Sega

This article is about the video game company. For other uses, see Sega (disambiguation).

Sega Corporation

Native name	[株式会社セガ] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language code: jp (help)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games Arcade games Third party publisher
Founded	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. (1940 (1940), as Service Games)
Founders	Martin Bromely Irving Bromberg James Humpert David Rosen
Headquarters	Ōta, Tokyo , Japan
Number of locations	International Offices: San Francisco, California, U.S. Chessington, Greater London, United Kingdom Seoul, South Korea Vancouver, Canada Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Moscow, Russia
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	David Rosen (Founder) Isao Okawa (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 Takashi Iizuka
Products	Sonic 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
Revenue	¥396.7 billion (2011) US$4.9 billion
Net income	¥41.5 billion (2011) US$512.857 million
Number of employees	2,600 (2009)
Parent	Sega Sammy Holdings
Website	Sega Corporation (Japan) Sega of America Sega Europe PlaySega

Sega Corporation (株式会社セガ, Kabushiki gaisha Sega), pronounced /ˈseɪɡə/ (US/Canada/UK/New Zealand) or /ˈsiːɡə/ (Australia) and usually styled as SEGA, is a Japanese multinational video game developer, publisher and hardware development company headquartered in Japan, with various offices around the world. Sega previously developed and manufactured its own brand of home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001, but a restructure was announced on January 31, 2001 that ceased continued production of its existing home console, effectively exiting the company from the home console business. While arcade development would continue unchanged, the restructure shifted the focus of the company's home video game software development to consoles developed by various third-party manufacturers.

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. Sega Publishing Korea is headquartered in Jongno, Seoul, Korea. Sega's Australian & European operations outside of the United Kingdom closed on the 1st July 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.

History

Company origins (1940–1982)

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 amusement-type games such as jukeboxes 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.

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.

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). Sega prospered heavily from the arcade gaming boom of the late 1970s, with revenues climbing to over $100 million by 1979.

Entry into the home console market (1982–1989)

SG-1000

In 1982, Sega's revenues would eclipse $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. 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. He was replaced by Hayao Nakayama, who had been serving as the head of Sega's Japanese operations after his own company, Esco Boueki (Esco Trading) was acquired by Sega in 1979.

The Japanese assets of Sega were purchased for $38 million by a group of investors led by Rosen and Hayao Nakayama, a Japanese businessman who owned Esco Boueki (Esco Trading) an arcade game distribution company that had been acquired by Rosen in 1979. Nakayama became the new CEO of Sega, 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, 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

Main article: Sega Genesis

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. 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. 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. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was also released at this time, and became the most successful game Sega ever made, selling six million copies as of June 2006.

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. Within a year, it was in the bargain bins of many stores. 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.

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 that a system requires to be present to run the software. 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.

Saturn

Main article: Sega 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. 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. 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 3, Dragon Force, Shining Wisdom, Shining the Holy Ark and Magic Knight Rayearth

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

Dreamcast

Main article: 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 on a home console for the first time, featuring titles such as the action-puzzle title Chu Chu Rocket, Phantasy Star Online, the first console-based MMORPG, 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. On November 1, 2000, Sega changed its company name from Sega Enterprises, Ltd. to Sega Corporation. 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. 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". Then on January 31, 2001, Sega of America officially announced they were becoming a third-party software publisher.

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.

This chart points out their financial trouble in the 1998–2002 time periods. These financial data comes from their Annual Reports.

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

Recent developments (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).

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. 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).

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, the deal was said to be worth in the region of £30 million ($52 million) by Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive's Managing Director. 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, 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") in which Sega helped provide 10% startup capital 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). Notable titles to have helped Sega increase profits in the West, such as Shadow the Hedgehog (which sold over a million copies) 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, 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. 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. 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 and also partnered themselves with Fox to develop two new games based on the Alien franchise. 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. 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 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).

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 Olympic Winter Games and an unannounced Sonic title) will be exclusive to Nintendo consoles. 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. However Sega will continue to publish 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. The Amusement R&D Division focuses on the development of game software for arcade and slot machines. The division is headed by Hiroshi Yagi.

