Sega

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Excirial (talk | contribs) at 19:49, 1 May 2014 (Reverted edits by 96.31.30.81 (talk) (HG 3)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sega Corporation
Native name
[株式会社セガ] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language code: jp (help)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Arcade games
Third party publisher
FoundedHonolulu, Hawaii, U.S. (1940 (1940), as Service Games)
FoundersMartin Bromely, Irving Bromberg, James Humpert, and David Rosen
Headquarters,
Number of locations
International Offices:
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Brentford, Greater London, United Kingdom
Seoul, South Korea
Vancouver, Canada
Moscow, Russia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
David Rosen
(Founder)
Isao Okawa
(Former chairman)
Robert Deith
(Former chairman)
Hajime Satomi
(Chairman and CEO)
Naoya Tsurumi
(President and COO)
Jürgen Post
(CEO of Sega West)
John Cheng
(CEO of Sega America) Developers:
Yu Suzuki
Toshihiro Nagoshi
ProductsSonic the Hedgehog series
Sega Superstars series
Phantasy Star series
Virtua Fighter series
Puyo Puyo series
Shining series
The House of the Dead series
Sakura Wars series
Valkyria Chronicles series
Super Monkey Ball series
Yakuza series
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series
Virtua Tennis series
Total War series
Football Manager series
Shinobi series
SG-1000
Master System
Mega Drive/Genesis
Game Gear
Mega-CD
Sega 32X
Saturn
Dreamcast
RevenueIncrease ¥396.7 billion (2011) US$4.9 billion
Increase ¥41.5 billion (2011) US$512.857 million
Number of employees
2,208 (FY 2013)
ParentSega Sammy Holdings
WebsiteSega Corporation (Japan)
Sega of America
Sega Europe
PlaySega

Sega Corporation (株式会社セガ, Kabushiki gaisha Sega), pronounced /ˈsɡə/ (US/Canada/UK/New Zealand/Australia) and usually styled as SEGA, is a Japanese multinational video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. Sega developed and manufactured numerous home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001, but the financial losses incurred from their Dreamcast console caused the company to restructure itself in 2001, and focus on providing software as a third-party developer, exiting console manufacturing completely.[1] However, arcade development would continue unaffected.[citation needed] Sega, along with their many software studios, are known for multi-million-selling game franchises including Sonic the Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Yakuza, and Total War.

Sega's head offices, as well as the main office of its domestic division, Sega Corporation (Japan), are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. Sega's European division, Sega Europe Ltd., is headquartered in the Brentford area of London in the United Kingdom. Sega's North American division, Sega of America Inc., is headquartered in San Francisco, having moved there from Redwood City, California in 1999.[2][3] Sega Publishing Korea is headquartered in Jongno, Seoul, Korea. Sega's Australian & European operations outside of the United Kingdom closed on July 1, 2012 due to world economic pressures. Distribution of Sega products in Australia as of 1 July 2012 is handled by Five Star Games, made up of all the redundant employees from Sega Australia.[4]

History

Company origins (1940–1982)

SEGA Diamond 3 Star

Sega's roots can be traced back to a company based in Honolulu, Hawaii named Service Games, which began operations in 1940. In 1951, Raymond Lemaire and Richard Stewart moved the company to Tokyo, Japan to develop and distribute coin-operated jukeboxes, games, and slot machines. Within a few years Service Games began importing these machines to American military bases throughout Japan.

In 1954, David Rosen, an American officer in the Air Force, launched a two-minute photo booth business in Tokyo. This company eventually became Rosen Enterprises, and in 1957 began importing coin-operated games to Japan. By 1965, Rosen Enterprises grew to a chain of over 200 arcades, with Service Games its only competitor. Rosen then orchestrated a merger between Rosen Enterprises and Service Games, who by then had their own factory facilities, becoming chief executive of the new company, Sega Enterprises, which derived its name from the first two letters of SErvice GAmes.[5]

Within a year, Sega began the transition from importer to manufacturer, with the release of the Rosen designed submarine simulator game Periscope. The game at that time sported innovative light and sound effects, eventually becoming quite successful in Japan. It was soon exported to both Europe and the United States, becoming the first arcade game in America to cost 25¢ per play.[5]

In 1969, Rosen sold Sega to Gulf+Western (now known as Viacom), remaining on however as CEO of the Sega division. Under Rosen's leadership, Sega continued to grow and prosper, and in 1972 G&W made Sega Enterprises a subsidiary, and took the company public. Sega's current logo dates back to 1976. In 1976, they released a large screen TV, Sega-Vision (not to be confused with their portable media player, Sega Vision).[6] Sega prospered heavily from the arcade gaming boom of the late 1970s, with revenues climbing to over $100 million by 1979.[5]

Entry into the home console market (1982–1989)

SG-1000

In 1982, Sega's revenues would surpass $214 million, and they introduced the industry's first three-dimensional game, SubRoc 3D. The following year, an overabundance of arcade games led to the video game crash, causing Sega's revenues to drop to $136 million. Sega then pioneered the use of laser disks in the video game Astronbelt, and designed and released its first home video game console, the SG-1000 for the second generation of home consoles. Despite this, G&W sold the U.S. assets of Sega Enterprises that same year to pinball manufacturer Bally Manufacturing Corporation, and in January 1984 Rosen resigned his post with the company.

The Japanese assets of Sega were purchased for $38 million by a group of investors led by Rosen, Robert Deith, and Hayao Nakayama, a Japanese businessman who owned Esco Boueki (Esco Trading) an arcade game distribution company[7] that had been acquired by Rosen in 1979. Nakayama became the new CEO of Sega, Robert Deith Chairman of the Board, and Rosen became head of its subsidiary in the United States.

In 1984, the multibillion dollar Japanese conglomerate CSK bought Sega, renamed it to Sega Enterprises Ltd., headquartered it in Japan, and two years later, shares of its stock were being traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. David Rosen's friend, Isao Okawa, the chairman of CSK, became chairman of Sega.

In 1986, Sega of America was poised to take advantage of the resurgent video game market in the United States.

Sega Master System

Sega would also release the Sega Master System and the first Alex Kidd game, who would be Sega's unofficial mascot until 1991, when Sonic the Hedgehog took over. While the Master System was technically superior to the NES,[8] it failed to capture market share in North America and Japan due to highly aggressive strategies by Nintendo and ineffective marketing by Tonka (which marketed the console on behalf of SEGA in the United States). However, the Master System was highly successful in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil with games still being sold well into the 1990s alongside the Megadrive and Nintendo's NES and SNES.

Expansion (1989–2001)

Mega Drive

Sega Genesis, second North American version.
Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega's mascot since the character's introduction in 1991.

With the introduction of the Sega Genesis in America, Sega of America launched an anti-Nintendo campaign to carry the momentum to the new generation of games, with its slogan "Genesis does what Nintendon't." This was initially implemented by Sega of America President Michael Katz.[9] When Nintendo launched its Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, Sega changed its slogan to "Welcome to the next level."

