you know, but the games coming out, you know,
03:24a lot of them seem to be similar or a lot of the things that borrow concepts from one another,
03:29but I think back then it was just very fresh.
03:31It made you want to play it over and over again.
03:36Phantasy Star 2 was released in 1989 and features an inventive storyline
03:40and realistic graphics with the power of Sega's new 16-bit console, the Genesis.
03:48I was clearly a Genesis guy.
03:50If it weren't for the Genesis, I wouldn't even be in the video game industry.
03:53Nintendo releases their own console, the Super NES, and a rivalry is born.
03:58Yeah, the 16-bit console wars, I mean, that was a sort of a famous era in video games,
04:03because you had Nintendo kind of unwilling to release a successor to the NES.
04:06They didn't want to shoot that golden goose that was already still laying golden eggs,
04:09and unfortunately for them, that gave Sega, just kind of a very small challenger,
04:13an opportunity to, like, come in with the Genesis.
04:16For the Super NES, Nintendo introduces a series of games featuring Mario, created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
04:22The series becomes wildly popular.
04:24Naka begins collaborating with character designer Oshima,
04:27and has an idea he hopes can compete with the little plumber.
04:33To come up with the character of Sonic, we asked ourselves,
04:36what kind of game do we want to make?
04:37Back then, Mario existed and he jumped a lot, jumping and hitting blocks.
04:42But what I wanted to do was get involved with creating a smoother surface to run across
04:46and have the character run fast.
04:52I was the main programmer, the most important thing was I wanted it to be playful.
04:59So we built characters to match the playfulness.
05:01The result is Sonic the Hedgehog, released in 1991.
05:06And the Sonic Team is formed, led by its creator.
05:11Since I'm the president of Sonic Team, I'm involved in every aspect.
05:16The visuals, story and gameplay.
05:22I believe the games must represent Sonic Team in a good way.
05:27The Sonic Team is determined to make Sonic stand out in the crowd.
05:32Well, blast processing was like the marketing term for Sonic the Hedgehog,
05:36and you know, it was allegedly something that somehow made Sonic the Hedgehog go faster.
05:41Was it ever more than a marketing term? I don't think so, so, who knows.
05:45But it definitely worked good in the ads, but I still remember it.
05:48Blast processing.
05:51I thought it conveyed the sense of speed a lot better than even some racing games did.
05:58It was probably one of the most perfect 2D characters that's ever been invented.
06:03So in comes Sega with Sonic, and he is a character who is a little hedgehog guy and he's blue,
06:09but he has all this attitude.
06:12He doesn't stop for nobody. He's just like spinning and going really fast through the levels.
06:17This guy is much faster than Mario. Mario is the old man.
06:27Undoubtedly, I think Sonic was the system seller for Sega.
06:30As a mascot back then, it was just huge.
06:32And it's just the beginning.
06:45By 1992, Sonic the Hedgehog is a success, selling 2 million units.
06:50Gamers and critics alike are impressed with Sonic's revolutionary speed in Spindash.
06:54And the inevitable comparisons begin.
06:58I was involved with Sonic for a long time, but as soon as Mario appeared, the comparisons began.
07:05It became Nintendo versus Sega that the media wanted to compare.
07:10And Sega decided, well, Nintendo has the kid audience.
07:13We'll go after the teenage audience.
07:15We'll really bring them in with these cool ninja games and these really mature things.
07:20Yeah, there's not nudity or swearing or extreme violence, but they're really edgy.
07:27When you look at all the other stuff that was coming out during the 16-bit era.
07:30Sega, at that time, introduced some really innovative marketing.
07:33Kind of like the shock tactics marketing that just had never been done in games before.
07:37It was amazing.
07:38And every player, you know, nobody had two consoles.
07:40You know, everybody had one or the other.
07:41And you're either a Sega fan or a Super Nintendo fan.
07:43And you either said, like, Sonic sucks and Mario rules, or Sonic rules and Mario sucks.
