Sega Sports
From Sega Retro
Sega Sports was a brand used by Sega to market sports video games during most of the 1990s and the early 2000s. First appearing in 1993[1], Sega used the Sega Sports name for about ten years, following in the footsteps of Electronic Arts' EA Sports label (or Electronic Arts Sports Network as it was originally known).
Contents
History
Sega of America had been using sports personalities to sell games since the US launch of the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1989. With lucrative markets from the national American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey leagues, and EA's proven business model of releasing sports games annually (with updated teams and statistics), SoA chose to create a dedicated "Sega Sports" team to handle the production and marketing of sports software. It also highlighted a shift from licensing specific sporting celebrities, to governing bodies such as the NFL and NBA.
The Sega Sports moniker was to help position Sega as a trusted brand for sports titles, that it was dedidcated the the genre and that Sega consoles were the best place to play such games. Sega's rivals, such as Nintendo (who were not producing annual sports games at the time), could then be painted as being indifferent to the genre. At a time where marketing drove the industry, having a "range" of up-to-date sports titles was considered a huge plus by Sega's American branch.
Sega of America's Sega Sports team is presumed to have had a played a similar role to other parts of the company; it was a set of producers, designers and testers which oversaw sub-contracted game development. Elsewhere in the world, "Sega Sports" became a label which was applied to Sega-published sports games regardless of origin. With the Sega Saturn, the scope was often extended to racing games such as Manx TT Super Bike and F1 Challenge.
While the brand appeared all over the world, not all sports games published by Sega used it. Most sports games intended only for Japan or Europe were sold without the branding, as were more light-hearted games such as Sega Soccer Slam.
Sega Sports branding continued to be used until 2003, when Sega sold Visual Concepts to Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two and Visual Concepts would then produce sports games under the 2K Sports label (which continues to this day), while Sega would drop its ambitions to produce sports titles annually.
Games with Sega Sports branding
Mega Drive
- Greatest Heavyweights (1993)
- NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana (1993)
- World Series Baseball (1994)
- NFL '95 (1994)
- College Football's National Championship (1994)
- NBA Action '94 (1994)
- ATP Tour Championship Tennis (1994)
- Pebble Beach Golf Links (1994)
- World Series Baseball '95 (1995)
- College Football's National Championship II (1995)
- Prime Time NFL Football Starring Deion Sanders (1996)
- NFL 98 (1997)
Mega-CD
- Joe Montana's NFL Football (1993)
- NFL's Greatest: San Francisco vs. Dallas 1978-1993 (1993)
- Prize Fighter (1994)
- Formula One World Championship: Beyond the Limit (1994)
- World Series Baseball (unreleased)
Game Gear
- NFL '95 (1994)
- World Series Baseball '95 (1994)
- Sports Trivia (1995)
- Sports Trivia: Championship Edition (1995)
- NHL All-Star Hockey (1995)
Sega 32X
- Virtua Racing Deluxe (1994)
- Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples (1995)
- Motocross Championship (1995)
- World Series Baseball Starring Deion Sanders (1995)
Saturn
- Worldwide Soccer: Sega International Victory Goal Edition (1995)
- World Series Baseball (1995)
- F1 Challenge (1995)
- Daytona USA (1995)
- UEFA Euro 96 England (1995)
- Pebble Beach Golf Links (1995)
- NHL All-Star Hockey (1995)
- Sega Rally Championship (1995)
- Hang-On GP (1996)
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 (1996)
- NFL '97 (1996)
- Decathlete (1996)
- Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition (1996)
- Victory Goal '96 (1996)
- Steep Slope Sliders (1997)
- NBA Action 98 (1997)
- World Series Baseball '98 (1997)
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 (1997)
- Sega Touring Car Championship (1997)
- Winter Heat (1997)
- J. League Victory Goal '97 (1997)
- Pro Yakyuu Greatest Nine 97 Make Miracle (1997)
- Manx TT SuperBike (1997)
Dreamcast
- NFL 2K (1999)
- NBA 2K (1999)
- NHL 2K (2000)
- NBA 2K1 (2000)
- World Series Baseball 2K1 (2000)
- NFL 2K1 (2000)
- NCAA College Football 2K2 (2001)
- NFL 2K2 (2001)
- Tennis 2K2 (2001)
- NBA 2K2 (2001)
- World Series Baseball 2K2 (2001)
- NHL 2K2 (2002)
Windows
- Daytona USA (1996)
- Daytona USA Deluxe (1996)
- Sega Rally Championship (1997)
- Sega Worldwide Soccer PC (1997)
- NBA Action '98 (1997)
- Manx TT SuperBike (1997)
- Sega Touring Car Championship (1998)
PlayStation 2
- NFL 2K2 (2001)
- Tennis 2K2 (2001)
- NBA 2K2 (2001)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- NHL 2K3 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- World Series Baseball 2K3 (2003)
Xbox
- NFL 2K2 (2001)
- NBA 2K2 (2001)
- World Series Baseball (2002)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- NHL 2K3 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (200x)
- World Series Baseball 2K3 (2003)
GameCube
- NBA 2K2 (2001)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- NHL 2K3 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
List of staff
Gallery
1993 logo
1994 logo
