Umeda Joypolis

From Sega Retro

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Umeda Joypolis Exterior 2018.jpg
Umeda Joypolis
Location: 大阪市北区角田町5－15,「HEP FIVE」, 8F・9F, Japan
Opened: 1998-11-28[1]
Closed: 2018-05-06[2]

Umeda Joypolis (梅田ジョイポリス) was a Joypolis indoor amusement theme park opened by Sega. Located on the eighth and ninth floors of the Hep Five shopping centre in Osaka and one of the original tenants on its day of opening, it was the eighth and final Joypolis venue to be opened in the 1990s and would subsequently go on to become one of the longest running ones, later closing permanently in May 2018.

History

The eighth and final original Joypolis park created by Sega, Umeda Joypolis opened on 28 November 1998 alongside 150 other tenants in the Hep Five shopping centre, Umeda, Osaka.[3] Themed around the concept of "Underworld", a fictional urban complex, the venue initially featured four newly-developed attractions at that time exclusive to the park, Drift Cart, Fortune Cave, Dennou Senki Virtual-On Special, and an upgraded AS-1 simulator under the name of AS-MAX[1]; the latter two were removed within months, with the Virtual-On Special units relocated to Shinjuku Joypolis.

Alongside Tokyo Joypolis and Okayama Joypolis, the venue survived the wide-scale closures of many game centres by Sega during the early 2000s that included several Joypolis parks. In the following years it would receive less frequent updates than the flagship Tokyo branch, became the only venue other than it in Japan to house attractions developed by Sega after the removal of Okayama's in 2008, and would later be largely targeted towards young women, containing what was at one stage the largest Purikura photo booth facilities in Japan, "P+closet".[4]

Later attractions installed included special editions of Let's Go Jungle! and The House of the Dead 4, as well as VR horror simulator Enigma Sphere. The venue was included in the majority stake acquisition of Sega Live Creation by China Animations Character Co in 2016, initially operating as normal after it came into effect the following year. Subsequently, the lease on its space expired just under 20 years after opening, and the park closed permanently on 6 May 2018, leaving Tokyo Joypolis as the final original Joypolis indoor theme park (with the exception of the downsized Okayama game centre location).[2]

Its space was later largely occupied by a VR Zone venue managed by Namco.[5] Currently, the unit is home to the Bandai Namco Cross Store, which retains some arcade games on one of the floors.

Attractions

Original attractions

Later attractions

Gallery

1998-2010

  • Interior circa 1998

  • Umeda Interior 19982.jpg
  • Umeda Interior 19983.jpg
  • Umeda Interior 19984.jpg
  • Umeda Interior 19985.jpg
  • Umeda Interior 19986.jpg

  • Arcade area

  • Umeda Arcade 19982.jpg
  • Umeda Arcade 19983.jpg
  • Umeda Arcade 19984.jpg

  • Virtual-On Special

  • Drift Cart

  • Umeda Drift.jpg
  • Umeda Drift2.jpg
  • Umeda Drift3.jpg

  • Exterior in 2000s

  • Side façade in early 2000s

  • Alternate entrance in 2008

  • Entrance in 2008

  • 2008 floor guide

  • Arcade in 2008

2010-2018

  • Sky Cruising attraction in 2010

  • Arcade in 2014

  • Wild River Splash!

  • Purikura booths

  • 2010s tickets

  • Let's Go Jungle! Special

  • Enigma Sphere in 2016

  • Enigma Sphere 20162.jpg
  • Enigma Sphere 20163.jpg
  • Enigma Sphere 20164.jpg

  • Wild River The Treasure Hunt

  • Umeda Wild River2.jpg

  • Exterior in 2018

  • Umeda Exterior 20182.jpg

  • Interior in 2018

  • Execution Funteraction machine in 2018

  • Intact original theming

  • Umeda Theme 20182.jpg
  • Umeda Theme 20183.jpg
  • Umeda Theme 20184.jpg

  • Closing day sign

Magazine articles

Main article: Umeda Joypolis/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

  • 1998 poster advertisement

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://segaretro.org/Press_release:_1998-09-24:_Osaka_ni_Umeda_Joypolis_Toujou
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://umeda-joypolis.sega.jp/close.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-02-12 00:14)
  3. ↑ http://www.sega.co.jp/sega/atp/umeda/hepfive.html (Wayback Machine: 1999-10-08 03:06)
  4. ↑ https://p-closet.sega.jp/
  5. ↑ https://vrzone-pic.com/osaka/ (Wayback Machine: 2020-11-01 02:42)


Joypolis venues
Current
Tokyo Joypolis (1996) | Shanghai Joypolis (2016)
Former
Shinjuku Joypolis (1996-2000) | Niigata Joypolis (1995-2001) | Yokohama Joypolis (1994-2001) | Fukuoka Joypolis (1996-2001) | Kyoto Joypolis (1997-2002) | Umeda Joypolis (1998-2018) | Okayama Joypolis (1998-2018) | Qingdao Joypolis (2015-2023) | Joypolis VR Shibuya (2018-2020)
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