Sega AM3
Company type | Division (Defunct) |
---|---|
Industry | Video games industry |
Founded | February 2000 |
Defunct | 2004 |
Fate | Merged with Sega's Research and Development |
Headquarters | Japan |
Owner | Sega |
Hitmaker is a defunct division of Sega, a Japanese video game company.
History
In 2000, all of Sega's in-house Consumer (CS) and Amusement Machine (AM) R&D departments were separated from the main company and established on 9 semi-autonomous subsidiaries, with each subsidiary getting an elected president as a studio head.[1] However, for more financial stability, Sega began consolidating its studios into five main ones in 2003 (Sega Wow, Sega AM2, Hitmaker, Amusement Vision, Smilebit, Sonic Team), and merged them back into a uniform R&D structure in 2004.
Hitmaker was established from the AM3 department which has created popular arcade favourites in past, such as Virtual-On, Derby Owners Club, Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis. It was headed by Hisao Oguchi, Mie Kumagai and Kenji Kanno.
Sega Rosso was headed by Kenji Sasaki, the company was short-lived before being absorbed by Hitmaker. It contributed to Sega's arcade line-up with Cosmic Smash and Initial D Arcade Stage,[2] with the latter becoming a major franchise.
In 2003, Mie Kumagai replaced Hisao Oguchi as the company president,[3] when Hisao Oguchi was promoted to President of the entire Sega company. Also in 2003, the studio absorbed Sega Rosso, making Initial D Arcade Stage part of its line-up.[4] By 2004, Hitmaker had 193 employees which focused on arcade development after the integration into Sega.[5]
List of games
Hitmaker
Sega Rosso
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
1995 | Sega Rally Championship | Arcade |
1996 | Sega Touring Car Championship | Arcade |
1998 | Sega Rally 2 Championship | Arcade |
2000 | Star Wars Racer Arcade | Arcade |
2000 | NASCAR Arcade | Arcade |
2001 | Cosmic Smash | Arcade, Dreamcast |
2003 | Sega Rally Championship | Game Boy Advance |
2003 | Initial D: Special Stage | PlayStation 2 |
References
- ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2000" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
- ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2002" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
- ^ "Mie Kumagai will take over the head position at Hitmaker". www.games-zone.8m.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Video Games Daily | News: Sega Studio Mergers: Full Details". archive.videogamesdaily.com. 2003-07-25. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
- ^ "Notice on Reorganization of the Company's R&D Subsidiaries" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. 2004-05-18. Retrieved 2018-01-09.