Yu Suzuki

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<tr valign="top"><th style="text-align:right;">Occupation</th> <td>Game producer</td></tr>

Suzuki, Yu
Born	May 10, 1958 Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Yu Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木裕 Suzuki Yū, born May 10 1958) is a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Out Run and Virtua Fighter as well as the Dreamcast game Shenmue. In 2003, Suzuki became the sixth person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.

1 Career
2 List of major works
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Career

Born and raised in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Suzuki majored in Electronic Science at Okayama University of Science.

Suzuki joined Sega Enterprises in 1983 as a programmer, and in his second year he created a simulation arcade game called Hang-On. After Hang-On, Suzuki released several hit titles such as Out Run and After Burner II.

In 1993, Suzuki created Virtua Fighter, a 3D computer graphics fighting game, which was popular when released. The Virtua Fighter series was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as an application which made great contribution to the society in the field of art and entertainment. For the first time ever in the Japanese game industry, it became a part of the Smithsonian Institution's Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology Innovation, and is now being kept perpetually at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Suzuki's Shenmue for the Dreamcast gave rise to a new subgenre of role-playing games, bending it away from the typical mold most games of its nature seem to fit into, with Suzuki's own concept denoted as "FREE" (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment). The story, graphics, and the innovative system exceeded those of many previous games. Shenmue is the most expensive game that has ever been developed (est. 20 million USD).

One of Suzuki's most notable arcade games was Ferrari F355 Challenge, a racing simulator created upon a strong partnership with Ferrari. The game itself drew attention not only from the gaming industry overall, but also from the automobile industry. Rubens Barrichello of the F1 Team Ferrari was quoted by Suzuki to "have considered to purchase one for practicing."

[edit] List of major works

Title	Year Released	Platform	Role
Shenmue Online	2006	PC	Director
Psy-Phi	2006	Sega Lindbergh	Producer
OutRun 2	2003	Sega Chihiro	Producer
Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned	2003	Sega NAOMI 2	Producer
Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution	2002	Sega NAOMI 2	Producer
Virtua Fighter 4	2001	Sega NAOMI 2	Producer
Propeller Arena (cancelled)	2001	Dreamcast	Producer
Shenmue II	2001	Dreamcast	Producer / Director
Shenmue	1999	Dreamcast	Producer / Director
Ferrari F355 Challenge	1999	Sega NAOMI	Producer
Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle	1998	Sega Model 3	Producer
Virtua Fighter 3	1997	Sega Model 3	Producer
Virtua Cop 2	1995	Sega Model 2	Producer
Virtua Fighter 2	1995	Sega Model 2	Producer
Virtua Cop	1994	Sega Model 2	Producer
Virtua Fighter	1993	Sega Model 1	Director
Virtua Racing	1992	Sega Model 1	Producer
Turbo Outrun	1989	Sega Out Run hardware	Producer
Power Drift	1988	Sega Y Board	Producer
After Burner II	1987	Sega X Board	Producer
Super Hang-On	1986	Sega Space Harrier hardware	Producer
Out Run	1986	Sega Out Run hardware	Producer
Hang-On	1985	Sega Space Harrier hardware	Producer
Space Harrier	1985	Sega Space Harrier hardware	Producer