Studio 128

Studio 128
Founded: 1984(?)
Headquarters: Japan
198x Sega R&D 8 →

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Studio 128 (スタジオ128) was a video game development group managed by Sega during the 1980s.

About five minutes walk from Sega's main offices, Studio 128 was a small building manned by 5-10 people which worked on Sega's cutting-edge Taikan games. The group was fronted by Yu Suzuki, who had received a promotion after impressing managers with the SG-1000 game, Champion Boxing, and is thought to have been the birthplace of many of Sega's arcade hits from the 1980s.

The precise nature of Studio 128 is not known, and much of its work was kept a secret from the rest of the company. Reportedly even Sega president Hayao Nakayama was once blocked from entering on one occasion (much to his dissatisfaction).

Studio 128 was not directly credited in any of Sega's games, making it difficult to discern its history. It is known however to have become Sega R&D 8 prior to the release of GP Rider in 1990, which itself became the much more public facing Sega AM2 in the early 1990s. Only one game (and its "sequel") are known to reference the group's existence - in the introduction of After Burner (and After Burner II, both released in 1987), the player takes off from an aircraft carrier labeled "128".

Gallery

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  The Studio 128 building