History of Sega in Hong Kong
From Sega Retro
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| History of Sega in Hong Kong |
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| Official Sega distributor(s): WKK (1986-2001), Jade Company (1990-199x), Beautiful Gate Industrial (1990-199x), Freetron (199x-2001), Eternal Trading (199x-2001), Gameson Trading (1999-2001), Typhoon Games (200x-200x), AtGames (2005-2015), New Era (2005-2019), Epicsoft Asia (2018-present) |
In 1986, WKK became official distributor of Sega Master System in Hong Kong[1].
In 1990, Sega began to market Mega Drive, but from now with three authorized distributors - Jade Company[2], Beautiful Gate Industrial[3] and still WKK. MD was initially sold here in NTSC system, before switching to PAL-I and PAL-B in 1991. Sega released Game Gear in 1991, and Teradrive with Mega CD model 1 (NTSC and PAL) in 1992. Hong Kong was one of the few markets were Master System II (PAL-B) got release. All of the accessories and games for Sega systems that were exclusive for Japan were released here as well, which became a common thing in the next years.
In 1991, Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyuutachi and Warrior of Rome were translate into Chinese and release here.[4]
攻略 MD and 世嘉一族 are known magazines about Sega published here in early 1990s.
Hong Kong had many producers that manufactured third party accessories for Sega consoles like WKK or Freetron. Until August 1992, 85% of Sega's hardware and software for export, were produced in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong[5].
From 1993 to 1995, Sega took legal actions against pirates that imported copies of consoles and games from China[6]. In the 1990s and 2000s, there also existed Hong Kong companies that produced and distributed fake Sega consoles here or abroad like Kin Wai (Hong Kong) Investment Limited.
Mega Drive 2 and Sega 32X also reached Hong Kong. Wharf Holdings announced an agreement with Sega Digital Communications in October of 1995 to broadcast Sega Channel in Hong Kong.
In mid-90s, Sega Saturn was sold using NTSC format by Freetron (which also distributed Chinese games for Saturn like Sangokushi IV or Sangokushi V) and WKK. Dreamcast was distributed from November 1998 by WKK, Freetron Electronic, Eternal Trading (local distributors for Hong Kong) and from 1999 also by Gameson Trading (regional distributor for mainland Asia)[7]. Sega.com Asia planned to launch localized internet service for Dreamcast in August 2001[8], but service was moved to end of 2000 and fate is unknown[9]. According to Cheong Ming, Sega sold 300,000 units of Dreamcast until September 2000[10]. Dream Wave and Game Players DC (HK) are known magazines about Dreamcast published here in late 1990s/early 2000s.
Sega PC games were distributed by Typhoon Games, New Era[11][12]Shanda Games[13], and AtGames[14]. In 2010s, Sega created Sega Asia which handle regional releases of games, but not physical distribution. In 2018, Epicsoft Asia was appointed sole distributor of Sega games starting with Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Shining Resonance Refrain, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Fist of the North Star and Virtual-On.[15]
References
- ↑ https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sb411m7We/?spm_id_from=333.788.recommend_more_video.5
- ↑ File:TopMegaDrive2 Book TW.pdf, page 115
- ↑ File:Sega HK advert BGI.png
- ↑ https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611
- ↑ New Sunday Times 1992-11-09 Battle for game machine market
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/article/106228/counterfeiters-must-be-jailed
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/article/320656/accession-segacom-gives-cheong-ming-lift
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/article/320656/accession-segacom-gives-cheong-ming-lift
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20010208231942/http://www.sega.com.hk/b5/aboutsega/press3.htm
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/article/326173/segacom-isp-looks-set-rattle-market
- ↑ http://www.neweraonline.com:80/corp/games.htm (Wayback Machine: 2005-08-31 02:37)
- ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-to-focus-on-southeast-asian-market/1100-6339618/ (Wayback Machine: 2013-12-17 11:02)
- ↑ https://www.techinasia.com/sega-hopes-to-take-chain-chronicles-across-asia-via-an-unexpected-partner/ (Wayback Machine: 2015-06-23 12:35)
- ↑ https://www.change.org/p/sega-revoke-atgames-s-pc-games-distribution-right-in-greater-china (Wayback Machine: 2021-06-22 09:10)
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/epicsoft/posts/we-are-proud-to-announce-that-epicsoft-asia-pte-ltd-has-been-appointed-as-the-so/10156093727165775/ (archive.today)
