Difference between revisions of "Sega Electronics"

Latest revision as of 04:14, 12 September 2023

Not to be confused with Gremlin Graphics.

Sega Electronics

Founded: 1973

Defunct: 1983

Merged into: Sega Enterprises, Inc. (1978-09-29^[1])

Headquarters:

1979:	8401 Aero Drive, San Diego, California 92123, United States
1982:	16250 Technology Drive^[2], San Diego, California 92127, United States

Gremlin Industries, Inc., also known Sega Electronics, was an American arcade developer and manufacturer which was purchased by Sega Enterprises in 1978.^[1]

History

Gremlin Industries was an American arcade game developer and manufacturer who manufactured wall games in the early 1970s before switching to video games starting 1976. They were purchased by Sega Enterprises, Inc. in 1978^[1], and started releasing games with joint branding, first as Gremlin/Sega, then as Sega/Gremlin.

Sega/Gremlin changed their name to Sega Electronics in late 1982^[3]^[4] (according to chairman David Rosen, the combined name was "a bit awkward"^[5]). Around which time they also started producing games for home systems, attempting to bring Paramount brands to home consoles (Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator and Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom being the two surviving examples, though many more were planned).

The assets of Sega Electronics was sold to Bally Midway after the summer of 1983 for an undisclosed price^[6], primarily for the LaserDisc technology powering Astron Belt. Home video games would continue to be sold under the Sega brand (including some of Midway's back catalogue, such as Tapper and Spy Hunter), but all arcade efforts would be badged as Bally Midway games. This would include games made by Sega in Japan for a short period (though Sega's Japanese business was otherwise unaffected by the sale)^[6].

As part of the agreement, Bally held the first refusal rights on all Sega-developed games, however this expired in March 1985, allowing Sega to directly market its games again with a newly established company, Sega Enterprises USA.

Sega Electronics technically still exists; it was renamed "Ages Electronics Inc." after Sega became a subsidiary of CSK in 1984, and became a shell company of Gulf+Western. It has survived buy-outs and acquisitions and is currently part of the Paramount Global empire, though has not been involved in video games since 1983.

Softography

Discrete logic arcade

Fortress (1979) (as Gremlin Industries)
Monaco GP (1979) (as Gremlin/Sega)

Arcade

Gee Bee (1978) (as Gremlin Industries)
Space Firebird (1980) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Moon Cresta (1980) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Super Moon Cresta (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)
Tactician (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)
Frogger (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)

VIC Dual

Safari (1977) (as Gremlin Industries)
Depthcharge (1977) (as Gremlin Industries)
Deep Scan (1979) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Head On (1979) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Head On 2 (1979) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Carnival (1980) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Digger (1980) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Pulsar (1980) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Borderline (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)

G80

Astro Blaster (1981) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Space Fury (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)
Eliminator (1981) (as Sega/Gremlin)
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1982)
Tac/Scan (1982)
Pig Newton (1983)

Atari 2600

Carnival (1982) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1983)
Thunderground (1983)
Deep Scan (1983)
Spy Hunter (1984)
Congo Bongo II (unreleased)
Ixion (unreleased)

Intellivision

Carnival (1982) (as Gremlin/Sega)

ColecoVision

Carnival (1982) (as Gremlin/Sega)
Space Fury (1983) (as Sega/Gremlin)

VIC-20

Ixion (unreleased)

Commodore 64

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (1983)
Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1983)

MSX

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (1983)
Congo Bongo (1983)

Blockade hardware

Should this section and its respective games be removed? It's unclear if Sega was involved during this time.

Blockade (1976)
Comotion (1977)
Hustle (1977)
Blasto (1978)

Magazine articles

Main article: Sega Electronics/Magazine articles.

List of staff

Gallery

Gremlin Industries logo
Gremlin/Sega logo
Sega/Gremlin logo
Promotional group photo

Internal documents

Corporate reporting structure (1979-07-01)
Corporate reporting structure (1981)
Adminstration (1981-03-05)
Engineering division (1981-03-06)
Manufacturing division (1981-02-06)
Marketing division (1981-02-03)
Product list
History (1982-04-21)
Distributors by state (1982)

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Sega Electronics

References

45	60	65	69	74	78	84
Early Sega
Service Games			Gulf+Western
Service Games, Hawaii & Nevada & Japan	Nihon Goraku Bussan & Nihon Kikai Seizou			Sega Enterprises, Inc.
		Sega Enterprises, Ltd.			Sega Ltd. & Gremlin	Sega Ltd.

