Hitmaker

Hitmaker
Founded: 2000-04-21
Defunct: 2004-07-01 (as Subsidiary), 2005-04-01 (as Division)
Merged into: Sega AM3
Headquarters: Japan

Hitmaker (ヒットメーカー) is a former internal development studio owned by Sega. It was founded in 2000 largely on the remains of Sega Software R&D Dept. 3 (formerly Sega AM3), and was one of the 10 that was spun off during the 2000 restructure.

AM3 was a dominant force within Sega throughout the 1990s, however had been very much arcade-orientated by design. With Hitmaker, this focus shifted more towards home consoles, but as the arcade section did not go away, this led to Hitmaker producing a large chunk of Sega games during the 2000-2004 period.

By far and away the biggest international success for Hitmaker were the Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis games, which defined the Dreamcasts library. But perhaps an even more defining success is changing the Japanese arcade landscape with the titles World Club Champion Football: Serie A 2001-2002 and The Key of Avalon: The Wizard Master. These titles along with the Sega AM2 Virtua Fighter 4, brought new features and dynamics, with cards and internet usage.

In October 2003, Sega Rosso was merged back into the studio.

Hitmaker even had their own record label, Hitmaker Records, for a short period.

Members

• Junichi Tsuchiya
• Juro Watari
• Kenji Kanno
• Maasaki Ito
• Mie Kumagai
• Nobuyuki Yamashita
• Shinichi Osagawara
• Shoichiri Kanazawa
• Takeshi Goden
• Tetsu Okano

Former members

• Hisao Oguchi

Softography

NAOMI

• Derby Owners Club 2000 (2000)
• Crackin' DJ (2000)
• Derby Owners Club II (2001)
• Derby Owners Club World Edition (2001)
• Virtua Tennis 2 (2001)

NAOMI GD-ROM

• Virtua Tennis (2000)
• Crackin' DJ Part 2 (2001)
• Virtua Athlete (2002)
• The Maze of the Kings (2002)

Hikaru

• Air Trix (2001)
• Dennou Senki Virtual-On: Force (2001)

Chihiro

• Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (2003)

Triforce

• Avalon no Kagi (2003)

Dreamcast

• Virtua Athlete 2K (2000)
• Virtua Tennis (2000)
• Crazy Taxi 2 (2001)
• Segagaga (2001)
• Virtua Tennis 2 (2001)
• Crazy Taxi 2 Have a Try Taikenban (200x)

PlayStation 2

• Crazy Taxi (2001)
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz (2003)

GameCube

• Crazy Taxi (2002)
• Amazing Island (2004)

Xbox

• Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller Taikenban (2002)
• Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (2002)

PlayStation 3

• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Marz (2013)

Game Boy Advance

• Virtua Tennis (2002)
• Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride (2003)
• Astro Boy: Omega Factor (2003)

Windows PC

• Virtua Tennis (2002)

NAOMI 2

• World Club Champion Football: Serie A 2001-2002 (2002)
• World Club Champion Football: Serie A 2002-2003 (2003)
• World Club Champion Football: European Clubs 2004-2005 (2004)

Triforce

• Avalon no Kagi Ver.1.20: Summon The New Monsters (2004)

Chihiro

• The Quiz Show (2004)

PC

• Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller (2004)
• Derby Owners Club Online (2004)

Mobile

• Nakayoshi Techo (2000)
• Virtua Tennis (2003)
• Sega Rally Championship (2004)
• The Sumou Kokoro Waza Tai (2001)
• Uchuujinda! (2001)

Magazine articles

Main article: Hitmaker/Magazine articles.

External links

• Hitmaker Official websites (Internet Archive)
  • Production history of the Hitmaker

References

Domestic Sega studios
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CSK																				Sega Sammy Holdings
Sega Enterprises, Ltd.																Sega Corporation															Sega Games & Interactive
Sega R&D 1							Sega AM1								R&D #1	WOW Entertainment				Sega WOW	Sega AM1
Studio 128				Sega R&D 8			Sega AM2								R&D #2	AM2 of CRI	Sega-AM2				Sega AM2
														Sega AM11	R&D #4	Amusement Vision					New Entertainment				Sega CS1
																											Ryu ga Gotoku Studio
																			DigitalRex		AM Plus
						Sega AM3									R&D #3	Hitmaker					Sega AM3
												AM Annex			R&D #5	Sega Rosso
							Sega AM4									Sega Mechatronics										Product R&D
																													N. Pro. R&D
							Sega AM5									Mirai R&D					Family Entertainment
							Sega AM6
Sega R&D 2							Sega CS					Sega CS1			R&D #6	Smilebit					Sega Sports Design
											Team Andromeda
												Sega PC															Online R&D
												Sega CS2			R&D #7	Overworks					GE2				Sega CS3
												Sonic Team
												Sega CS3			R&D #8						GE1				Sega CS2
																					GE3
															R&D #9	United Game Artists
	Sega Sound Team
									Sega Digital Studio								Wave Master				Wave Master (label)
																					Mobile Content R&D								Sega Networks
																						Visual Entertainment					Marza Animation Planet