Difference between revisions of "History of Sega in Taiwan"

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History of Sega in Taiwan


Official Sega distributor(s): Aaronix (198x-198x), Wenmao Co.Ltd (1990-1993), Pai Yuing Company Ltd (1993-199x), Pacific T-Zone (1998-200x), New Era (2005-2019), AtGames (2005-present)

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Sega has had operations in Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China) since the early 1970s, when Taiwan was one of the countries where Sega imported its game machines, however its dubious political status means it is often confused with the People's Republic of China, otherwise known simply as China. Both modern China and Taiwan were originally united as the same country until 1949, when the Chinese Revolution saw China's ruling party, the Kuomintang, "pushed off" the mainland. Taiwan has since experienced rapid growth and has transformed into a multi-party democratised nation. In contrast, though mainland China is the fastest growing nation in the world, it is exceptionally difficult to market and produce video games in this region due to tight restrictions imposed by the state.

Aaronix

Due to legal restrictions, Sega could not import its products from Japan so they got along with Aaronix to produce its consoles under their brand. They released rebranded SG-1000, SG-1000 II, Sega Mark III and Sega Master System^[1]^[2] with distribution help of Taiwan Jialingxing.^[3] The restrictions were abolish in 1987.

Arcade machines were distribute by Laxan since 1983^[4].

Wenmao Co.Ltd

Wenmao sticker

In 1990, Wenmao Co.Ltd (文贸有限公司) released NTSC versions of the Sega Mega Drive^[5], and Game Gear in the next year. In 1991, Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyuutachi and Warrior of Rome were translate into Chinese and release here.^[6] Wenmao distributed Mega CD model I and Teradrive from 1992^[7] and started importing Mega Drive 2 in 1993, before they left the market.

Top Mega-Drive magazine about Sega video games was published between 1992-1994.

Sega form Sega Amusement Taiwan (later known as Sega Taiwan) in 1992^[8], which maintain a large share of the arcade market in this region, as well as run a Sega World.

Taiwanese factories, as is the case for many Asian countries, are often responsible for the manufacturing of electronics equipment, including video game consoles, accessories and games designed by Sega. However, cheap manufacturing costs and relaxed copyright laws have led to Taiwan being a hub for unlicensed hardware and software too. The majority of unlicensed video games for third and fourth generation video games (such as the NES/Famicom and Sega Mega Drive) originate from the country.

Pai Yuing Company Ltd

Pai Yuing golden sticker

In 1993, Pai Yuing Company Ltd (百韻股份有限公司) took over distribution, releasing Mega Drive 2 and Mega CD 2 same year.^[9] In the next year they manage to sell Mega Drive 32X here. The consoles and games sold by them had special gold (sometimes white) sticker on the box to help customer distinguish clones from original. Taiwan was the first country outside of Japan and the U.S. to receive the Sega Channel around September/October of 1995.

Computer & Entertainment Inc. (全崴资讯) and other companies (for example Realtec) produced unlicensed products overseas, and C&E's Xin Qi Gai Wang Zi (otherwise known as Beggar Prince) was given a global release by Super Fighter Team.

Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn seems to be released here by unknown distributor and was pretty popular but distribution was chaotic. Sega's agent withdrew from the market at some point and console was left with a lot of parallel imports, pirate software and unstable market price^[10].

Sega introduced Pico to Taiwan and Indonesia in late 1997 and expect to achieve total sales of 330,000 units in both countries by 2000^[11].

Windows PC games from Sega released in late 90s, were distribute by Worldwise Enterprise and Media Master International.

Pacific T-Zone

On August 28, 1998, Pacific T-Zone signed an agreement with Sega to distributed Sega Dreamcast in the region.^[12] Sega tried to contact Taiwanese producers to create and port games for Saturn and Dreamcast^[13]. Koei was one of the first Japanese video game companies to have active operations in both China and Taiwan, so Saturn games such as Sangokushi IV and Sangokushi V have seen official releases in these regions. Daewoo released Senken Kigyouden in 1999 ^[14] and C&E work with Game Bank to release official Saturn games as well. Dianji Sega Saturn and Dianji Dreamcast were magazines published at the time.

On November 27, 1998, T-Zone released Dreamcast with 4 games. Demand was estimated on 10,000 units but due to shortages, only small part of this got to Taiwan and the rest was expected to arrive on January 1999.^[15] Sega.com Asia, (online subsidiary of Sega Japan for Asia)^[16]announced in August 2000, that Gigamedia will launch a online service for consoles in late 2000/early 2001^[17]^[18]^[19], but it never happened.^[20] Sega.com Asia said in August that Sega sold 400,000 Dreamcast consoles in Taiwan and expects the number to exceed 1.2 million by 2002^[21].

