16-05-2018 11:35
Sonic creator Yuji Naka has said that he really wanted to work at Nintendo once he had finished at SEGA. Mr. Naka explained in an interview that he even stopped by Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, to see how long it would take him to commute to the HQ but he was driven off by a security guard. He was also under the impression that once Nintendo had heard he had left his role at SEGA that Nintendo would contact him, but this never happened. Here’s what Mr. Naka had to say:
—This may open an old wound for you, but… (laughs) You quit Sega right after you made Sonic, correct?
Naka: Yeah.
—And I heard that you actually approached Nintendo after you quit…?
Naka: When I was driving back to my home in Osaka from Tokyo, I decided to stop by Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto. I actually wanted to see how long it would take for me to commute from Osaka to Nintendo’s offices. (laughs) However, when I stopped my car in their parking lot, a security guard came out and started eyeing me suspiciously. I got scared and decided to just go home. (laughs) If that security guard hadn’t been there, who knows how different my future might have been…! (laughs)
Naka: While I was reading those books, I got a call from a third-party developer asking if I would come work for them. But the truth is, I was holding out for a call from Nintendo.
—Oh, really?! (laughs)
Naka: The reason I thought that is, a few months before I quit Sega, I heard a story about another programmer from a big gaming company who had quit his job, and was then called by Nintendo. I was like, “Wow, that could happen to me too!” (laughs) So when I quit Sega I had this faint hope that I’d be getting a call… but it never came. (laughs) It was sad.
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—This may open an old wound for you, but… (laughs) You quit Sega right after you made Sonic, correct?
Naka: Yeah.
—And I heard that you actually approached Nintendo after you quit…?
Naka: When I was driving back to my home in Osaka from Tokyo, I decided to stop by Nintendo’s headquarters in Kyoto. I actually wanted to see how long it would take for me to commute from Osaka to Nintendo’s offices. (laughs) However, when I stopped my car in their parking lot, a security guard came out and started eyeing me suspiciously. I got scared and decided to just go home. (laughs) If that security guard hadn’t been there, who knows how different my future might have been…! (laughs)
Naka: While I was reading those books, I got a call from a third-party developer asking if I would come work for them. But the truth is, I was holding out for a call from Nintendo.
—Oh, really?! (laughs)
Naka: The reason I thought that is, a few months before I quit Sega, I heard a story about another programmer from a big gaming company who had quit his job, and was then called by Nintendo. I was like, “Wow, that could happen to me too!” (laughs) So when I quit Sega I had this faint hope that I’d be getting a call… but it never came. (laughs) It was sad.
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