Yuji Naka forms new company: Prope

Recent happenings of pertinence to Sonic fans.
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big_smile
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Yuji Naka forms new company: Prope

Post by big_smile »

According to IGN, a new company headed by Yuji Naka, is to launch on June 1. Known as Prope, the studio aims to work with developers that have a proven track record. It seeks to develop new forms of entertainment and create original worldwide intellectual properties.

The company derives 10% of its initial 10 million funding directly from Sega, which will allow Naka to remain closely aligned to his former home.

The unusual sounding name is Latin for “beside" and "near futureâ€￾. It was devised to reflect the studio’s goal of bringing entertainment closer to users.

The studio has yet to announce any projects and it is unclear if it will be working on any Naka’s previous franchises.

The Prope homepage can be found here

Update: Sega Japan has released a statement here (Japanese PDF). The document, which does not translate into English clearly, suggests that Prope may not actually be a studio but a development 'programme' (as in scheme).

Update 2: Sega of America has the English press release here:
http://www.sega.com/corporate/corporate ... _20060508b
SEGA PARTNERS WITH PROPE, LTD. TO CREATE ORIGINAL CONTENT FOR NEXT GENERATION CONSOLES

Yuji Naka and SEGA Partner to Create New Intellectual Properties

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 8, 2006) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe, Ltd. today announced a new partnership with PROPE, Ltd., a new video game development studio based in Tokyo, Japan. PROPE, Ltd. will develop original content for the next generation consoles.

Effective June 1, 2006, Mr. Naka will leave his post as Creative Officer for Research and Development at SEGA Corporation and will become CEO and President of PROPE, Ltd. Mr. Naka has been the creative force behind such SEGA brands as Sonic The Hedgehog and Phantasy Star. SEGA will make a 10% investment in PROPE, Ltd. and will be the company's exclusive global publisher. This landmark announcement between SEGA and Mr. Naka is the first arrangement to emerge from SEGA's Game Creator Independence Program, which will be organized to promote entrepreneurial business spin-offs with its internal development talent.

"We named our company PROPE in the hopes of bringing game entertainment much closer to users, establishing closer ties between users and us, and creating near future entertainment," said Yuji Naka, CEO and President of PROPE, Ltd. "I am looking forward to the challenge of embarking on this new entrepreneurial venture supported by such a powerful global publisher as SEGA."

"Mr. Naka is an incredible industry visionary and as SEGA continues to align itself with top development talent, we are extremely excited to partner with PROPE." said Naoya Tsurumi, Chief Executive Officer, SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe, Ltd.

The agreement is the latest in a string of similar announcements from SEGA that underscore the company's increased emphasis on external content development. Previously, SEGA announced partnerships with developers Obsidian Entertainment, Silicon Knights, Bizarre Creations, Monolith Productions (Condemned: Criminal Originsâ„¢), and Pseudo Interactive (Full Autoâ„¢). SEGA also acquired development powerhouse The Creative Assembly (Total War series) in 2005 as well as US developer Secret Level and UK based studio, Sports Interactive in 2006.
Last edited by big_smile on Mon May 08, 2006 6:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by The Doc »

I give it a week.

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Popcorn
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Post by Popcorn »

So Naka did leave Sega? That's kind of sad, at least in principle. So I guess the team that invented Sonic the Hedgehog no longer exists to any degree at all?

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Post by Rlan »

Apparently he's still doing his whole "Head of the game department" bit at SEGA, along with this. So clearly bored out of his mind, or sick of requiring to tick all the shit that comes through so they can make monies.

Yami

Post by Yami »

Meh. As long as halfway-decent Sonic games are still being made, I could care less.

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Post by Zeta »

Meh. As long as halfway-decent Sonic games are still being made, I could care less.
They are? Why wasn't I informed of this? Where can I find these games?

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Post by Crazy Penguin »

Yami wrote:Meh. As long as halfway-decent Sonic games are still being made, I could care less.
If you cared a lot then you could care less. If you cared the smallest amount possible then you couldn't care less. Think about what you're saying.

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Post by Double-S- »


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And with that, Baba's targeting of Yami ends.

Post by Baba O'Reily »

Yami wrote:I could care less.
And just like that, I hate you and all that you stand for.

Anyways, the idea isn't all that exciting, and it's probably going to end up turning into a gigantic money void.

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Post by Omni Hunter »

Concured, and isn't it wierd how the sudden rise of guest posters brings fucktards along.
I don't really see the project as being too serious, at least not independantly while it's recieving some funding from Sega.

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Post by CE »

Zeta wrote:
Meh. As long as halfway-decent Sonic games are still being made, I could care less.
They are? Why wasn't I informed of this? Where can I find these games?
On the DS.

Yami

Post by Yami »

I also liked Shadow a *wee-bit* more than most people (this is coming from someone who's first video game EVER was Sonic 1 for Game Gear), but that's another story.

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Post by Zarathustra »

One question: Did Artoon ever receive founding from SEGA? No, really.

On a side note, if it's not announced as Naka's departure enraged in a flaming hell of developer's fury from SEGA, it's not that serious... maybe the guy just wants monies, that's all, if he and his men makes a big hit, it's all the yens and dollars (and euros) for Naka.

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Post by SegaSonic »

What happened to the studios at California??

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Post by M.C.Dillinger »

Found this on 1up
Cerny worked closely with Naka, whose temperamental nature often made for a rocky relationship with Sega. "[Naka]'s very driven. Very talented, and his displeasure with the way Sega treated him was understandable. Sega was very seniority-driven, like most Japanese companies. The company also tended to promote based on education as well. Naka didn't attend a traditional four-year university, and for that reason his salary probably didn't exceed $30,000 despite all that he'd done for the company. I invited Naka to come to the U.S. and we set up shop there on our own terms."
http://ds.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=4&cId=3151835

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Post by JKP »

M.C.Dillinger wrote:Found this on 1up
Naka didn't attend a traditional four-year university, and for that reason his salary probably didn't exceed $30,000 despite all that he'd done for the company.


I'm pretty sure Naka owns several Ferraris, things you don't get on a $30,000 budget.

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Post by Locit »

There is a time to comment on news, and that is shortly after it happens.

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Post by Arcade »

So, who joins the "I hate Naka" club?

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