The same year, Sega of America's leadership passed from Michael Katz to Tom Kalinske, who further escalated the "console war" that was developing.[10] As a preemptive strike against the release of the SNES, Sega re-branded itself with a new game and mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. This shift led to a wider success for the Genesis and would eventually propel Sega to 65% of the market in North America for a brief time. Simultaneously, after much previous delay, Sega released the moderately successful Mega-CD as an add-on feature, allowing for extra storage in games due to their CD-ROM format, giving developers the ability to make longer, more sophisticated games, the most popular of which was Sega's own Sonic CD.[11] Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was also released at this time, and became the most successful game Sega ever made,[12] selling six million copies as of June 2006.[12]

In 1994, Sega released the Sega 32X in an attempt to upgrade the Mega Drive to the standards of more advanced systems. It sold well initially, but had problems with lack of software and hype about the upcoming Sega Saturn and Sony's PlayStation.[13] Within a year, it was in the bargain bins of many stores.[14] Also in 1994, Sega launched the Sega Channel, a subscription gaming service delivered by local cable companies affiliated with Time-Warner Cable, or TCI, through which subscribers received a special cartridge adapter that connected to the cable connection. At its peak, the Sega Channel had approximately 250,000 subscribers.[15]

Sega versus Accolade

In 1992, Sega lost the Sega v. Accolade case, which involved independently produced software for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Accolade had copied a small amount of Sega's code to achieve compatibility with the Sega Genesis platform. The verdict set a precedent that copyrights do not extend to non-expressive content in software for which a system is required to run the software.[16] The case in question stems from the nature of the console video game market. Hardware companies often sell their systems at or below cost, and rely on other revenue streams such as in this case, game licensing. Sega was attempting to "lock out" game companies from making Mega Drive games unless they paid Sega a fee (something its competition has done in the past). Their strategy was to make the hardware reject any cartridge that did not include a Sega trademark. If an unlicensed company included this trademark in their game, Sega could sue the company for trademark infringement. Though Sega lost this lawsuit, all later Sega systems seemed to incorporate similar hardware requirements.[citation needed]

Saturn

A "Round Button" Sega Saturn

On May 11, 1995, Sega released the Sega Saturn (with Virtua Fighter) in the American market. Sega's first CD console that was not an add on, utilized two 32-bit processors and preceded both the Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64. However, poor sales in the West (including the traditional stronghold markets in Europe) led to the console being abandoned.[17] The lack of a strong Sonic title (and titles based on other Genesis franchises) and its high price in comparison to the PlayStation were among the reasons for the failure of the console.[18] Notable titles include several titles exclusive to the Japanese market, like Radiant Silvergun and Sakura Taisen, involving fighting games like Last Bronx, rail shooters, such as Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead and a few well regarded RPGs; Panzer Dragoon Saga, Grandia, Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean, Shining Force III, Dragon Force, Shining Wisdom, Shining the Holy Ark and Magic Knight Rayearth. Tomb Raider was initially developed with the Sega Saturn in mind, but was quickly ported to the Sony PlayStation. With the Saturn's failure to attract the greater market share, development for the sequels were focused on Sony's console, and Lara Croft ironically became an unofficial mascot for the system.[19]

In 1997, Sega entered into a short-lived merger with Bandai. However it was later called off, citing "cultural differences" between the two companies.[20] Entertainment fun center GameWorks was founded in 1997 as well as the now defunct SegaWorld theme parks.

Dreamcast

Japanese/American Sega Dreamcast and European Controller with VMU. Notice the different color swirls

On November 27, 1998, Sega launched the Dreamcast game console, Sega's final console, in Japan. The Dreamcast was competitively priced, partly due to the use of off-the-shelf components, but it also featured technology that allowed for more technically impressive games than its direct competitors, the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. An analog 56k modem was also included, allowing gamers to play multi-player games online. Featuring titles such as the action-puzzle title ChuChu Rocket!, Phantasy Star Online, the first console-based MMORPG, "Quake 3 Arena" and the innovative Alien Front Online, the first console game with online voice chat.

Sega also converted their In-house R&D departments, AM1, AM2, AM3 etc. into 2nd party studios, resulting into the establishment of Wow Entertainment, Amusement Vision, Hitmaker, Smilebit, Sega Rosso, and United Game Artists.

The Dreamcast's launch in Japan was a failure. Launching with a small library of software and in the shadow of the upcoming PS2, the system would not gain great success, despite several successful games in the region. The Western launch a year later was accompanied by a large amount of both first-party and third-party software and an aggressive marketing campaign. It was extremely successful and earned the distinction of "most successful hardware launch in history," selling a then-unprecedented 500,000 consoles in its first week in North America.[21] On November 1, 2000, Sega changed its company name from Sega Enterprises, Ltd. to Sega Corporation.[22] Sega was able to hold onto this momentum in the US almost until the launch of Sony's PlayStation 2. The Dreamcast is home to several innovative and critically acclaimed games of the time, including one of the first cel-shaded titles, Jet Set Radio (Jet Grind Radio in North America); Seaman, a game involving communication with a fish-type creature via microphone; Samba de Amigo, a rhythm game involving the use of maracas, and Shenmue, an adventure game of vast scope with freeform gameplay and a striking attempt at creating a detailed in-game city.

Faced with debt and competition from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast hardware in 2001. The final game Sega released for it was Puyo Puyo Fever in 2004.

Shift to third-party software developer (2001–2005)

In late 1999, Sega Enterprises Chairman Isao Okawa spoke at an Okawa Foundation meeting, saying that Sega's focus in the future would shift from hardware to software, but adding that they were still fully behind the Dreamcast. On January 23, 2001, a story ran in Nihon Keizai Shimbun that said Sega was going to cease production of the Dreamcast and develop software for other platforms.[23] After the initial denial, Sega Japan then put out a press release confirming they were considering producing software for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance as part of their "New Management Policy".[24][25] Then on January 31, 2001, Sega of America officially announced they were becoming a third-party software publisher.[1]

The company has since developed primarily into a platform-neutral software company, known as a "third-party publisher", that creates games that will launch on a variety of game consoles produced by other companies, many of their former rivals, the first of which was a port of ChuChu Rocket! to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

Arcade units are still being produced, first under the Sega NAOMI name, and then with subsequent releases of the Sega NAOMI 2, Sega Hikaru, Sega Chihiro, Triforce (in collaboration with Nintendo and Namco), Sega Lindbergh, and more recently, RingEdge.

Sega's financial trouble in the 1998–2002 time periods. This financial data came from their Annual Reports.[26][27][28][29]

By March 31, 2002, Sega had five consecutive fiscal years of net losses.[30] To help with Sega's debt, CSK founder Isao Okawa, before his death in 2001, gave the company a $695.7 million private donation,[31] and also talked to Microsoft about a sale or a merger with their Xbox division, but those talks failed.[32] On February 13, 2003, Sega announced plans to merge with Sammy, but plans fell through.[contradictory] Discussions also took place with Namco, Bandai, Electronic Arts and again with Microsoft.

The shift to software development affected Sega's Australian operations. Sega Ozisoft ceased to operate in its current form with Sega Enterprises selling its share in Sega Ozisoft and was bought over by Infogrames in 2002. This led to Infogrames having an Australian presence for the first time but decided to change the company name for its Australian operations to GameNation. Sega then went to find an Australian distributor, and made a deal with THQ Asia Pacific, who at the time until 2006 had deals with Capcom. In 2003 GameNation was changed to Atari Australia and then challenged THQ Asia Pacific to the distribution rights to Sega's IP's in Australia but failed. In early 2008 Sega Corporation announced that Sega would re-establish an Australian presence, effectively ending THQ's distribution of Sega's products in Australia and would be a subsidiary of Sega of Europe, rather than being a separate local subsidiary like Atari Australia, Nintendo Australia and THQ Asia Pacific.

In August 2003, Sammy bought the outstanding 22% of shares that CSK had,[33] and Sammy chairman Hajime Satomi became CEO of Sega. With the Sammy chairman at the helm of Sega, it has been stated that Sega's activity will focus on its profit-making arcade business rather than its loss-making home software development. In late December, Sega released Sonic Heroes selling over 2 million copies. It was the first multi-platform Sonic game, with identical versions on the Xbox, the PlayStation 2, and the GameCube.