07:48Sega really capitalized on that, that whole, you know, speed feel and said,
07:51this guy is much faster than Mario.
07:54And it worked.
07:55In the US, the Genesis outsold the Super Nintendo, which was amazing, based on the success of games like Sonic.
08:02But Naka simply shrugs it off.
08:05The contents of the game, the direction, those were totally different.
08:09So as far as I'm concerned, the comparison was wrong, and I think that was a misunderstanding.
08:14I don't want there to be anything bad between us, so while we are in good terms, and I can
08:18work on not keeping a distance, that would be great.
08:20We are good friends.
08:23Naka quickly goes to work on a sequel and heads west to collaborate with American development teams.
08:31From 1991 to 1994, I lived in San Francisco.
08:34All the experiences there had a great impact on me in business and how I think.
08:38It was very good for me.
08:40Some of my coworkers are still there creating, and I think that's good for them.
08:45Naka works with art director Tim Skelly.
08:47I managed the American artists who were trying to keep the styles coordinated.
08:53Most of the artwork was done by one little guy who lived in his cubicle.
08:58Literally, he would have to crawl into it in the mornings.
09:01But when it came down to the special stage...
09:05The first Sonic had a special stage, and they wanted to do one for this one.
09:10Naka came up with this really interesting code for being able to take a sprite engine
09:17and do bitmap graphics with it.
09:20So I came up with this ramp that would go around as half-shell, half-circle.
09:26And so I did all the artwork for the moving background and for the curving ramps and all that.
09:34In 1992, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is released, and Sonic gets a sidekick.
09:41Once again, Sonic scores with audiences and becomes synonymous with game giant Sega.
09:50Sonic appears on other systems for Sega, like the Sega CD.
09:54With Sonic, I think there's also the attitude, I think that helps a lot.
09:58And being the first, it's easy to copy, but Elvis is Elvis, you gotta go with that.
10:04And I think that has a lot to do with the success of Sonic.
10:10And they've been pretty careful about protecting the character.
10:15By 1994, Naka returns to Japan to work on more games, like Phantasy Star 4, End of the Millennium.
10:24And Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is released with a new character, Knuckles.
10:31Meanwhile, the Sega CD isn't faring so well.
10:35I think you have to just make things easy for the consumer.
10:38And it just wasn't a very easy piece.
10:40I think if Sega had to do it all over again, of course they would do it a different way.
10:44But it was just, I don't think, holistically thought out.
10:47And I think it's been, you know, the business reasons have been gone through at, you know, just ad nauseam.
10:52But, you know, the bottom line is it wasn't easy for the consumer.
10:56And hopes are high in 1995 when Sega introduces the Saturn, its 32-bit console, to compete with the Nintendo
11:0264 and Mario.
11:05Well, Nintendo had, you know, Mario, this short, stubby plumber that, you know, walked around at a brisk pace and
11:11jumped on Goombas and, you know, full-on turtle shells.
11:13And Sega had the differing opinion, like, and Sonic just zooming through levels.
11:19And as Sonic progressed, that's what he got more into, was just going through at lightning-fast speeds.
11:27All these amazing-looking levels that you didn't ever get to admire, you didn't ever get to take in the
11:32beauty of them.
11:33You know, like, yeah, the speed was impressive.
11:39Even more impressive are other games Naka and Sonic Team create.
11:44Like Nights in 1996.
11:49I know that Nights is a cult favorite amongst a lot of gamers and developers alike.
11:56Sega launches a reported $10 million campaign behind its 3D answer to Mario 64.
12:01Although Nights gets great reviews, the buzz doesn't translate into sales.
12:05I think it's one of the most sought-after, most requested games for a sequel.
12:16I saw it as a first time I was kind of aware that games could be art as well as
12:20just a, you know, piece of entertainment or, you know, kind of a toy.
12:26Well, Sonic Team, there's only 100 people.
12:29Sonic Team consists of only 100 people.
12:32Even if we want to come up with a sequel, there's so many other products we have to create, and
12:36I guess Nights is suffering.
