History of Sega in Czechia

From Sega Retro

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Czechia 
History of Sega in Czechia
Official Sega distributor(s): Independent retail outlets (1988-1990), Nissho Iwai (1990-1995), Datart (1992-10 — 1996), DDC Agency (1996-1998), Game Line (2000-2002), CD Projekt (2004-2016), Cenega (2016-present)

Czechoslovakia

Consoles existed in Czechoslovakia during communism and an example is the Tesla XD 8001 produced by the Czechoslovak company Tesla[1].

Sega entered the market in 1988, when the government allowed an independent retail outlets to operate[2]. The new stores would purchase Master System stocks of games from Virgin and later resold them in the country. The sales results were marginal and Sega itself had almost no connection to this actions because there were very few sales places of sales and the agents themselves were tiny businesses. Also, the chances of the promotion were practically none because no gaming magazine was interested in it.

In 1990, the business was reorganized with Nissho Iwai taking over the distribution[3]. The system looked similar to the previous one, that is Nissho sells products to several retail chains throughout the country. At the time, Sega had competition in form of Rambo TV Game (Atari 2600 clones distributed from <1990), CDTV (distributed from 1992 by AB Comp) and Game Boy[4]. The 1990 and 1991 like before did not bring any good results and sales remained small and unnoticed by gaming magazines until mid-1992.

Datart, ITO CS and Popron Distribuce

In mid-1992, Nissho Iwai reorganized it's retailers network and began to work with sub-distributors like Datart, which became in October 1992 the authorized distributor of Sega[5], releasing Mega Drive[6], Master System II[7] and Game Gear[8]. In mid-1993, the second authorized distributor - ITO CS was selected, but until Spring 1994, Datart had 75% of all Sega sells in the country[5]. The results were very good for Eastern European standards and popularity of Sega consoles on the market began to grow with the most popular being Mega Drive and Master System. Until early 1994, Nissho Iwai network sold 8,000 units of Master System II, 8,000 units of Mega Drive and 3,000 units of Game Gear with 3 games per console. To comparison, Nintendo sold until this time 2,000 units of SNES, 2,000 units of NES and 4,000 units of Game Boy. Nissho had a goal of expending number of sold units of every console to 20,000 units until end of the year[5]. To do that, Sega selected a third authorized distributor - Popron Distribuce. Sega released Mega Drive II and Mega CD II same year[9]. It is worth to mention that distributors made Czech manuals for both the hardware and all the software.

Mega Drive 32X was already available from December 1994[10] and Multi Mega from April 1995[11]. Popron Distribuce did not want to wait for the European premiere of Sega Saturn, so from April 1995, they started importing Japanese versions of the console, which cost 25,000 CZK.[12].

In addition to the official consoles, there were also famiclones on the market such as Terminator 2 which box design resemble Sega Mega Drive 2, Bel Game[13], Pegasus IQ-502[14], Video Game-GT3300[15], Micro Genius (via Atelier)[16] and many more.

Mega Drive clones have also appeared along with bootleg games. The price of a clone named simply 'Mega Drive' with 2 turbo joysticks was around 3990 CZK in 1994.[17]

Besides Famicom and Sega clones, Sega had competition in form of Super Nintendo, Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System (distributed from 1993 by MPM[18]), Super Engine II (distributed from 1993 by Sunpronic[19]) Amiga CD32 (distributed from 1993 by Presto CS[20]), 3DO (distributed from 1994 by Vision[21]), Atari Jaguar (distributed from 1994 by JRC[22]), Watara Supervision (distributed from 1994 by Atlantida[23] and Act Fast[24]) and Atari Lynx (distributed from 1995 by JRC[25]).