In 2003, Wow Entertainment and Overworks were merged, as well as Sonic Team with United Game Artists and Hitmaker with Sega Rosso.

On July 1, 2004, Sega's 2nd party studios, Wow Entertainment, Amusement Vision, Hitmaker, Smilebit, Sega Rosso, United Game Artists and AM2 were reintegrated into Sega again, following the Sega-Sammy merger.

During mid-2004, Sammy bought a controlling share in Sega Corporation at a cost of $1.1 billion, creating the new company Sega Sammy Holdings, one of the biggest game manufacturing companies in the world.

On January 25, 2005, Sega's Visual Concepts, a studio Sega dubbed a "1.5" developer, was sold to Take-Two Interactive. Sega used the parlance "1.5" as a midpoint of sorts between first-party and second-party developer status: that is, a wholly owned studio that would otherwise be known as a first-party developer, but was outside of internal development teams. Visual Concepts was known for many Sega Sports games including the ESPN NFL Football series, formerly NFL2K. The sale also came with Visual Concept's wholly owned subsidiary Kush Games. Take Two subsequently announced the start of the publishing label 2K Games because of this purchase.

2005–present

By the end of 2005, Sega experienced strong earnings growth across multiple divisions. Contributing to the company's success were strong Arcade sales and sales of software titles Ryu ga Gotoku (known as Yakuza outside of Asia).[citation needed]

In an effort to appeal to western tastes, they partnered with Obsidian Entertainment to develop a new RPG for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC based on the Aliens franchise, which was subsequently cancelled.[34] The partnership was the latest in a series of collaborations with western video game studios, including Monolith Productions (Condemned: Criminal Origins), Bizarre Creations (The Club), and Silicon Knights (The Ritualyst, cancelled[35][36]).

That desire to have a more Western appeal for Sega was shortly followed up by Sega acquiring British developer Sports Interactive after a successful run of publishing Football Manager 2005 and 2006, in which they managed to sell 1.5 million copies,[37] the deal was said to be worth in the region of £30 million ($52 million) by Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive's Managing Director.[38] This was, however, not the only developer Sega acquired, as they also purchased American developer Secret Level. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed,[39] Secret Level had begun work before being bought by Sega to "recreate a classic Sega franchise" for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in July 2005, which was revealed to be Golden Axe: Beast Rider later that year.

While Sega continued its expansion in the West, on May 8, 2006, it was announced that Sega of Japan had begun helping famed Sega developer and Sonic Team head Yuji Naka (known for being the main programmer for the original Sonic the Hedgehog games and Nights into Dreams...) to start up his own company titled "Prope" (Latin for "beside" and "near future")[40] in which Sega helped provide 10% startup capital[41] and have the option to publish games produced from the studio if they wished to.

Due to the continued success of Sega's software sales, the company reported on May 17, 2006 a 31% rise in net profits from that of the previous year of the period ending March 31, 2006, being posted at ¥66.2 billion ($577 million), as well as an increase in operating profit growing by 13% from the previous year, being posted at ¥553.2 billion ($4.82 billion).[42] Notable titles to have helped Sega increase profits in the West, such as Shadow the Hedgehog (which sold over a million copies)[43] and Sonic Riders, while in Japan, games such as Yakuza, Mushiking, and Brain Trainer Portable continued to have strong sales.

Although Sega seemed poised to continue increasing profits, the company reported a massive drop of 93% profits for the period ending June 30, 2006 compared to the same period the previous year. Net income for the company dropped from $98.3 million (a year earlier) to $7.12 million for this period as well as total sales dropping from $926.5 million to $809.1 million,[44] Sega reported that the decrease in profits was due to no significant big releases by its slot machine division.

Despite this, Sega reported in November a massive 52% rise in profits for the periods between April and September 2006, compared to the same period last year.[45] Software sales for the company had also increased with 5.75 million. Of those units, 1.76 million were sold in Japan, 1.59 million in Europe, 2.36 million in the US, and 30,000 in other regions.[46] a number of titles were said to have performed well, in particular Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll for the Nintendo DS and Football Manager 2006 for the Xbox 360 having sold well. While Sega performed better in 2006, they had slashed their forecasts for the year ending March 2007 by 20% with an anticipated profit of $536.7 million, down from the initial profits of $656.7 million.

On August 26, 2007, IGN Australia announced that Sega would re-establish itself in Australia, ending THQ Asia Pacific's distribution of Sega products in Australia. Sega Australia has a very close relationship with Nintendo Australia, despite Sega Ozisoft and NAL previously being rivals in the Australian gaming market. Sega Australia currently do not distribute in New Zealand, instead like most other Australian publishers, they opt to let retailers take care of the distribution e.g. EB Games Australia and Kmart.

Continuing to prepare more games for the Western market, Sega was able to bridge a partnership with New Line Cinema in September to develop a game for the movie tie-in game The Golden Compass[47] and also partnered themselves with Fox to develop two new games based on the Alien franchise.[48] Sega then assigned critically acclaimed developers Gearbox Software to develop a first person shooter (Aliens: Colonial Marines) and Obsidian Entertainment to develop an RPG based on the popular film franchise for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The latter was cancelled for undisclosed reasons by Sega. In February 2013, Aliens: Colonial Marines was released on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Sega has also been publishing games from independent studios (such as Platinum Games), and is currently considering turning them into franchises.

Sega has also designed an online flash game site dubbed "PlaySEGA", which includes both original games and ports of classic games, with retro Sonic games being promised in the long run.[49] Users of this site earn various amounts of "PlaySEGA Rings", which they can use to customize and house their avatar or enter weekly cash drawings.

In September 2009, evidence was uncovered[50] that suggests Sega is expanding into the online gambling sector with the launch of an online casino and poker room in October 2009.

Sega would also go on to release several blockbuster Sonic games for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Some of these are Sonic Unleashed (2008), Sonic and the Black Knight (2009), and Sonic Colors (2010). All of these games sold well in North America and Europe, but they did not sell well in Japan.

In 2010, Sega published a sequel to the original Sonic series with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I.

On January 22, 2013, Sega acquired the Vancouver-based developer Relic Entertainment from THQ (who had recently filed for bankruptcy).[51]

On May 17, 2013, Sega announced a worldwide partnership with Nintendo for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and announced that the next three Sonic games (Sonic Lost World, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and Sonic Boom) will be exclusive to Nintendo devices.[52] The same day, Sega Europe announced that the publishing and distribution rights for the next three Sonic games in Europe and Australia will be handed to Nintendo.[53] However, Sega published Sonic Lost World in North America and Japan.

Currently, the Consumer R&D Division focuses on development of game software for consoles, handhelds and mobiles. The division is headed by Toshihiro Nagoshi.[54] The Amusement R&D Division focuses on the development of game software for arcades. The division is headed by Hiroshi Yagi.[54]

Legacy

In July 2012, Sega's first History book titled Service Games: Rise & Fall of SEGA was published by CreateSpace.[55] The book starts from 1940, chronicling the life of David Rosen and other founders of Sega to the end of the Dreamcast (2006).

On October 21, 2012, project lead David Munoz started a Kickstarter campaign to fund an enhanced edition in order to address the criticism from the first book which was released on December 18, 2013.[56]

In Feb 2014, another book entitled Console Wars was announced by Blake Harris. The book is set to chronicle the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo, specifically from the perspective of former president Tom Kalinske.[57]

It was later announced that Sony Pictures would be developing a film based on the book which would be written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (who also wrote the foreword for the book).[58] Scott Rudin was later announced as the director.[59] The book is scheduled for a May 2014 release, where as the movie doesn't have a concrete release date.