After Dreamcast

After Dreamcast, various games had been distributed by AtGames^[22], New Era^[23]^[24] and Shanda Games^[25].

References

History of Sega by Country
Asia
Afghanistan \| Armenia \| Azerbaijan \| Bahrain \| Bangladesh \| Bhutan \| Brunei \| Cambodia \| China \| Georgia \| Hong Kong \| India \| Indonesia \| Iran \| Iraq \| Israel \| Japan \| Jordan \| Kazakhstan \| Kuwait \| Kyrgyzstan \| Laos \| Lebanon \| Malaysia \| Maldives \| Mongolia \| Myanmar \| Nepal \| North Korea \| Oman \| Pakistan \| Philippines \| Qatar \| Russia \| Saudi Arabia \| Singapore \| South Korea \| Sri Lanka \| Syria \| Taiwan \| Tajikistan \| Thailand \| East Timor \| Turkey \| Turkmenistan \| United Arab Emirates \| Uzbekistan \| Vietnam \| Yemen
North America
Antigua and Barbuda \| Bahamas \| Barbados \| Belize \| Canada \| Costa Rica \| Cuba \| Dominica \| Dominican Republic \| El Salvador \| Grenada \| Guatemala \| Haiti \| Honduras \| Jamaica \| Mexico \| Nicaragua \| Panama \| Puerto Rico \| Saint Kitts and Nevis \| Saint Lucia \| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines \| Trinidad and Tobago \| USA
South America
Argentina \| Bolivia \| Brazil \| Chile \| Colombia \| Ecuador \| Guyana \| Paraguay \| Peru \| Suriname \| Uruguay \| Venezuela
Europe
Albania \| Andorra \| Austria \| Belarus \| Belgium \| Bosnia and Herzegovina \| Bulgaria \| Croatia \| Cyprus \| Czechia \| Denmark \| Estonia \| Finland \| France \| Germany \| Gibraltar \| Greece \| Greenland \| Hungary \| Iceland \| Ireland \| Italy \| Latvia \| Liechtenstein \| Lithuania \| Luxembourg \| Malta \| Moldova \| Monaco \| Montenegro \| Netherlands \| North Macedonia \| Norway \| Poland \| Portugal \| Romania \| San Marino \| Serbia \| Slovakia \| Slovenia \| Spain \| Sweden \| Switzerland \| Ukraine \| United Kingdom
Australasia
Australia \| Fiji \| Guam \| Micronesia \| New Zealand \| Papua New Guinea
Africa
Algeria \| Botswana \| Djibouti \| Egypt \| Eswatini \| Ghana \| Kenya \| Lesotho \| Libya \| Mauritania \| Morocco \| Mozambique \| Namibia \| Nigeria \| Sierra Leone \| Somalia \| Sub-Saharan Africa \| South Africa \| Tunisia \| Uganda \| Zambia \| Zimbabwe

[1] ttp://scanlines16.com/en/blog-3/retro-gaming/sega-megadrive/jeux-megadrive-asia/

[2] ttps://www.zhihu.com/appview/p/39495468

[3] ttps://es.linkedin.com/pulse/sega-mega-drive-en-territorios-sino-hablantes-taiw%C3%A1n-sergio

[4] ttp://laxan.com.tw/en/index.php

[5] ttps://www.gcores.com/articles/99611

[6] ttps://www.gcores.com/articles/99611

[:File:TopMegaDrive4_Book_TW.pdf_p2-7] File:TopMegaDrive4 Book TW.pdf, page 2

[8] ttps://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/biztimes19920206-1.2.10.1.4?ST=1&AT=filter&DF=&DT=&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1992&SortBy=Oldest&K=sega&KA=sega&P=1&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=sega&oref=article

[9] ttps://es.linkedin.com/pulse/sega-mega-drive-en-territorios-sino-hablantes-taiw%C3%A1n-sergio

[10] ttps://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072

[11] ttps://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-to-launch-pico-toy-computer-in-1997--118094

[12] ttps://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072

[13] ttps://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5813

[14] ttps://www.ithome.com.tw/news/3449

[15] ttps://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5410

[16] ttps://segaretro.org/Press_release:_2000-04-26:_Sega.com_Opens_Hong_Kong_Office

[17] ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=yDreamcast

[18] ttps://www.ign.com/articles/2000/08/16/segacom-moves-into-taiwan

[19] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20010208231942/http://www.sega.com.hk/b5/aboutsega/press3.htm

[20] ttps://www.gcores.com/articles/99611

[21] ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=y

[22] ttps://www.change.org/p/sega-revoke-atgames-s-pc-games-distribution-right-in-greater-china Failed petition

[23] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050831023756/http://www.neweraonline.com:80/corp/games.htm

