Group - Yu Suzuki

Yu Suzuki (Japanese: , Suzuki Yu, born June 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 Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter and Virtua Cop 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. Suzuki was born and raised in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, the older of two children to parents who were elementary school teachers. Suzuki's father was Yuzuru, and his mother, Taka, taught piano. Suzuki has one younger sister named Yuka, who became a dance teacher. Yu Suzuki's interests were wide-ranging as a child. At a young age, he was encouraged by his father to have a passionate interest in music and the arts. That interest would stay with him for the rest of his life. He also enjoyed building numerous model cars, houses, and robots with plastic blocks, as well as establishing a passion for drawing. Before entering college, Suzuki flirted with the idea of going into education, having been influenced by his parents. After a while, he thought of becoming an illustrator and then a dentist. However, the latter dream was short-lived, as he didn't pass the required exam for dental school. Ever resourceful, Suzuki began to play the guitar, but he stated in an interview with G4TV that, "No matter how much I practised, I never got that much better."