SEGA Studios

Sega has had in-house studios and subsidiary studios from 1983 to date.

1983–1990

Development division

The development division was largely restricted to arcade development. The only exception was Sword of Vermilion which was designed from the ground up for the Sega Mega Drive a home console.

Department Headed By Titles
Sega DD #1 Sega's original Japanese development studio, spun off in 1990.
Sega DD #2 Yu Suzuki Hang-On (1985) Space Harrier (1986),Out Run (1986), Fantasy Zone (1986), After Burner (1987) Sega System 1/2/16/X/Y/18/24/32 games
Sega DD #3 Rikiya Nakagawa Shinobi (1987), The Revenge of Shinobi (1988), Altered Beast, (1988), Golden Axe (1989), Shadow Dancer (1989), Alien Storm (1990) Sega System 1/2/16/X/Y/18/24/32 games

Consumer development division

Shinobu Toyoda was the leader of Sega CD later known as AM8 and eventually Sonic Team. Under Toyoda's leadership, project designer Naoto Ōshima and lead programmer Yuji Naka pitched the idea of Sonic the Hedgehog as company mascot to Sega CEO, Hayao Nakayama. Yuji Naka became Studio head afterwards.[60]

Department Headed By Notable Titles
Sega CD #1
Sega CD #2 Shinobu Toyoda[60] Alex Kidd series, Phantasy Star (1987), Phantasy Star II (1989) Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1990), Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (1990), QuackShot (1991) SG-1000 games, List of Sega Master System games
Sega CD #3 Noriyoshi Ohba same as DD#3

1990–1998

Sega reorganized and expanded upon their R&D studios, and the Consumer Divisions and Development Divisions were all now renamed to Sega-AM Teams (Amusement Machine Research & Development Teams).

The name "Sonic Team" has been used for AM8 since the inception of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991. NiGHTS Into Dreams... was the first game to have the Sonic Team logo on the boxart, officially separating it from the Amusement Machine Research & Development teams.

The expanded AM4 studio, spun off of AM2, and was led by Toshihiro Nagoshi. AM5 had many former Namco employees that worked on Ridge Racer.

Outside of Fighters Megamix and Digital Dance Mix, the focus of AM1 to AM5 was restricted to arcade development.

Team list

Department Members From Headed By Titles
Sega AM1 R&D Sega DD #3 Rikiya Nakagawa Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1993), Golden Axe: The Duel (1994), Cool Riders (1994), Indy 500 (1995) Sky Target (1996), Wave Runner (1996) Dynamite Baseball (1996) Die Hard Arcade (1996) The House of the Dead (1997), Sega Ski Super G (1997), Sega Water Ski (1997), Harley Davidson and LA Riders (1998), Dynamite Cop (1998,) Sega Bass Fishing (1998), Ocean Hunter (1998)
Sega AM2 R&D Sega DD#2 Yu Suzuki Virtua Racing (1993), Virtua Fighter (1993), Virtua Cop (1993), Desert Tank (1993), Virtua Fighter 2 (1993), Daytona USA (1994) Virtua Cop 2 (1994), Virtua Striker (1995) Fighting Vipers (1995), Virtua Fighter Kids (1994), Fighters Megamix (1996), Sonic the Fighters (1996), Virtua Fighter 3 (1996-1997), Scud Race (1996), Digital Dance Mix (1997), Virtua Striker 2 (1997), Fighting Vipers 2 (1998), Daytona USA 2 (1998)
Sega AM3 R&D New Studio Hisao Oguchi Jurassic Park (1992), Star Wars Arcade (1994), Virtual On (1995), Gunblade New York (1995), Manx TT SuperBike (1996), DecAthlete (1996), Last Bronx (1996), Winter Heat (1997), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Motor Raid (1997), Top Skater (1997), Le Mans 24 (1997), Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (1998), Dirt Devils (1998) Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (1998), Magical Truck Adventure (1998), LA Machine Guns (1998), Emergency Call Ambulance (1999)
Sega AM4 R&D New Studio Toshihiro Nagoshi SpikeOut (1998)
Sega AM5 R&D New Studio Tetsuya Mizuguchi Sega Rally Championship (1995), Sega Touring Car Championship (1996), Sega Rally 2 (1998)
Sega AM6 R&D Sega CD #1 Yukio Futatsugi Panzer Dragoon (1994), Panzer Dragoon Zwei (1996), Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998) Sega Worldwide Soccer series, Let's make a series, The Greatest Nine series
Sega AM7 R&D Sega CD #3 Noriyoshi Oba Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990), Golden Axe II (1991), Streets of Rage (1991), Streets of Rage 2 (1992), Golden Axe III (1993), Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993), Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1993), Streets of Rage 3 (1994), Clockwork Knight (1994), Clockwork Knight 2 (1995), Astal (1995), Sakura Taisen (1996) (with RED), Dragon Force (1996) (originally created by J Force), Sakura Taisen II (1998) (with RED), Dragon Force II (1998), Sega Ages series
Sonic Team (AM8) Sega CD #2 Yuji Naka Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic CD' (1993), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994), Sonic & Knuckles (1994) Ristar (1995). Knuckles' Chaotix (1995) Sonic 3D Blast (1996) (with Traveller's Tales), Nights into Dreams... (1996), Sonic R (1997) (with Traveller's Tales), Sonic Jam (1997), Burning Rangers (1998)

1998–2004

In 1999, the original character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog, Naoto Ōshima left Sega along with other employess due to disgreements with Yuji Naka to where the future of the franchise is headed. Artoon was founded by Naoto Oshima and has many former Sonic Team employees. Around the same time, Team Andromeda dissolved along with its lead Yukio Futatsugi leaving the company. Former Team Andromeda employees have since then worked at Artoon, AQ Interactive, Microsoft Studios Japan, Grounding Co. and Land Ho.

In 2000, Sega converted all their in-house studios into 2nd Party Studios, for more indepedency and a bigger focus on the consumer market by former arcade focused studios. Former AM5 head Tetsuya Mizuguchi formed his own studio by the name of United Game Artists. Several Team Andromeda members have joined Smilebit and United Game Artists (UGA).

In 2003, due to management disagreements, UGA-led Tetsuya Mizuguchi and the Rez team left Sega to found Q Entertainment. The rest of the UGA team consisted of Space Channel 5 developers was folded back into Sonic Team.

Also in 2003, the action game side of Overworks spun off in to WOW Entertainment, which after Nightshade and Blood Will Tell, solely focused on content for arcades.

Hisao Oguchi became appointed to CEO in 2001, and Mie Kumagai replaced him as the studio head of Hitmaker/AM3.

Hirokazu Yasuhara who was the lead designer and director of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games, left Sega in 2002 and joined Naughty Dog, with the last position being designer of Visual Concepts Floigan Bros..

Due to decline of revenue of traditional Arcades, more focus went on Networked trading card games; which is a genre of arcade games that Sega essentially invented.