SEGA Studios

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

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), After Burner (1987), Fantasy Zone (1986), OutRun (1986) Sega System 1/2/16/X/Y/18/24/32 games
Sega DD #3	Rikiya Nakagawa	Shinobi (1987), The Revenge of Shinobi (1988), Shadow Dancer (1989) Altered Beast, (1988), Golden Axe (1989), 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 Oshima 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

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

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), Scud Race (1996), Digital Dance Mix (1997), Virtua Fighter 3TB (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, Let's make a series
Sega AM7 R&D	Sega CD #3	Noriyoshi Oba	Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (1990), Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1993), Streets of Rage (1991), Streets of Rage II (1992), Streets of Rage III (1994), Golden Axe II (1991), Golden Axe III (1993), Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (1993), Clockwork Knight (1994), Clockwork Knight 2 (1995), Astal (1995), Sakura Taisen (1996) (with RED), Dragon Force (1996), 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 (1996), Sonic R (1997) (with Traveller's Tales), Burning Rangers (1998)

1998–2004

In 1999, the original character designer of Sonic the Hedgehog, Naoto Oshima 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 Futatsagi leaving the company. Former Team Andromeda employees have since then worked at Artoon, feelplus, 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 compromised of Space Channel 5 developers was folded back into Sonic Team.

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 Arcades overseas during the 00's, more focus went on Medal games, Redemption games, and Trading Card games, rather than traditional video games.

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), Brave Fire Fighters (1999), Typing of the Dead (2000), Sega GT (2000), SEGA Marine Fishing (2000), Lupin the 3rd: The Shooting (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 3 (2003)
Sega AM2	same as before	Yu Suzuki	Shenmue (1999), Ferrari F355 Challenge (2000), Outtrigger (2000), 18 Wheeler (2000), Shenmue II (2001), Beach Spikers (2001), Virtua Fighter 4 (2001), Propeller Arena (2001), Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (2002), The King of Route 66 (2002), Virtua Cop 3 (2003), OutRun 2 (2003), Virtua Quest (2004), Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned (2004), Ghost Squad (2004)
Hitmaker	Sega AM3 R&D	Mie Kumagai	Crazy Taxi (1999), Jambo! Safari (1999), Virtua Tennis (1999), Crackin' DJ (2000), 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), 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 (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), Jet Set Radio Future (2002), GunValkyrie (2002),Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002), Sega Worldwide Soccer, 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 video game) (2002), Nightshade (2003), Sakura Taisen I Remake version (2003) (with RED)
Sonic Team	same as before	Yuji Naka	Sonic Adventure (1998) Chu Chu Rocket (2000), Samba de Amigo (2000), Phantasy Star Online (2001), Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), Sonic Advance 1 (with Dimps) (2001), Sonic Advance 2 (with Dimps) (2002), Sonic Pinball Party (2003), Sonic Battle (2003), Sonic Heroes (2003), Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (2003), Sonic Advance 3 (with Dimps) (2004) Puyo Pop series
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
General Entertainment R&D Dept.	Sonic Team + United Game Artists	Astro Boy (2004 video game) (2004), Sega SuperStars (2004), Feel the Magic: XY/XX (2004), The Rub Rabbits! (2005), Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), Sonic Rush (2005) (with Dimps), Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach (2006), Sonic Riders (2006), Phantasy Star Universe (2006), Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sega Rally 2006 (2006), Nights: Journey of Dreams (2007), Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007), Sonic Rush Adventure (with Dimps), Kokoro Scan (2007), Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008), Sonic Unleashed (2008), Puyo Pop series
General Entertainment R&D Dept. 2	Overworks	Sakura Taisen V (2005) (with RED), Blood Will Tell (2004) (with RED), Valkyria Chronicles (2008), Altered Beast (2005 video game) (2005), 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
New Entertainment R&D Dept.	Amusement Vision + Smilebit	Yakuza (2005), Yakuza 2 (2006), Yakuza Kenzan (2008) Super Monkey Ball series
Sports Design R&D Dept.	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 and slot machines. The division is headed by Hiroshi Kataoka, Atsushi Seimiya and Mie Kumagai.

Department	Members From	Titles
AM Software R&D Dept. 1	WOW Entertainment + Sega-AM2 + Hitmaker + Sega Rosso	Medal, Redemption and Trading Card games
AM Software R&D Dept. 2	WOW Entertainment + Sega-AM2 + Hitmaker + Sega Rosso	Virtua Striker 4 (2005), Psy-Phi (2006), Sega Race TV (2008) The House of the Dead 4 (2005), 2 SPICY (2006), After Burner Climax (2006), Sega Golf Club (2006), Let's Go Jungle!: Lost on the Island of Spice (2006), Manic Panic Ghost (2007), Initial D Arcade Stage 4 (2007), Initial D Arcade Stage 5 (2008) RAMBO (2008), R-Tuned : Ultimate Street Racing (2008), Virtua Fighter 5 (2006), Virtua Fighter 5 R (2008), Virtua Tennis 3 (2006), Hummer Extreme Edition (2009), Loving Deads: The House of the Dead EX (2008), Primeval Hunt (2008), Harley Davidson: King of the Road (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
Consumer R&D Dept. 1	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), Super Monkey Ball series
Consumer R&D Dept. 2	same as before	Sonic and the Black Knight (2009), Pole's Big Adventure (2009), Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (with Dimps) (2010), Sonic Colors (2010), Sonic Free Riders (2010), Sonic Generations (2011), Phantasy Star Online 2 (2012), Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (with Dimps) (2012), Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure (2012) (with Xeen), Sonic Lost World (2013), Puyo Pop series, Project DIVA series
Consumer R&D Dept. 3	same as before	Valkyria Chronicles 2 (2010), Valkyria Chronicles 3 (with Media.Vision) (2011), Rise of Nightmares (2011)
Sports Design R&D Dept.	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 and slot machines.