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Print advert in Excalibur (CZ) #16 (1993-04-10)
also published in:
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Print advert in Excalibur (CZ) #21 (1993-12-10)
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Print advert in Score (CZ) #10: "Říjen 1994" (1994-10-01)
also published in:
  • Score (CZ) #11: "Listopad 1994" (1994-11-01)[30]
  • Score (CZ) #12: "Prosinec 1994" (1994-12-01)[31]
  • Score (CZ) #13: "Leden 1995" (1995-01-01)[32]
  • Score (CZ) #14: "Únor 1995" (1995-02-01)[33]
  • Score (CZ) #15: "Březen 1995" (1995-03-01)[34]
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DDC Agency

Hit 96

After distribution was takeover form Nissho Iwai by Sega Europe in late 1995, Datart got full distribution license for the region. Czech Republic was consider the fourth important market from all former Eastern Bloc countries, due to good economical situation but small population.[35] After some problems in mid-1996, DDC Agency became a distributor of Sega and Atari Games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia[36] and released Sega Saturn[37], also continued to sell all older Sega systems (Master System II[38], Game Gear[39], Mega Drive II[40], Mega Drive 32X[41], Mega CD II[42] and Multi Mega[43]) that were released in the Czechia so far, with Czech manuals for games and consoles, like it was earlier. The company had four authorized distributors in the country:

Sega's products have been well advertised in several major gaming magazines, the ABC children's magazine[48], at gaming events such as HIT 96[49] and from Summer 1996 Saturn prices were lowered to be equal to PlayStation (distributed from late 1995 by JRC[50], which distribution was taken over in June 1996 by Sony Czech[51][52]). The DDC Agency has created a specialized Sega gaming magazine called Sega News, published since October 1996.[53]

Mega Drive clones were still available, as well as pirated copies of games with Czech manuals. They were sold until the early 2000s. One of the sellers of these clones was Sat Game, which released Star Drive 2[54] and Genesis 2.

Despite the promotion, Saturn did not sell that well in the Czech Republic. From the spring of 1997, Sega consoles were less and less advertised and the Sega brand began to lose its importance in the Czech Republic. Authorized distributors were selling Saturn and Mega Drive until 1998.

Sega arcades were distributed from at least mid-90s by Deith Leisure Praha, with a few authorized distributors like Comex.[55]

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Print advert in Score (CZ) #34: "Říjen 1996" (1996-10-01)
also published in:
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Print advert in Score (CZ) #34: "Říjen 1996" (1996-10-01)
also published in:
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SegaSaturnHitRoku1996 CZ Booklet.jpeg
Sega Saturn Hit Roku 1996 booklet added to some of the games
SegaSaturnHitRoku1996 CZ Booklet.jpeg

Dreamcast

The Sega Dreamcast console was available in the Czechia since March 2000[68] and exclusive distributor for Czech Republic and Slovakia was Game Line[69][70]. Due to Sega's intention to focus on the most key markets (UK, Spain, France, Germany), console was sold here only in selected retailers (like Fliko, Play Centrum, Digitec and Gamestar) without affordable price (10,400 CZK for the start) and proper advertisement. This resulted in selling only 500 units of Dreamcast until end of 2000, compared to other consoles in the Czechia, Dreamcast had the smallest user base. For comparison, PlayStation had about 50,000 Czechs, Game Boy Color (distributed from late 1998 by MPM, which distribution was taken over in late 1999 by Conquest[71]) - 15,000, Nintendo 64 (distributed from March 1997 by MPM, which distribution was taken over in late 1999 by Conquest) - 2,500 and PlayStation 2 (distributed from November 30, 2000 by Sony Czech) - about 800.[72] In Spring 2001, due to Sega's international policy, Dreamcast got significant price off to 6999 CZK, bundled with 1 free game[73] which resulted in increased sales, and after selling the last stocks in late 2002, console ended it's life with around 1,000 - 2,000 owners.

The only known Czech game for this system was Hidden & Dangerous.

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Print advert in LeveL (CZ) #71: "Prosinec 2000" (2000-1x-xx)
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FightingForce2 DC CZ Box Back.png
Dreamcast game with Game Line seal
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Dynamic Systems

Dynamic Systems distributed Sega games from Empire around early 2000s.