Studio list

Department Members From Headed By Titles
WOW Entertainment Sega AM1 R&D Rikiya Nakagawa The House of the Dead 2 (1999), Zombie Revenge (1999), Dynamite Cop (1999), Brave Fire Fighters (1999), Airline Pilots (1999), Sega Strike Fighter (2000), The Typing of the Dead (2000), Sega GT (2000), Sega Marine Fishing (2000), Walk the Dog (arcade game) (2001), Lupin the 3rd: The Shooting (2001), Vampire Night (2001), Wave Runner GP (2001), Virtua Golf (2001), Alien Front (2001), Wild Riders (2001), Sega GT 2002 (2002), Lupin the 3rd: The Typing (2002), The Pinball of the Dead (2002) The House of the Dead III (2003)
Sega AM2 same as before Yu Suzuki Shenmue (1999), Ferrari F355 Challenge (2000), Outtrigger (2000), 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker (2000), Shenmue II (2001), Beach Spikers (2001), Virtua Fighter 4 (2001-2004), Propeller Arena (2001), The King of Route 66 (2002), Virtua Cop 3 (2003), OutRun 2 (2003-2004), Virtua Quest (2004) Ghost Squad (2004)
Hitmaker Sega AM3 R&D Mie Kumagai Crazy Taxi (1999), Jambo! Safari (1999), Virtua Tennis (1999), Crackin' DJ (2000), Derby Owners Club (2000) (series), Confidential Mission (2001), Airtrix (2001), Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force (2001), Crazy Taxi 2 (2001) Virtua Tennis 2 (2001), Segagaga (2001), The Maze of the Kings (2002), Club Kart (2001), World Club Champion Football (2002) (series), Virtua Athlete (2002), Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (2003)
Amusement Vision Sega AM4 R&D Toshihiro Nagoshi Super Monkey Ball series, Virtua NBA (2000), SlashOut (2000), Planet Harriers (2001), Daytona USA 2001 (2001), Virtua Striker 3 (2001), Spikers Battle (2001), F-Zero GX/AX (2003), Ollie King (2004)
Sega Rosso Sega AM5 R&D Kenji Sasaki Star Wars Racer (2000), NASCAR Arcade (2000), Cosmic Smash (2001), Initial D Arcade Stage (2002), Soul Surfer (2002), Initial D Arcade Stage 2 (2003), Initial D Arcade Stage 3 (2004)
Smilebit Sega AM6 R&D Shun Arai Jet Set Radio (2000), Hundred Swords (2001), 90 Minutes (2001), Jet Set Radio Future (2002), GunValkyrie (2002), Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002) Baseball:Advance (2002) Let's make a series
Overworks Sega AM7 R&D Noriyoshi Oba Skies of Arcadia (2000), Sakura Taisen III (2001) (with RED), Sakura Taisen IV (2002) (with RED), Shinobi (2002), Skies of Arcadia Legends (2002), Sakura Taisen I Remake version (2003) (with RED), Nightshade (2003)
Sonic Team same as before Yuji Naka Sonic Adventure (1998), Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999) (with Dimps), ChuChu Rocket! (2000), Samba de Amigo (2000), Phantasy Star Online (2000), Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), Sonic Advance 1 (with Dimps) (2001), Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (2001) (with Sonic Team USA), Sonic Advance 2 (with Dimps) (2002), Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (2002), Shakatto Tambourine (2002) Sonic Mega Collection (2002), Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003), Sonic Pinball Party (2003), Sonic Battle (2003), Sonic Heroes (2003), Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003), Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution (2003), Sonic Advance 3 (with Dimps) (2004)
United Game Artists AM5 + AM6 + AM8 Tetsuya Mizuguchi Space Channel 5 (2000), Rez (2001), Space Channel 5: Part 2 (2002)

2004–2009

General Entertainment R&D Division which is was formed by the merger of Sonic Team, United Game Artists, and Overworks. The two departments were led by Sonic Team and Overworks producers, such as Yuji Naka and Akira Nishino. In 2006, Yuji Naka went independent to form Prope. Akinori Nishiyama and then Takashi Iizuka replaced him as the Producer.

Department Members From Titles
GE1 R&D Sonic Team + United Game Artists Sega SuperStars (2004), Feel the Magic: XY/XX (2004), The Rub Rabbits! (2005), Sonic Gems Collection (2005), Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), Sonic Rush (2005) (with Dimps), Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach (2006), Sonic Riders (2006), Phantasy Star Universe (2006-2008), Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sega Rally 2006 (2006), Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007), Nights: Journey of Dreams (2007), Sonic Rush Adventure (2007) (with Dimps), Kokoro Scan (2007), Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008), Sonic Unleashed (2008), Puyo Pop series
GE2 R&D Overworks Blood Will Tell (2004) (with RED), Altered Beast (2005), Sakura Taisen V (2005) (with RED), Valkyria Chronicles (2008), Sega Ages series

New Entertainment R&D Division is essentially the AM6 or Smilebit of before with sports titles. However, Toshihiro Nagoshi and his team were integrated due to moving outside the arcade division, and gaining large control in this division. Takayuki Kawagoe continues to have a Producer and Executive role as he had before in the AM6/Smilebit division.

Department Members From Titles
NE R&D Amusement Vision + Smilebit Yakuza (2005), Yakuza 2 (2006), Yakuza Kenzan (2008), Super Monkey Ball series
Sports R&D Amusement Vision + Smilebit Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007), Virtua Pro Football (2006), Let's make a series

Amusement Software R&D Division which focuses on the development of games for arcade. The division is headed by Yu Suzuki, Hiroshi Kataoka, Atsushi Seimiya and Mie Kumagai. Networked arcade games that get continuously updated with users being able to save their file on ID cards, started to become a huge increase of focus, beginning with Virtua Fighter 4 in 2001.

Department Members From Titles
AM R&D WOW Entertainment+Sega-AM2+Hitmaker+Sega Rosso Mushiking (2003-2010), Love and Berry (2004-2008), Quest of D (2004-2007), Sega Golf Club (2004-2006) The Key of Avalon (2003-2007), Dinosaur King (2005), Virtua Striker 4 (2005-2006), Sangokushi Taisen (2005-2009), The House of the Dead 4 (2005), 2 SPICY (2006), Let's Go Jungle!: Lost on the Island of Spice (2006), Virtua Fighter 5 (2006-2010), After Burner Climax (2006), Shenmue Online (2006) (with J.C. Entertainment) (cancelled), Virtua Tennis 3 (2006), Psy-Phi (2006), Asian Dynamite (2006), Manic Panic Ghost (2007), Initial D Arcade Stage 4 (2007), Initial D Arcade Stage 5 (2008), RAMBO (2008), Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX (2008), Sega Race TV (2008), Primeval Hunt (2008), Harley Davidson: King of the Road (2009), R-Tuned : Ultimate Street Racing (2009), Hummer Extreme Edition (2009), Brick People (2009)

2009–present

General Entertainment R&D Division changed its name to Consumer R&D Division, and New Entertainment R&D Division merged with Consumer R&D Division.

Department Members From Titles
CS1 R&D same as before Yakuza 3 (2009), Yakuza 4 (2010), Yakuza: Black Panther (2010) (with Syn Sophia), Yakuza: Dead Souls (2011), Yakuza: Black Panther 2 (with Syn Sophia) (2012), Binary Domain (2012), Yakuza 5 (2012), Yakuza: Ishin (2014), Super Monkey Ball series
CS2 R&D same as before Sonic and the Black Knight (2009), Pole's Big Adventure (2009), Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (with Dimps) (2010), Sonic Colors (2010), Sonic Free Riders (2010), Sonic Generations (2011), Phantasy Star Online 2 (2012), Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (with Dimps) (2012), Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure (2012) (with Xeen), Sonic Lost World (2013), Project 575 (2014), Project DIVA series, Puyo Pop series
CS3 R&D same as before Valkyria Chronicles II (2010), Valkyria Chronicles III (with Media.Vision) (2011), Rise of Nightmares (2011), Hero Bank (2013)
Sports R&D same as before Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009), Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011), Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (2013), Let's make a series

Amusement R&D Division which focuses on the development of games for arcade. Yu Suzuki stepped down and is now solely responsible for YS.NET

Department Members From Titles
AM R&D same as before Border Break (2009-201?), Shining Force Cross (2009-201?), Sengoku Taisen (2010-201?), Let's Go Island!: Lost on the Island of Tropics (2010), Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA (2011), Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Arcade (2011),Sega Racing Classic (2011), Virtua Tennis 4 (2011), Sega Golden Gun (2011), Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX (2012), Maimai (2012-201?), Operation G.H.O.S.T. (2012), Transformers: Human Alliance (2014), Code of Joker (2013–201?), The World of Three Kingdoms (2014), Wonderland Wars (2014), Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity (2014)

Sega Networks focuses on development for smartphones and tablets.