[:File:CashBox_US_1978-10-28.pdf_p72-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Cash Box, "October 28, 1978" (US; 1978-10-28), page 72

[:File:CashBox_US_1983-07-02.pdf_p94-2] Cash Box, "July 2, 1983" (US; 1983-07-02), page 94

[:File:ArcadeExpress_US_0110.pdf_p2-3] File:ArcadeExpress US 0110.pdf, page 2

[:File:CashBox_US_1982-11-20.pdf_p66-4] Cash Box, "November 20, 1982" (US; 1982-11-20), page 66

[:File:Joystik_US_05.pdf_p24-5] JoyStik, "April 1983" (US; 1983-xx-xx), page 24

[:File:CashBox_US_1983-09-10.pdf_p37-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Cash Box, "September 10, 1983" (US; 1983-09-10), page 37

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{CompanyBob
 | logo=Gremlin Industries.png
-| width=
 | founded=1973
 | defunct=1983
-| tseries=
 | mergedwith=
-| mergedinto=[[Sega]] (1978-09-29{{magref|cb|1978-10-28|72}})
+| mergedinto=[[Sega Enterprises, Inc.]] (1978-09-29{{magref|cb|1978-10-28|72}})
-| headquarters=16250 Technology Drive{{magref|cb|1983-07-02|94}}, San Diego, California, USA
+| headquartersdate=1979
-}}
+| headquarters=8401 Aero Drive, San Diego, California 92123, United States
-'''Gremlin Industries''' was an American arcade game developer and manufacturer who manufactured wall games in the early 1970s before switching to video games starting 1976. In 1978, they were purchased by [[Sega]]{{magref|cb|1978-10-28|72}}, and started releasing games with joint branding, first as '''Gremlin/Sega''', then as '''Sega/Gremlin'''.
+| headquartersdate2=1982
+| headquarters2=16250 Technology Drive{{magref|cb|1983-07-02|94}}, San Diego, California 92127, United States
+}}'''Gremlin Industries, Inc.''', also known '''Sega Electronics''', was an American arcade developer and manufacturer which was purchased by [[Sega Enterprises, Inc.|Sega Enterprises]] in 1978.{{magref|cb|1978-10-28|72}}
+==History==
+Gremlin Industries was an American arcade game developer and manufacturer who manufactured wall games in the early 1970s before switching to video games starting 1976. They were purchased by [[Sega Enterprises, Inc.]] in 1978{{magref|cb|1978-10-28|72}}, and started releasing games with joint branding, first as '''Gremlin/Sega''', then as '''Sega/Gremlin'''.
 Sega/Gremlin changed their name to '''Sega Electronics''' in late 1982{{fileref|ArcadeExpress US 0110.pdf|page=2}}{{magref|cb|1982-11-20|66}} (according to chairman [[David Rosen]], the combined name was "a bit awkward"{{magref|joystik|5|24}}). Around which time they also started producing games for home systems, attempting to bring Paramount brands to home consoles (''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' and ''[[Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom]]'' being the two surviving examples, though many more were planned).
-Sega Electronics was sold to [[Bally Midway]] after the summer of 1983 for an undisclosed price{{magref|cb|1983-09-10|37}}. Home video games would continue to be sold under the Sega brand (including some of Midway's back catalogue, such as ''[[Tapper]]'' and ''[[Spy Hunter]]''), but all arcade efforts would be badged as Bally Midway games. This would include games made by Sega in Japan for a short period (though Sega's Japanese business was otherwise unaffected by the sale){{magref|cb|1983-09-10|37}}.
+The assets of Sega Electronics was sold to [[Bally Midway]] after the summer of 1983 for an undisclosed price{{magref|cb|1983-09-10|37}}, primarily for the LaserDisc technology powering ''[[Astron Belt]]''. Home video games would continue to be sold under the Sega brand (including some of Midway's back catalogue, such as ''[[Tapper]]'' and ''[[Spy Hunter]]''), but all arcade efforts would be badged as Bally Midway games. This would include games made by Sega in Japan for a short period (though Sega's Japanese business was otherwise unaffected by the sale){{magref|cb|1983-09-10|37}}.
