Sega Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California, and London. Sega's video game and arcade divisions, once part of Sega Corporation, had existed separately as Sega Games Co., Ltd. and Sega Interactive Co., Ltd. from 2015 to 2020 respectively. The company is a subsidiary of the Sega Group Corporation, which is in turn a part of Sega Sammy Holdings. From 1983 until 2001, Sega also developed and sold video game consoles.
Sega was founded by Martin Bromley and Richard Stewart as Nihon Goraku Bussan on June 3, 1960. The company became known as Sega Enterprises, Ltd. after acquiring Rosen Enterprises, an importer of coin-operated games. Sega developed its first coin-operated game with Periscope in the late 1960s. In an effort to become a publicly traded company, Sega was sold to Gulf and Western Industries in 1969. Following a downturn in the arcade business in the early 1980s, Sega began to develop video game consoles, starting with the SG-1000 and Master System, but struggled against competitors such as the Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1984, Sega executives David Rosen and Hayao Nakayama led a management buyout of the company with backing from CSK Corporation.
Sega released its next console, the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside North America), in 1988. Although it was a distant third in Japan, the Genesis found major success after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 and briefly outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, in the U.S. However, later in the decade, Sega suffered commercial failures such as the 32X, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast consoles. In 2001, Sega stopped manufacturing consoles to become a third-party developer and publisher, and was acquired by Sammy Corporation in 2004. In the years since the acquisition, Sega has been more profitable. Sega Holdings Co. Ltd. was established in 2015, with Sega Corporation being renamed Sega Games Co., Ltd. and its arcade, entertainment, and toy divisions separated into other companies until 2020 when Sega merged back its arcade and video game divisions together under the Sega Corporation name.
Sega produces multi-million-selling game franchises including Sonic the Hedgehog, Total War, and Yakuza, and is the world's most prolific arcade game producer. It also operates amusement arcades and produces other entertainment products, including Sega Toys. As a company, Sega is retrospectively remembered for its time supporting its own video game consoles, its creativity, and its innovations. In more recent years, it has been criticized for misguided business decisions and lack of creativity.
Video Game list[]
- The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1994)
- Animaniacs (1994)
- Batman (1990)
- Batman Forever (1995)
- Batman Forever: The Arcade Game (1996)
- Batman Returns (1992)
- Batman: Return of the Joker (1991)
- Captain Planet (1993)
- Daffy Duck in Hollywood (1994)
- The Death and Return of Superman (1994)
- The Flintstones (1993)
- The Flintstones (1994)
- Looney Tunes: Space Race (2000)
- The Pirates of Dark Water (1994)
- Scooby-Doo Mystery (1995)
- Space Jam (1996)
- Superman (1992)
- Superman: The Man of Steel (1993)
- Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers (1994)
- Taz-Mania (1992)
- Taz in Escape from Mars (1994)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: ACME All-Stars (1994)
- Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster's Hidden Treasure (1993)
- Tom & Jerry: Frantic Antics! (1993)
- Tom & Jerry: The Movie (1993)
- Wacky Races (2000)
- Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley (2000)
- Yogi Bear: Cartoon Capers (1994)