Department Year of purchase/founding Members from Headed by Titles
Sega Networks [61] 2012 Consumer R&D Division Haruki Satomi

Acquired studios (2005–present)

Department Division Year of purchase/founding Notable titles
The Creative Assembly Sega Europe 2005 Total War series, Viking: Battle for Asgard (2008)
Sega Studios Australia Sega Australia 2005 London 2012, Medieval II: Total War, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
Sports Interactive Sega Europe 2006 Football Manager series
Three Rings Design Sega America 2011 Puzzle Pirates, Spiral Knights
Hardlight Studio Sega Europe 2012 Sonic Dash, Sonic Jump, Crazy Taxi: City Rush
Relic Entertainment Sega America 2013 Company of Heroes series
Index (Atlus) Sega Japan 2013 Megami Tensei series, Etrian Odyssey series, Trauma Center series

Affiliated studios

Sega began contracting subsidiary studios in 1983.

Japanese

Studio Titles
Westone Bit Entertainment Wonder Boy (1985), Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987), Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988), Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1990), Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (1991), Monster World IV (1994), Wachenröder (1998)
Treasure Gunstar Heroes (1993), Dynamite Headdy (1994), Alien Soldier (1995), Light Crusader (1995), Guardian Heroes (1996), Astro Boy: Omega Factor (2004), Gunstar Super Heroes (2005), Bleach: The Blade of Fate (2006), Bleach: Dark Souls (2007)
Sonic! Software Planning Shining in the Darkness (1991), Shining Force (1992), Shining Force II (1993), Shining Force CD (1994), Shining Wisdom (1995), Shining the Holy Ark (1996), Shining Force III (1997)
System Sacom Mansion of Hidden Souls (1993), Torico (1996), Rampo (1996), Deep Fear (1998)
Vic Tokai Psycho Fox (1989), DecapAttack (1990), Shinobi Legions (1995)
Compile Puyo Puyo series
Aspect Co. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), Sonic & Tails (1993), Sonic & Tails 2 (1994), Tails Adventures (1995), Sonic Blast (1996), Virtua Fighter Mini (1996), Rent-A-Hero No.1 (2000)
Nextech Ranger-X (1993), Crusader of Centy (1994), Cyber Speedway (1995), Dream Studio (2000), Shining Soul (2002), Shining Soul II (2003), Shining Tears (2004), Shining Wind (2007)
Microcabin Mystaria: The Realms of Lore (1995), Riglordsaga 2 (1996)
Chime Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream (2000)
J Force Dragon Force (1996) (Sega took over development)
Climax Entertainment Landstalker (1993), Dark Savior (1996), Time Stalkers (1999), Dinosaur King (2007), Ore no Dungeon (2006)
RED Entertainment Sakura Taisen series, Gungrave series, Code of the Samurai (2006)
Vivarium Inc. Seaman (2000), The Tower SP (2005), Seaman 2 (2007),
Genki Hang-ON GP (1995), Black Jack: Hi no Tori Hen (2006)
Neverland Shining Force Neo (2005) Shining Force EXA (2007), Sakura Wars DS (2008)
Shade Tenka-bito (2005) Sangokushi Taisen DS (2007)
Ancient Beyond Oasis (1994), The Legend of Oasis (1996), Amazing Island (2004)
Dimps Sonic Advance (2001), Sonic Advance 2 (2002), Sonic Advance 3 (2004), Spikeout: Battle Street (2005), Sonic Rush (2005), Sonic Rush Adventure (2007), Sonic Colors (2010), Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Super Monkey Ball 3D (2011), Sonic Generations (2011), Sonic Lost World (2013)
From Software Otogi: Myth of Demons (2003), Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (2004), Chromehounds (2006)
D3 Publisher Sega Ages series
M2 Sega Ages series, SEGA 3D Classics
Chunsoft 428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de (2006), Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (2006), Imabikisō (2007), Shiren the Wanderer (2008)
Tabot Inc. Wacky World of Sports (2008)
Alfa System Phantasy Star Portable (2009), Phantasy Star Portable 2 (2010), Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity (2011)
Imageepoch Sands of Destruction (2008), 7th Dragon (2009), 7th Dragon 2020 (2011), 7th Dragon 2020 2 (2013)
Crypton Future Media Project DIVA series
Flight-Plan Shining Force Feather (2009)
Tri-Ace Resonance of Fate (2010), Phantasy Star Nova (2014)
Prope Let's Tap (2008), Let's Catch (2009)
Platinum Games MadWorld (2009), Infinite Space (2009), Bayonetta (2009), Vanquish (2010), Anarchy Reigns (2012)
Studio Forefront Shining Hearts (2010)
Media.Vision Valkyria Chronicles III (2011), Shining Blade (2012), Shining Ark (2013)
Syn Sophia Yakuza: Black Panther (2010), Yakuza: Black Panther 2 (2012)

Western

Studio Titles
STI Kid Chameleon (1992), Sonic Spinball (1993), Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993), Comix Zone (1995), The Ooze (1995)
SegaSoft Eternal Champions (1993)
Appaloosa Interactive Ecco the Dolphin (1992), Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994), Ecco Jr. (1997), Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (2000)
ToeJam & Earl Productions ToeJam & Earl (1991), Panic on Funkotron (1993), III: Mission to Earth (2003)
BlueSky Software Vectorman (1995), Vectorman 2 (1996)
Realtime Associates Bug! (1995), Bug Too! (1996)
Traveller's Tales Sonic 3D Blast (1997), Sonic R (1997), Super Monkey Ball Adventure (2006)
Visual Concepts NFL 2K series, NBA 2K series, Floigan Bros. (2001), Ooga Booga (2001)
No Cliché Toy Commander (1999), Toy Racer (1999)
Zono Incorporated Mr. Bones (video game) (1996)
Amuze Headhunter (2001), Headhunter Redemption (2003)
EA Black Box Sega Soccer Slam (2002)
Access Games Spy Fiction (2003)
Pseudo Interactive Full Auto (2006), Full Auto 2: Battlelines (2007)
Petroglyph Games Universe at War (2007)
Bizarre Creations Metropolis Street Racer (2000), The Club (2008)
Sega Racing Studio Sega Rally Revo (2007)
Planet Moon Studios After Burner: Black Falcon (2007)
Sumo Digital OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (2006), Sega Superstars Tennis (2008), Virtua Tennis 2009 (2009), Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010), SEGA Rally Online Arcade (2011), Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012)
Monolith Productions Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005), Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008)
Sega Studios San Francisco Golden Axe: Beast Rider (2008)
Totally Games Alien Syndrome (2007)
Kuju Entertainment Crush (2007), The House of the Dead: Overkill (2009), Crush 3D (2011)
Griptonite Games Shinobi 3D (2011)
Arkedo Studio Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (2012)
Double Fine Productions The Cave (2012)
Avalanche Studios Renegade Ops (2011)
Obsidian Entertainment Alpha Protocol (2010)

