SEGA Neptune – Passion For SEGA

Yu Suzuki certainly had a great run, he is the father of Outrun, Virtua Fighter, Hang On and other wonderful arcade games.  One of his greatest works was the Dreamcast classic Shenmue, a multi-part adventure game about a young Ryo Hazuki, and his quest to avenge his father and discover the secret of an ancient mirror. Shenmue was universally praised, but a commercial flop. Yu Suzuki has since moved on to produce a Shenmue spin-off called Shenmue Online and a few arcade titles on his AMPlus studio. Today, it all changes as Yu Suzuki will be stepping down from his position at AMPlus, so says Gamespot:

Suzuki’s retreat from the gaming world is apparently continuing, as this week Sega parent company Sega Sammy announced that the designer has stepped down–the publisher used the word “retired”–from his position as a R&D creative officer with the company. However, he isn’t departing Sega entirely.

A Sega of America representative confirmed for GameSpot that Suzuki will stay on with the publisher in a diminished capacity, continuing on as manager of the R&D department for Sega’s AM Plus division.

You had a pretty good run, Yu-san. Thanks for all those wonderful games.