Wow. Lots of crazy SEGA news today. Next-Gen is reporting that Yuji Naka—creator of Sonic the Hedgehog—has left SEGA. Naka wll be forming his own company—labeled Prope, meaning “‘beside’ or ‘near’ future”—that will wil officially open for business on June 1st. As noted by other sites, this makes it clear that Naka has had little to do with the development of Sonic Next-Gen. Although, considering the quality of recent Sonic titles, that may not be a bad thing. I wonder if this also means the dissolution of Sonic Team. What of the ever talked-about Nights Into Dreams sequel? Will Naka have license to any SEGA characters? Who’s making the new Monkey Ball then?
SEGA is apparently donating 10 percent of Prope’s startup capital, so there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood. I can’t tell if SEGA is falling apart or just going through changes that should have happened years ago.
Update: Thanks for the link Joystiq. And welcome to Joystiq readers.
Update the second: Okay, apparently this entry has been linked to Totalfark.com. I don’t have access to that site, as it is subscription based. Anybody care to clue me in? Send me a screen capture maybe? Leave me a comment if you got here via Total Fark, I’d appreciate it. You can also hit me up via the Contact page. Thanks, Sense.