+As part of the agreement, Bally held the first refusal rights on all Sega-developed games, however this expired in March 1985, allowing Sega to directly market its games again with a newly established company, [[Sega Enterprises USA]].
+Sega Electronics technically still exists; it was renamed "Ages Electronics Inc." after Sega became a subsidiary of [[CSK]] in 1984, and became a shell company of [[Gulf+Western]]. It has survived buy-outs and acquisitions and is currently part of the Paramount Global empire, though has not been involved in video games since 1983.
 ==Softography==
-{{multicol|
+{{CompanyHistoryAll|Sega Electronics|Gremlin Industries|Gremlin/Sega|Sega/Gremlin}}
+[[Category:Use CompanyHistoryAll template]]
 ===Blockade hardware===
 :Should this section and its respective games be removed? It's unclear if Sega was involved during this time.
@@ Line 25: / Line 36: @@
 * ''[[Blasto]]'' (1978)
-===[[VIC Dual]]===
+==Magazine articles==
-* ''[[Depthcharge]]'' (1977)
+{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}
-* ''[[Safari (1977)|Safari]]'' (1977)
-* ''[[Frogs]]'' (1978)
-* ''[[Deep Scan]]'' (1979)
-* ''[[Head On]]'' (1979)
-* ''[[Head On 2]]'' (1979, as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-* ''[[Invinco]]'' (1979, as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-* ''[[Carnival]]'' (1980; as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-* ''[[Digger]]'' (1980; as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-* ''[[Pulsar]]'' (1981; as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-===Discrete logic===
-* ''[[Fortress]]'' (1979)
-*''[[Monaco GP]]'' (1979)
-===[[G80]]===
-* ''[[Astro Blaster]]'' (1981; as Gremlin; Gremlin/Sega branding)
-* ''[[Space Fury]]'' (1981; as Gremlin; Sega/Gremlin branding)
-*''[[Eliminator]]'' (1981)
-*''[[Space Odyssey]]'' (1981)
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1982)
-*''[[Tac/Scan]]'' (1982)
-*''[[Pig Newton]]'' (1983)
-===[[Zaxxon hardware]]===
-*''[[Zaxxon]]'' (1982)
-*''[[Ixion]]'' (1983)
-*''[[Razzmatazz]]'' (1983)
-===Apple II===
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1983)
-===Atari 2600===
+==List of staff==
-*''[[Spy Hunter]]'' (1983)
+{{StaffList|Sega Electronics|employees=yes}}
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1983)
-*''[[Tac/Scan]]'' (1983)
-*''[[Thunderground]]'' (1983)
-*''[[Sub Scan]]'' (198x)
-*''[[Bear Game]]'' (unreleased)
-*''[[Ixion]]'' (Jeff Lorenz version available in ROM sets; unreleased)
-===Atari 5200===
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1983)
-===Atari 8-bit===
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1983)
-*''[[Ixion]]'' (unreleased)
-*''[[Tac/Scan]]'' (unreleased)
-===Commodore 64===
-*''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'' (1983)
-===MSX===
-*''[[Congo Bongo]]'' (1983)
-===VIC-20===
-*''[[Ixion]]'' (unreleased)
-*''[[Sub Scan]]'' (unreleased)
-*''[[Tac/Scan]]'' (unreleased)
-===Arcade games distributed by Gremlin===
-* ''[[Super Bowl]]'' (1977; licensed from [[Exidy]])
-* ''[[Gee Bee]]'' (1979; licensed from [[Namco]])
-* ''[[Astro Fighter]]'' (1980; licensed from [[Data East]])
-* ''[[Moon Cresta]]'' (1980; licensed from [[Nichibutsu]])
-* ''[[Space Firebird]]'' (1980; licensed from [[Nintendo]])
-* ''[[Super Moon Cresta]]'' (1980; licensed from [[Nichibutsu]])
-* ''[[Frogger]]'' (1981; licensed from [[Konami]])
-}}
 ==Gallery==
@@ Line 124: / Line 70: @@
 Gremlin ProductList.jpg|Product list
 Gremlin History 1982-04-21.jpg|History (1982-04-21)
+Gremlin Distributors 1982.pdf|Distributors by state (1982)
 </gallery>
+==Photographs==
+:''Main article: [[:Category:Photos of {{PAGENAME}}|Photos of {{PAGENAME}}]]
 ==References==
 <references />
+{{EarlySega}}
+[[Category:Licensors]]