Yu Suzuki

• • Name: Yu Suzuki

  • Notable creations and work: Hang On, Virtua Fighter, and Shenmue.

  • Born: June 10, 1958

• Died:

Biographical Summary

Yu Suzuki was born in Kamaishi, Iwate, Japan to his father Yuzuru and mother Taka. He majored in Electronic Science in Okayama University of Science. His great fascination in 3D lead him to conduct his thesis on the subject. Suzuki's debut with Sega was with the production of the arcade game Hang On. Since then he went on to establish himself as Sega's master designer. In 2003 Suzuki was the six person to be inducted into the hall of fame of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. He also received the Computer World Smithsonian Award for Virtua Fighter. The arcade machines of Virtua Fighter 1, 2, and 3 are currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Aside from his many contributions and success in the Game Industry, Suzuki is also an established painter.

Work

Suzuki was known for many of his successful productions at Sega, but what really catapulted him to glory was the arcade game Virtua Fighter, which was an answer to Capcom's Street Fighter. It is said that many thought he was crazy for taking on the daunting task of trying to compete with the highly successful fighting game. In 1993 Virtua Fighter was release and was a huge hit, which resulted in many sequels and spinoffs. It was the first 3D fighting game with real fighting techniques, real martial arts, and use of strategy. Another one of Suzuki's master piece is the very cinematic and epic adventure game Shenmue. When planning Shenmue, Suzuki wanted to seperate it from RPG. He called it FREE (full, reaction, eyes, entertainment). Suzuki watched over 70 movies and martial arts flicks and even travelled to China to learn kung fu techniques from experts at shaolin temples as research for Shenmue.

Project

The making of Shenmue video link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFVTinvkuc4

References

• "YouTube- G4: Yu Suzuki Special Part 1." YouTube. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALX2aj0nIjI>.

• "YouTube- G4: Yu Suzuki Special Part 2." YouTube. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFVTinvkuc4>.

• "Shenmue Dojo : Yu Suzuki." Shenmue Dojo : The Ultimate Fansite with News, Media Galleries and a Strong Community Forum. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://www.shenmuedojo.net/Yu_Suzuki.shtml>.

• "Yu Suzuki." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 Apr. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Suzuki>.