I knew who Yu Suzuki was before Shenmue. But I was a huge SEGA/Virtua Fighter nut and his name would show up in magazines all the time. Magazines would call him "SEGA's answer to Miyamoto" and that's how I knew of him. It's how I knew of both Yuji Naka and Yu Suzuki. They were always promoted in magazines as being SEGA's answer to Miyamoto.
Just ask him whether Miyamoto or Sakurai has one of their games in the Smithsonian or not? Oh wait, they don't...funny that, guess who does have one of his games in the Smithsonian for all time though
It is kind of sad to me, but what can you do? The same way most will rag on Sonic in revisionist history, so too will they rag on SEGA as their legacy kind of fades. Nintendo is the populist choice. It's the one that holds the most nostalgia for a lot of these people. So of course they'll put Miyamoto and the likes on the pedestal above all else.
And that's not to say Miyamoto doesn't deserve recognition (he does), but yeah, it is sad to see the legacy of other pioneers fade in mainstream view thanks to blatant fanboyism.
Damn fanboyism. It sucks all around. I mean, I was unabashedly a SEGA kid, but even I can recognise the brilliance of other creators without having to diminish another's legacy.
I see this with Tekken fans all the time who love to bash Virtua Fighter whenever its mentioned. Yet they conveniently forget that Harada of Namco is actually quite open in praising Virtua Fighter for all it did. Not to mention Tekken wouldn't even exist without Virtua Fighter and at one point was considered an inferior clone (at least until Tekken 3 kind of whipped the series into its own).
Damn fanboyism. Why not enjoy all good things?