Company personnel

Sega headquarters Building 1, Ōta, Tokyo

Corporate executives

Japanese

  • Okitane Usui: President of Sega Japan (2008–2012) (Hired by Groupon as International Vice President, East Asia)
  • Hayao Nakayama: Cofounder, president SOJ (1984–1998)
  • Shoichiro Irimajiri: President SOJ (1998–2000)
  • Isao Okawa: President SOJ (2000–2001) (died shortly after Dreamcast was discontinued in North America, forgave the debts Sega owed him, and gave the company his $695 million worth of Sega and CSK stock to Sega Corporation.)[62]
  • Hisao Oguchi: President SOJ (2001–2004)

North American

  • John Cheng: President of Sega of America (2012–present)
  • Mike Hayes: President of Sega of America (2009–2012)
  • Charles Hawk: Former vice president of strategy and corporate affairs
  • Simon Jeffery: Recruited from LucasArts, Simon Jeffery President SOA (2003–2009)
  • Zachary Brown: Executive producer of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg as well as head writer for Sonic Colors
  • Tom Kalinske: President SOA (1991–1996), former board member (1990s)
  • Michael Katz: President SOA (1989–1991)
  • Peter Moore: Vice president (1996–1999), President SOA (1999–2003)
  • David Rosen: Cofounder, board member
  • Scott Steinberg: Vice president of marketing SOA (2003–2007)
  • Bernie Stolar: Recruited from Sony, President SOA (1996–1999)
  • Aaron Bannerman: CEO (2007–2009)
  • Bruce Lowry: President SOA (1986–1988)[63]

European

  • Jürgen Post: President of Sega of Europe (2012–present)
  • Mike Hayes: President of Sega of Europe (2009–2012)
  • Robert Deith: Cofounder/chairman Sega Europe (1991–2001)
  • Paul Williams: CEO of Sega Amusements Ltd. (heretofore)

Korean

  • Yasutaka Sato: President SPK (2005–2008)
  • Kazunobu Takita: President SPK (2008–2011)
  • Tooru Matsuo: President SPK (2011–2013)
  • Akira Nomoto: President SPK (2013–present)

Research & Development

Hardware Division

  • Hideki Sato: Head of Sega Away Team (1985–2001) (also called Sega Hardware Team R&D)

Video Game Software Division

Seal of Quality

File:SEGAQUALITYSEAL.PNG
The Sega Seal of Quality

The Sega Seal of Quality was an icon placed on the packaging of all video games that had Sega's official approval to be played on a Sega console system. As was the case with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, the intention behind the "seal" was to avoid the mistakes that led to the Video Game Crash of 1983 by ensuring that games were compatible with the intended Sega console system, and to censor content that Sega felt was inappropriate for their image.

The Sega Seal of Quality was an icon that Sega put on its own video games along with certain video games published by a third party software developer. As was the case with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, the Sega seal appeared on a video game's box and marketing as a means of informing the consumer that Sega had previewed the game before its release to ensure that the game was fully compatible for its intended home console system, and had met a certain level of Sega's standard of quality (in terms of graphics, sound, challenge, and possible offensive content). However, the Sega Seal of Quality was otherwise very different than the Nintendo Seal of Quality.

Sega never required a third-party software developer to earn the official Sega Seal of Quality as a precondition for publication, although most developers chose to do so. Furthermore, a game could earn the seal even if it contained certain themes that its bigger competitor, Nintendo, would have prohibited: blood, scantily clad female villains, and graphic violence. Hence, the Sega Seal of Quality was given out to Sega Genesis games that depicted blood (Splatterhouse 2, Techno Cop), and scantily clad females (Streets of Rage, Final Fight CD).

Video games released on a Sega home console system were still censored for other taboo or controversial depictions; i.e. profanity, nudity, prostitution, homosexuality. However, this was done by the software developer and not as a requirement issued by Sega to the developer.

In 1993, Sega of America permitted Acclaim to keep the graphic violence and gore in its port of Midway's popular arcade game titled Mortal Kombat. As this game and other games sparked a national controversy over the violent content in video games, Sega created the Videogame Rating Council to give a descriptive rating to every game sold on a Sega home console system in the United States. This rating, along with the seal, would appear on the game's box and marketing. The Videogame Rating Council was phased out in 1994 with the adoption of the industry wide Entertainment Software Rating Board.

Sega gradually shifted the scope of their seal of quality to focus less on content and more on assuring consumers that a game was fully compatible with its intended home console system. The Sega Seal is no longer seen on any games as Sega stopped producing games consoles, home or handheld, after the discontinuation of the Dreamcast in March 2001.

Sega has had a long history of different slogans and ad campaigns; such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't".

Arcade

  • The Arcade Experts. (early '80s)

Master System

  • The challenge will always be there.
  • Major fun and games!
  • Now, there are no limits.
  • Hot hits today! Hot hits on the way!
  • Do me a favor, plug me into a Sega (talking TV).
  • All kinds of games, all kinds of fun. (Australia)
  • Let the games begin! (Australia)
  • Play strong, Play Sega (Denmark)

Mega Drive/Genesis

  • Genesis does what Nintendon't! (early 90s, pre-SNES)
  • You can't do this on Nintendo (early 90s, pre-SNES)
  • Blast Processing
  • The name "Sega!" being composed by a choir.
  • Welcome To The Next Level. (Also used for the Game Gear. Referenced in Shadow The Hedgehog)
  • To be this good takes AGES, To be this good takes SEGA. (UK) ("Ages" is "Sega" spelled backwards) - this was parodied by Commodore with "To be this good will take Sega ages".[64]
  • Siga Sega! ("Follow Sega!", used in Brazil during the early '90s)
  • Sega, c'est plus fort que toi ! ('Sega, it's stronger than you!', cult French TV slogan, early '90s)
  • 16 bit arcade graphics!
  • Cyber Razor Cut
  • La Ley del Más Fuerte (The Law of the Strongest, Spanish slogan from 1993 to 1994)
  • The more you play with it, the harder it gets.
  • Pirate TV (Britain, also featured as a comic series in Sonic the Comic)
  • Canal Pirata Sega (Spain)
  • Sega, é mais forte que tu (Sega, It's stronger than you, Portugal, early '90s)
  • Someone yelling "SEGA!" (the "Sega scream").

Saturn

  • A little bit too real (early print ad in the US)
  • Welcome to the Real World – Sega Saturn. (Early UK TV slogan)
  • Segata Sanshiro: "Sega Saturn Shiro!" ("Play Sega Saturn!")
  • When you have Sega Saturn, nothing else matters.
  • The Game is Never Over (also used in last European Mega Drive commercials.)
  • Peligrosamente real (Dangerously Real. 1st Spanish slogan)
  • Contraprográmate (De-Program-Yourself, Spain, 1997)
  • The Plaything ad.
  • The Theater of the eye (mid-'90s US ad.)
  • Nous ne sommes pas sur la même planète ("We are not on the same planet", French slogan in the mid-'90s)
  • Perigosamente Real (Dangerously Real, Portugal.)

