Yuji Naka is, according to Alex Pham in the Los Angeles Times, "a cult figure in Japan, where video games are far more embedded in popular culture than in the rest of the world." A video game programmer, designer, and producer, Naka is best known for his 1991 creation, Sonic the Hedgehog, a game which features the blue, spiky-haired hedgehog of the title waging perpetual battle against the evil Dr. Robotnik, also known as Eggman. In 2003, this game was named the greatest video game of all time by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Association, beating out such classic competition as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarino of Time and Pac-Man, which came in second and third respectively in the survey of over a million users. As noted in Glasgow's Daily Record, Naka responded warmly to the award: "Sonic and I would dearly like to thank the wonderful game lovers that...