CD Projekt and Cenega

In 2004, the CD Projekt company became a distributor of Sega in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[74]The company slowly became a representative of Sega in other countries of the Visegrad Group. In 2016, Cenega become representative of Sega.[75]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.litildivil.cz/sbirka/ruzne/tv_hra_tesla.htm
  2. ↑ https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097
  3. ↑ https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097
  4. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/bit-15/page/7/
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 File:CTW_UK_473_Europe_Supplement.pdf, page 2
  6. ↑ Sega Mega Drive - Excalibur 16 (04/1993) page 30
  7. ↑ Sega Master System II - Excalibur 16 (04/1993) page 31
  8. ↑ Sega Game Gear - Excalibur 17 (05/1993) page 14
  9. ↑ Popron Distribuce Mega CD, Mega Drive II, Game Gear - Score 10 (10/1994) page 36
  10. ↑ Doom (skoro) na Mega Drive! Score 13 (01/1995) page 69
  11. ↑ Videohry Slunicko -Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
  12. ↑ Saturn jiz neni jenom planeta! - Level 4 (05/1995) page 36
  13. ↑ Videohry Slunicko - Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
  14. ↑ Videohry Slunicko - Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
  15. ↑ Video Game GT3300 -Score 22 page 74
  16. ↑ Prodejna Atelier nabizi pocitacove hry Micro Genius - ABC 5/39
  17. ↑ Sega 16 Bit Televizini Hry - ABC 18/38
  18. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/excalibur-18/page/32/
  19. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/excalibur-17/page/13/
  20. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/excalibur-20/page/3/
  21. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/mag/score-11/page/9/
  22. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/excalibur-25/page/6/
  23. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/en/mag/excalibur-30/page/7/
  24. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/mag/score-17/page/65/
  25. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/mag/level-3/page/44/
  26. ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-03-10), page 31
  27. ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-05-10), page 15
  28. ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-09-10), page 39
  29. ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-10-10), page 19
  30. ↑ Score, "Listopad 1994" (CZ; 1994-11-01), page 2
  31. ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1994" (CZ; 1994-12-01), page 23
  32. ↑ Score, "Leden 1995" (CZ; 1995-01-01), page 41
  33. ↑ Score, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-01), page 41
  34. ↑ Score, "Březen 1995" (CZ; 1995-03-01), page 41
  35. ↑ File:CTW_UK_586_Europe_Supplement.pdf, page 3
  36. ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
  37. ↑ Saturn Planeta Her - Sega News 1 page 36
  38. ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
  39. ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
  40. ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Mega Drive II a Mega Drive 32X - ABC 41/12 page 38
  41. ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Mega Drive II a Mega Drive 32X - ABC 41/12 page 38
  42. ↑ Euro Shop Ostrava - Sega News 1 page 2
  43. ↑ Multi-Mega - Sega News 1 page 30
  44. ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
  45. ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
  46. ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
  47. ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 2 page 2
  48. ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
  49. ↑ Hit '96 - LeveL 22 page 10
  50. ↑ https://www.oldgames.sk/mag/level-12/page/37/
  51. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/19980703064424/http://www.playstation-europe.com/playstation/pr/launch.htm
  52. ↑ Sony na ceskem trhu - Level 19 (08/1996) page 50
  53. ↑ Sega News 1 page 4
  54. ↑ Hit '96 - LeveL 22 page 10
  55. ↑ Neo Plus 11 page 74
  56. ↑ Sega News, "Říjen 1996" (CZ; 1996-xx-xx), page 35
  57. ↑ Score, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-11-01), page 111
  58. ↑ Sega News, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 2
  59. ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-12-01), page 113
  60. ↑ Sega News, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 2
  61. ↑ Sega News, "Leden 1997" (CZ; 1997-xx-xx), page 51
  62. ↑ Sega News, "Říjen 1996" (CZ; 1996-xx-xx), page 36
  63. ↑ Score, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-11-01), page 113
  64. ↑ Sega News, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 44
  65. ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-12-01), page 115
  66. ↑ Sega News, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 44
  67. ↑ Sega News, "Leden 1997" (CZ; 1997-xx-xx), page 52
  68. ↑ https://ekonomika.idnes.cz/nova-konzole-dreamcast-prehrava-konkurenci-feh-/test.aspx?c=2000M051T05A
  69. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010803003442/http://www.gameline.cz/obchod/velkoobchod.htm
  70. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010415054730fw_/http://www.gameline.cz/gravis/Gravis.htm
  71. ↑ Level 59 page 116
  72. ↑ https://www.idnes.cz/hry/magazin/konzolim-v-cechach-kraluje-playstation.A010121_trhkonzoliq12k1_bw
  73. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20010407110547fw_/http://www.gameline.cz/Dreamcast/Dreamcast.htm
  74. ↑ https://games.tiscali.cz/byznys/cd-projekt-exkluzivnim-distributorem-her-od-sega-24752
  75. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160607060703/http://www.sega.com:80/support/
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