Sega Test

The Sega Test was a series of three examinations held by Sega over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of January, 2021. The three tests were part of Sega's celebration of its 60th anniversary, and as such covered Sega titles and projects from 1960 all the way to the present day. All three tests consisted of sixty multiple-choice questions with a 1 hour time limit, and were available in both Japanese and English. They were styled like a Japanese university examination; with a pre-registration progress, and five seminars held by Sega employees from around the world for "revision" before the dates of the tests themselves. Entrants were ranked based on their score, with a weighted marking system giving your "SEGA IQ" - i.e. scoring the same result on two tests gave a different "SEGA IQ" for each. Entrants could take as many of the three tests as they wanted, with their score for each stored and the highest result being the one that was used for your final "SEGA IQ". All entrants were entered into a prize draw, with everyone who got a "SEGA IQ" of 60 or higher getting a special medal graphic with their name and "SEGA IQ" on it. The latter were also entered into a second draw, for a different prize. However, only Japanese-based entrants were able to claim the prizes if they won.

The tests

Each of the three Sega Tests consisted of sixty multiple choice questions, with a 1 hour time limit. Provided you had pre-registered, the entrant logged into the Sega Test website with the same credentials in advance of the test time, and were greeted with a Japanese-university-style exam paper cover page holding screen, with a Javascript button that enable itself at the exact start of the test time. The entrant had to click that button within 5 minutes of the test start time, or they were not allowed access to take the test. While most questions consisted of picking a single choice from the 4 available, some questions required you to pick multiple answers, and some to arrange all 4 answers into a requested order. The first three questions were the same on all three tests, with questions 4 to 60 being unique between all three tests. A Javascript countdown timer enforced a limit of 60 seconds per question - when 60 seconds had elapsed, the test moved on to the next question regardless of whether or not the entrant had selected an answer or not. At the end of each test the user was congratulated on finishing, told they would learn the results at a later date, and the time of the next test (in JST, regardless of local timezone). There was also an option to share your completion of the test on Twitter, Facebook, or LINE.

Test 1

The first Sega Test was held on Saturday the 23rd of January 2021, at 11AM UTC / 8PM JST. The Javascript-based time limit script was actually broken on this first copy of the test: it started at 600 minutes and counted down from there, and as such the auto-advance did not work correctly. This issue was resolved by the time of the second test, and worked as intended on Tests 2 and 3.

Test 2

The second Sega Test was held on Sunday the 24th of January 2021, at 1AM UTC / 10AM JST.

Test 3

The third Sega Test was held on Sunday the 24th of January 2021, at 8AM UTC / 5PM JST.