Yu Suzuki

is a Japanese game designer, director and producer who helmed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. He has been responsible for the creation of Sega's biggest global arcade hits, including pseudo-3D sprite-scaling games such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, and After Burner, and pioneering polygonal 3D games such as Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, which are credited with popularizing 3D graphics in video games, as well as the critically acclaimed Shenmue series of open world adventure games. As a hardware engineer, he led the development of various arcade system boards, including the Sega Space Harrier, Model 1, Model 2, and Model 3, and was involved in the development of the Dreamcast console and its corresponding NAOMI arcade hardware.