12:37But then, I'm not thinking, never again.
12:40It's not like, if I had the chance, I wouldn't make it.
12:42The new Nights proposal, we came up with that, and we have been consulting, but we haven't made a final
12:46decision or determination.
12:50More Sonic games follow, and in 1998, Sonic Team tries something new with Burning Rangers, an elite search and rescue
12:56team equipped to handle life-threatening missions.
13:02As a part of Sonic Team, we wanted to stay away from violence. So the Firefighters Rescue, that was the
13:06basis, the theme.
13:08And European or American kids, if you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they want
13:11to be a firefighter.
13:12Many of them want to be firefighters.
13:14From there, I thought rescuing other people would be great in the game. So that's what the Burning Rangers was.
13:19Despite best efforts by Naka and his team, the Saturn succumbs to the Sony PlayStation.
13:25I know that a lot of retailers weren't happy with the direction that Sega took with the Saturn, and that's
13:30all kind of well-documented and things like that.
13:32I just think, while it's unfashionable to say luck, I don't think there's a lot of luck involved, but I
13:36think market time was really right for Sony at the time, and they put out a superior offering, clearly.
13:41More people just bought their system.
13:44But don't count Sonic out just yet, as he shows up in the unlikeliest of places.
13:49Huh?
13:58Tails! I'm just glad you're okay.
14:01Thanks, but you gotta check out my newest power supply.
14:04Ta-da!
14:07By September 1999, Sega reinvigorates its dwindling console business with the introduction of the Dreamcast, and expectations are high.
14:14I think they had a chance. I mean, I used to say, even before I was at the Dreamcast magazine,
14:18and if you just look at the launch titles that are coming out for Dreamcast, it's worth it to buy
14:21it just to get the, you know, the best 10 launch titles.
14:24Like Sonic Adventure, and for the first time, Sonic is in full 3D.
14:31I think Sonic was the perfect character for the 2D world.
14:36And the way the game was designed, I think Mario probably had a little bit more longevity in the 3D
14:40world.
14:40We really, you know, I mean, we were in love with Mario before, but when Mario 64 came out, we
14:44really fell in love with Mario.
14:47The 3D brought a whole other aspect to him that made his character so much more complex than it was
14:53as a 2D character.
14:54I think the same can be said about Sonic and when he moved from 2D to 3D.
15:00The Dreamcast was an awesome system. They had awesome games coming out for years.
15:03And Naka certainly delivers. In 2000, he delights his fans with Choo Choo Rocket.
15:09Samba de Amigo!
15:11And the maraca-shaking Samba de Amigo.
15:18Fantasy Star Online is released in 2001. It is the first global, massively multiplayer online console RPG.
15:29I was working on the Dreamcast hardware and I thought, how can we bring the biggest audience to this game?
15:35Of course, online games are then and still now for hardcore players.
15:40But the enjoyment of online games needs to be easier for people to access.
15:43So we kind of lowered the bar so everyone can enjoy it.
15:48Fantasy Star Online, that was actually my first foray into the whole massive multiplayer universe.
15:55Like, yeah, it's not as big as EverQuest. It was just four players, but it was a big thing. It
15:59was crack.
16:02Someone's gotta be a pioneer and I'm glad that Yuji Nakamura and PSO was the first of those type of
16:07games to prove that the market was there for these things to exist.
16:09And I think more and more people are gonna start exploring the online console realm.
16:13But sadly, it's not enough to revive Sega's failing console business.
16:18Although Sonic Adventure 2 was released in 2001, it fails to bring the Dreamcast up to speed with the competition.
16:26The Dreamcast was actually kind of a bit ahead of its time.
16:30It was a great machine. I mean, graphically, architecture was really nice to program for, had a modem in it.
16:36But I think the specter of the PlayStation 2 just kind of suppressed the Dreamcast enough that it never really
16:43got its legs going underneath it.
16:45But on its own merits, if it operated, if it were a vacuum, if the market were a vacuum, Dreamcast
16:49would have been a great product.
