Yuji Naka began his career at Sega as a teenager. Girl's Garden, F-16 Fighting Falcon and Phantasy Star earned him critical praise and fan appreciation. But it was the introduction of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 for the Genesis that solidified his place as one of the most creative forces in the game industry. Sonic competed head-to-head with Nintendo's Mario for nearly a decade until the failure of Sega's last hardware system, the Dreamcast in 2001. Now, Mr. Naka brings his memorable characters to all platforms. In 2002, he was awarded with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by his peers at the 2nd Annual Game Developers Conference.