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 (1990-1994), Beautiful Gate Industrial (1990-1994), Freetron (1995-2001), Eternal Trading (1998-2000), Gameson Trading (2000-2001), Typhoon Games (200x-200x), AtGames (2005-2015), New Era (2005-2019), Epicsoft Asia (2018-present) |
The history of Sega in Greater China could be seen in three perspectives - Mainland China, Taiwan and presented in this article Hong Kong.
Third and fourth generation
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.
Sega Saturn and Dreamcast
From November 1994, Sega Saturn was sold using NTSC format by WKK and from next year also by Freetron (which also distributed Chinese games for Saturn like Sangokushi Eiketsuden, Sangokushi IV or Sangokushi V). Dreamcast was distributed from November 1998 by WKK, Freetron and Eternal Trading[7]. Sega.com Asia planned to launch localized internet service for Dreamcast in August 2001[8], but service was moved to December 2000 when distributor got along with iLink to launch it by next 2 months but it fate is unknown[9]. Sega tried to centralized distribution network on December 1, 2000 when Gameson Trading was choosen as exclusive distributor for Hong Kong and WKK with Freetron as authorized resellers[10]. Dream Wave and Game Players DC (HK) are known magazines about Dreamcast published here in late 1990s/early 2000s. In December 2000, Skynet Ltd announced alliance with Sega to produce enhanced Dreamcast set-top box and online game platform with GamePlayer and Sunevision Holdings which would be provided to residents of Sun Hung Kai Properties[11], but it's fate is unknown. According to various sources, Sega sold 150,000 - 300,000 units of Dreamcast until end of the year 2000[12][13]. The Hong Kong market was flooded with DC pirate software[14]. Infamous Treamcast console originates from here.
After Dreamcast
Sega PC games were distributed by Typhoon Games, New Era[15][16]Shanda Games[17], and AtGames[18]. 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.[19]
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://archive.org/details/gpdc_20220313/%E6%B8%B8%E6%88%8F%E5%BF%97GamePlayers%20DC%20VOL.001%20%5B2000.12.13%5D/page/n5/mode/1up?view=theater
- ↑ https://www.highwaygames.com/arcade-news/sega-teams-with-hong-kong-s-skynet-157/
- ↑ https://www.scmp.com/article/326173/segacom-isp-looks-set-rattle-market
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/gpdc_20220313/%E6%B8%B8%E6%88%8F%E5%BF%97GamePlayers%20DC%20VOL.001%20%5B2000.12.13%5D/page/n125/mode/1up?view=theater
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/gpdc_20220313/%E6%B8%B8%E6%88%8F%E5%BF%97GamePlayers%20DC%20VOL.003%20%5B2001.01.10%5D/page/n5/mode/2up
- ↑ 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)