16:51Sort of lack of long-term success of the Dreamcast was kind of a disappointment. In some ways, it was
16:56a self-fulfilling prophecy.
16:57You know, publishers sort of thought, well, the Dreamcast isn't gonna be here in two years, so I better just
17:00move on.
17:01And, you know, because the publishers moved on, the Dreamcast wasn't there.
17:06When the Dreamcast went away, I think Sega admittedly thought they were, they felt behind because they never had any
17:13experience working on other systems.
17:15But there are formidable talent there and a lot of creative people who, I think, will only bring the company
17:21to newer and bigger heights as a software maker.
17:25And that's exactly what they do. Naka and Sonic Team bring his memorable characters to the new hardware systems.
17:31Hey, you will not believe this new GameCube. It's so wild.
17:39Over the last 20 years, I've been involved in developing games.
17:42During that time, Nintendo has been our rival.
17:45And I thought one of these days, will the games I create be played on Nintendo?
17:50And then after Sega moved away from hardware, I thought about this all along just after Dreamcast went away.
17:56And soon after Nintendo GameCube was introduced, I began to create for that.
18:00So we focused on the GameCube.
18:03Like Sonic Adventure 2 Battle for the GameCube.
18:10That same year, Phantasy Star Online 1 and 2 are released for both the GameCube and Xbox.
18:28Sonic Heroes was released in 2004.
18:32I think everyone was a bit shocked at first that Nintendo and Sega had finally joined forces since they were
18:38mortal enemies for 10, 15 years.
18:41In a roundabout sense, it all makes sense now.
18:44And now they've realized, well, we're better off doing things like Sonic and making games like F-Zero.
18:49So I think it's a good team.
18:52You know, Sonic was meant to be for everyone, and I guess it's just apropos that he's on all the
18:58platforms now.
19:02Well, Miyamoto, in various media interviews, has said he likes my work, and I'm very happy to hear that.
19:07In the world of games, he is almost a god.
19:09So when someone like that praises a game I worked on, I'm really happy to hear that.
19:14Please join me in honoring Yuji Naka.
19:17In 2002, Yuji Naka is awarded for his contribution to the game industry by his peers.
19:22He's given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the IGDA at the second annual Game Developers Choice Awards.
19:29I would like to thank Sega, who has granted me the freedom and the resources to make my visions a
19:38reality.
19:38And I remember when Naka-san received his award that night, he was literally skipping, like, back to the hotel.
19:46It's rare to see a grown man skip, but I remember one of his assistants telling me, you know, I've
19:51never seen him this happy, you know, in his life.
19:55That challenged me to do good work.
19:58And there's also always been an emphasis on innovation.
20:00I mean, people don't think of it now, but at the time, games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2
20:04were incredibly innovative, you know, blast processing.
20:08Samba de Amigo and Phantasy Star Online and Choo Choo, you know, above all Sonic, I think they've made an
20:14indelible impression
20:16and really contributed culturally to what video games are as an art form.
20:19I would like to thank the gamers, because after all, that is what this industry is really about.
20:29I think developers recognize how innovative and how forward-thinking Yuji Naka and his team are and how much they've
20:35contributed to our industry.
20:38He has lots of childlike qualities, which I think translates into his games.
20:45Like any great creator, he's always looking about the next place he can bring his art and raise his game.
20:51It really brought our industry where it is today and hopefully bring it into the future, too.
20:57I'm now the senior director of the creative departments of Sega.
21:01I oversee development in many areas.
21:04I'd like to change.
21:05I'd like to move forward.
21:21We use these security keys to get in.
21:23Come on.
21:28Here is the Knuckles room.
21:32And over here is the Sonic room.
21:33You have to take off your shoes and walk in here.
21:36And that's how we conduct meetings.
21:38This is Amy.
21:39What about all of your to flavors?
21:39Something like that.
21:39What about all of your pieces?
21:39It's men and boys.
21:40My Justice Room are amazing.
21:40There are Voorhees.
21:41We will game through ahave at bitcoin.
Comments