Department	Members From	Titles
AM Software R&D Dept. 1	same as before	Medal, Redemption and Trading Card games
AM Software R&D 2	same as before	Border Break (2009), Border Break: Air Burst (2010), Border Break: Union (2012), Shining Force Cross (2009), Shining Force Cross Raid (2010), Shining Force Cross: Elysion (2012), Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (2010) Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA (2011) Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX (2012) Let's Go Island!: Lost on the Island of Tropics (2010) maimai (2012), Operation G.H.O.S.T. (2012), Sega Racing Classic (2011), Virtua Tennis 4 (2011), Sega Golden Gun (2011), K.O. Drive (2012), Transformers: Human Alliance (Arcade game) (2013), Project DIVA series

Sega Networks focuses on development for smartphones and tablets.

Department	Year of purchase/founding	Members from	Headed by	Titles
Sega Networks	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
Sports Interactive	Sega Europe	2006	Football Manager series
Three Rings Design	Sega America	2011	Spiral Knights
Hardlight Studio	Sega Europe	2012	Sonic Dash, Sonic Jump
Relic Entertainment	Sega America	2013	Company of Heroes series

Affiliated and external studios

Sega began contracting subsidiary studios in 1983.

Japanese

Studio	Titles
Westone Bit Entertainment	Wonder Boy (1985), Wonder Boy: 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	The Mansion of Hidden Souls (1994), 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)
J Force	Dragon Force (1996) (Sega took over development)
Climax Entertainment	Landstalker (1993), Dark Savior (1996), Time Stalkers (1999), Dinosaur King (video game) (2007), Ore no Dungeon (2006)
RED Entertainment	Sakura Taisen series, Gungrave series
Tose Co., Ltd.	Sega GT (2000), Daytona USA: 2001 (2001), Virtua Quest (2004),
Vivarium Inc.	Seaman (video game) (2000) Seaman 2 (2007)
Neverland	Shining Force Neo (2005) Shining Force EXA (2007)
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 (game developer)	Sega Ages series, SEGA 3D Classics
Chunsoft	428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de (2006), Imabikisō (2007), Shiren the Wanderer (2008), Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (2006)
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)
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 video game) (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 (video game) (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.)
• 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)

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–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

• Toshihiro Nagoshi: Creator of some of the biggest Arcade hits such as Daytona USA. Also creator of Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza. Currently CCO of the company.
• Mie Kumagai: Head of A&M3, which was previously headed by Hisao Oguchi who created company-defining Arcade hits such as Crazy Taxi, Virtual-On and Virtua Tennis.
• Yuji Naka: Co-creator of company mascot, currently owner of independent development studio Prope.
• Yu Suzuki: Creator of genre-inventing and company-defining games such as Outrun, Space Harrier, After Burner, Hang-On, Virtua Racing, Virtua Cop, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue. Currently owner of YS.NET
• Noriyoshi Ohba: Creator of company-defining Shinobi and Streets of Rage series. Currently CEO of Premium Agency.
• Rieko Kodama: One of the most defining contributors to Sega's early games such as Alex Kidd, Quartet, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star and Sonic the Hedgehog.
• Makoto Uchida: Creator of Golden Axe and Dynamite Cop. Currently head of Sega China.

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 Ratings 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.

Advertisement campaigns

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)

Mega Drive/Genesis

• Genesis does what Nintendon't! (early 90s, pre-SNES) I </3 Sega
• 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)
• 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

• List of Sega video game consoles
• List of Sega video game franchises
• Lists of Sega games
• List of Sega software development studios

References

• Sega financial report
• Yahoo! Finance details for Sega Corporation
• Yahoo! Finance details for Sega of America
• Sega's entry into and growth in the American market is documented in Terry Sanders' film The Japan Project: Made in Japan.

External links

• Sega of America's official website
• Sega of Japan's official website Template:Ja icon
• Sega of Europe's official website
• Sega's Official YouTube Channel
• Sega Sammy Holdings official website
• SEGA Publishing Korea's official website Template:Ko icon
• Sega Retro, an expansive Sega wiki
• Vgmaps - Sega Genesis