Sega AM3

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Hitmaker
Company typeDivision (Defunct)
IndustryVideo games industry
FoundedFebruary 2000; 24 years ago (2000-02)
Defunct2004; 20 years ago (2004)
FateMerged with Sega's Research and Development
HeadquartersJapan
OwnerSega

Hitmaker was a division of Japanese video game developer of Sega.

History

Logo for Sega Rosso before being merged into Hitmaker

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

Arcade
List of SEGA Hitmaker games
Title Platform Release Year
Derby Owners Club 2000 Arcade 2000
Confidential Mission Arcade 2000
Crackin' DJ Arcade 2000
Air Trix Arcade 2001
Virtua Tennis 2 Arcade 2001
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Force Arcade 2001
The Maze of the Kings Arcade 2001
World Club Champion Football Arcade 2002
Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller Arcade 2003
The Key of Avalon: The Wizard Master Arcade 2003
The Quiz Show Arcade 2004
Dreamcast
Game Boy Advance
PlayStation 2
Xbox
GameCube
PC

Sega Rosso

Arcade
Dreamcast

References

  1. ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2000" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-05-17.
  2. ^ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2002" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  3. ^ "Mie Kumagai will take over the head position at Hitmaker". www.games-zone.8m.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  4. ^ "Video Games Daily | News: Sega Studio Mergers: Full Details". archive.videogamesdaily.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  5. ^ "Notice on Reorganization of the Company's R&D Subsidiaries" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
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