Two senior members of SEGA are leaving the company – Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato. The development studio behind the Yakuza series, Ryu Ga Gotoku, announced the departure of Nagoshi and Sato in a statement about the company’s future.

Toshihiro Nagoshi is the creator of the Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball series, and in the company’s statement they say that there was a time where “‘Ryu Ga Gotoku’ was basically synonymous with ‘Toshihiro Nagoshi.'” However, Nagoshi is moving on and leaving not only his development studio but also SEGA in general. The reason for his departure is not given in the press release, nor is what he will do next, but he isn’t the only one leaving the company.

Daisuke Sato, a senior producer and designer (also the Executive Manager of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD), is leaving the company with Nagoshi. He also did not list a reason for leaving, but he has served as head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for over 9 years. He says that he is confident that the studio will thrive without him, and that he is grateful to the fans that supported him and their games for so long.

Check out the company’s full statement here as well as extended comments by Daisuke Sato and Toshihiro Nagoshi.

More: SEGA, Super Monkey Ball, Toshihiro Nagoshi

Super Monkey Ball creator on the game’s origins, releasing on a Nintendo platform

Posted on 3 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News | 0 comments

Toshihiro Nagoshi has worked on a bunch of different games during his time at SEGA. Super Monkey Ball is one such franchise he’s been instrumental to, and during a recent interview, he reflected on the series’ early days.

Nagoshi was first asked about the idea for Super Monkey Ball came about. Ultimately, the goal was to create “a game that was simple to play and low cost to make”.

He said:

More: interview, SEGA, Super Monkey Ball, top

Rumor: Super Monkey Ball announcer indicates that SEGA is making a new entry

Posted on 4 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Rumors | 0 comments

After the series went on hiatus for a few years, Super Monkey Ball returned in 2019. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD, a redone version of the 2006 Wii game, made it to Switch and other platforms back in October. Now it appears that SEGA is continuing on with the franchise and is working on a new entry.

That news actually comes from Brian Matt-Uhl, the original announcer for the Super Monkey Ball series. Nick Robinson was told in an interview that he’s been working on a new game and has already recorded lines. The project is said to be well in development.