Dreamcast

  • It's Thinking. (tagline used in US launch)
  • Up to 6 billion players. (tagline used in Europe launch)
  • You are now entering chapter three (Australian launch)

Post-Dreamcast years (2002–2003)

  • The return of the "Sega!" choir.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Shahed Ahmed (January 31, 2001). "Sega announces drastic restructuring". GameSpot. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  2. ^ "Corporate." Sega. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.
  3. ^ Angwin, Julie and Laura Evenson. "Sega Expected to Move HQ To S.F. From Redwood City." San Francisco Chronicle. Thursday June 11, 1998. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.
  4. ^ General (June 28, 2012). "Sega to close Australian and multiple European offices - General and Nintendo News from". Vooks. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "SEGA History". FundingUniverse. Retrieved May 11, 2011. Sega of America, based in San Francisco, California, was established in 1986 as the wholly owned subsidiary of Sega Corporation of Japan. However, its rich history of gaming goes back 50 years.
  6. ^ "Sega-Vision". Sega Retro. January 22, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  7. ^ "Sega Takes Aim at Disney's World (Page 4 of 4)" The New York Times by Andrew Pollack: Sunday, July 4, 1993
  8. ^ "Sega Master System (SMS) – 1986–1989". Classicgaming.gamespy.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  9. ^ Horowitz, Ken (April 28, 2006). "Interview: Michael Katz". Sega-16.com. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  10. ^ Ken Horowitz (February 18, 2005). "Tom Kalinske: American Samurai". Sega-16.com. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  11. ^ "Top Sega CD Games – Best Sega CD Video Games – Best Sega CD Games – Top Sega CD Video Games". Gamespot.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  12. ^ a b Boutros, Daniel (August 4, 2006). "A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games". UBM. Gamasutra. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  13. ^ "A History of Home Video Games from Atari to Xbox, Playstation and Wii". Thegameconsole.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  14. ^ "PlanetDreamcast: About – Sega History". June 16, 2008. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  15. ^ Buchanan, Levi (June 11, 2008). "The SEGA Channel – Retro Feature at IGN". Retro.ign.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  16. ^ "Reverse Engineering". June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  17. ^ "The 1990's". Ce2.coos-bay.k12.or.us. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  18. ^ "What Hath Sonic Wrought? Vol. 10." Buchanan, Levi. IGN. February 2, 2009. "There are a number of reasons why the SEGA Saturn failed. The botched surprise launch. Lack of third-party support. And while the lack of a true Sonic sequel for the Saturn certainly didn't wholly destroy the console's chances, the lack of appearances by the SEGA mascot sure didn't help matters much. Nintendo had proven up to this generation the value of launching with a mascot game. The accelerated launch isn't to blame for the critical oversight, either. During its truncated lifecycle, the Saturn hosted not one Sonic platformer."
  19. ^ Tomb Raider. Sega Retro. Retrieved on 2013-10-31.
  20. ^ Johnston, Chris (May 27, 1997). "Sega, Bandai Merger Canceled – News at GameSpot". Gamespot.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  21. ^ "Vidgame.net: Sega Dreamcast". Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  22. ^ "Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Changes Company Name– Sega Corporation". Sega.jp. November 1, 2000. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  23. ^ Brandon Justice (January 23, 2001). "Sega Sinks Console Efforts?". IGN.
  24. ^ "弊社ドリームキャスト事業に関する一部の報道について". Sega. January 24, 2001.
  25. ^ Anoop Gantayat (January 23, 2001). "Sega Confirms PS2 and Game Boy Advance Negotiations". IGN.
  26. ^ "Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Annual Report 1998" (PDF). Sega via Internet Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 17, 2002.
  27. ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2000" (PDF). Sega via Sega Sammy Holdings. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  28. ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2002" (PDF). Sega via Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  29. ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2004". Sega via Sega Sammy Holdings. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 25, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  30. ^ "Analysts say Sega taking its toll on CSK's bottom line" Taipei Times via BLOOMBERG, Tokyo – Thursday, Mar 13, 2003, Page 12
  31. ^ "Late Sega exec leaves legacy, new leadership" Tokyo, Japan CNN By Kristie Lu Stout – March 19, 2001
  32. ^ "Microsoft Explores A New Territory: Fun (Page 2 of 5)" The New York Times By Chris Gaither – November 4, 2001
  33. ^ Niizumi, Hirohiko (May 18, 2004). "Sammy merging with Sega". GameSpot. Retrieved February 18, 2011. $1.45 billion deal will see the Sonic publisher become a subsidiary of a new Sammy-controlled company. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ Tom, Bramwell (March 23, 2006). "SEGA signs Obsidian for next-generation RPG".
  35. ^ What Went Wrong With Silicon Knights’ X-Men: Destiny?. Kotaku.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-14.
  36. ^ Silicon Knights Made King's Quest Prototype, Never Finished Horror Game The Ritualyst. Siliconera (2011-12-28). Retrieved on 2013-07-14.
  37. ^ Tom, Bramwell (April 4, 2006). "SEGA acquires Sports Interactive".
  38. ^ "Sega deal is worth "circa GBP 30m" – Sports Interactive boss". Gamesindustry.biz. October 1, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  39. ^ "SEGA establishes new internal development arm in US". Gamesindustry.biz. October 1, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  40. ^ "株式会社プロペ 公式サイト". Prope.jp. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  41. ^ "Sonic creator sets up new studio with help from SEGA //". Gamesindustry.biz. October 1, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  42. ^ "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS -Year Ended March 31, 2006" (PDF). Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  43. ^ "Sega Sammy reports 31 per cent rise in profits //". Gamesindustry.biz. May 17, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  44. ^ "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS -3 Months Ended June 30, 2006" (PDF). Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  45. ^ "CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS -6 Months Ended September 30, 2006" (PDF). Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  46. ^ "Sega Sammy sees 52 per cent profits rise". Gamesindustry.biz. November 13, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  47. ^ "SEGA". November 9, 2006. Archived from the original on November 9, 2006. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  48. ^ "ALIENS". Aliens.sega-europe.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  49. ^ Sega Europe – Online Services. "PlaySEGA". PlaySEGA. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  50. ^ bbonline Newbie (September 21, 2009). "Sega online casino and poker rumours confirmed". Casinolistings.com. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  51. ^ Goldfarb, Andrew (January 23, 2013). "THQ Dissolved, Saints Row, Company of Heroes Devs Acquired". IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  52. ^ "SEGA and Nintendo Enter Exclusive Partnership for Sonic the Hedgehog". The Wall Street Trade Journal. May 17, 2013.
  53. ^ "Sega Europe hands Sonic publishing duties to Nintendo". GamesIndustry International. May 17, 2013.
  54. ^ a b Satomi, Hajime (March 31, 2009). "Sega Sammy Notice of Personnel and Organizational Changes" (PDF).
  55. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Service-Games-Rise-Fall-SEGA/dp/1463578474/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395889933&sr=8-2&keywords=service+games+rise+and+fall+of+sega
  56. ^ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1532433459/service-games-the-rise-and-fall-of-sega-enhanced?fb_action_ids=10151163257777875&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
  57. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Console-Wars-Nintendo-Defined-Generation/dp/0062276697/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1G3RSCBYJ9H17GQVXRF0
  58. ^ http://kotaku.com/sony-is-developing-a-movie-about-the-console-wars-betwe-1529285863
  59. ^ http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/23/sony-to-develop-console-wars-movie
  60. ^ a b [1]
  61. ^ "Sega Networks". Andriasang.com. July 2, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  62. ^ Kent, Steven (2001). "Three Horses and a Pony". The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond- The Story That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World (First ed.). Roseville, California: Prima Publishing. p. 589. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. In his last days, Okawa forgave Sega's debts to him and returned all of his shares of Sega and CSK stock as a gift-in Sega's case, a $695 million gift that would help the company survive the transition of becoming a multiplatform software manufacturer.
  63. ^ "Bruce Lowry". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  64. ^ Amiga Advertising

External links