[24] ttps://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-to-focus-on-southeast-asian-market/1100-6339618/

[25] ttps://www.techinasia.com/sega-hopes-to-take-chain-chronicles-across-asia-via-an-unexpected-partner

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[3]

[4]

[5]

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[7]

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 | flag=Flag TW.svg
 | title=
-| distributors=[[Aaronix]] (198x-198x), [[Wenmao Co.Ltd]] (1990-1993), [[Pai Yuing Company Ltd]] (1993-199x), [[Computer & Entertainment Inc.]] (199x-1998), [[Pacific T-Zone]] (1998-200x), [[New Era]] (2005-2019), [[AtGames]] (2005-present), [[Shanda Games]] (2013-201x)
+| distributors=[[Aaronix]] (198x-198x), [[Wenmao Co.Ltd]] (1990-1993), [[Pai Yuing Company Ltd]] (1993-199x), [[Pacific T-Zone]] (1998-200x), [[New Era]] (2005-2019), [[AtGames]] (2005-present)
 | ratingsboard=
 }}{{stub}}
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==Aaronix==
 Due to legal restrictions, Sega could not import its products from Japan so they got along with [[Aaronix]] to produce its consoles under their brand. They released rebranded [[SG-1000]], [[SG-1000 II]], [[Sega Mark III]] and [[Sega Master System]]<ref>http://scanlines16.com/en/blog-3/retro-gaming/sega-megadrive/jeux-megadrive-asia/</ref><ref>https://www.zhihu.com/appview/p/39495468</ref> with distribution help of [[Taiwan Jialingxing]].<ref>https://es.linkedin.com/pulse/sega-mega-drive-en-territorios-sino-hablantes-taiw%C3%A1n-sergio</ref> The restrictions were abolish in 1987.
+Arcade machines were distribute by [[Laxan]] since 1983<ref>http://laxan.com.tw/en/index.php</ref>.
 ==Wenmao Co.Ltd==
 [[File:MD HAA-2510 TW.jpg|thumb|Wenmao sticker|150px]]
-In 1990, [[Wenmao Co.Ltd]] (文贸有限公司) released NTSC versions of the [[Sega Mega Drive]]<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref>, and [[Game Gear]] in the next year. In 1991, [[Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyuutachi]] and [[Warrior of Rome]] were translate and release here.<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref> Wenmao distributed [[Mega CD]] model I and [[Teradrive]] from 1992{{fileref|TopMegaDrive4 Book TW.pdf|page=2}} and started importing Mega Drive 2 in 1993, before they left the market.
+In 1990, [[Wenmao Co.Ltd]] (文贸有限公司) released NTSC versions of the [[Sega Mega Drive]]<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref>, and [[Game Gear]] in the next year. In 1991, ''[[Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyuutachi]]'' and ''[[Warrior of Rome]]'' were translate into Chinese and release here.<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref> Wenmao distributed [[Mega CD]] model I and [[Teradrive]] from 1992{{fileref|TopMegaDrive4 Book TW.pdf|page=2}} and started importing Mega Drive 2 in 1993, before they left the market.
 [[Top Mega-Drive]] magazine about Sega video games was published between 1992-1994.
@@ Line 20: / Line 22: @@
 Taiwanese factories, as is the case for many Asian countries, are often responsible for the manufacturing of electronics equipment, including video game consoles, accessories and games designed by Sega. However, cheap manufacturing costs and relaxed copyright laws have led to Taiwan being a hub for unlicensed hardware and software too. The majority of unlicensed video games for third and fourth generation video games (such as the NES/Famicom and [[Sega Mega Drive]]) originate from the country.
-==Pai Yuing Company Ltd and C&E==
+==Pai Yuing Company Ltd==
 [[File:Sega Golden Seal TW PaiYuing.jpg|thumb|Pai Yuing golden sticker|200px]]
-In 1993, [[Pai Yuing Company Ltd]] (百韻股份有限公司) took over distribution, releasing Mega Drive 2 and Mega CD 2 same year.<ref>https://es.linkedin.com/pulse/sega-mega-drive-en-territorios-sino-hablantes-taiw%C3%A1n-sergio</ref> In the next year they manage to sell [[Mega Drive 32X]] here. The consoles and games sold by them had special gold (sometimes white) sticker on the box. Taiwan was the first country outside of Japan and the U.S. to receive the [[Sega Channel]] around September/October of 1995.
+In 1993, [[Pai Yuing Company Ltd]] (百韻股份有限公司) took over distribution, releasing Mega Drive 2 and Mega CD 2 same year.<ref>https://es.linkedin.com/pulse/sega-mega-drive-en-territorios-sino-hablantes-taiw%C3%A1n-sergio</ref> In the next year they manage to sell [[Mega Drive 32X]] here. The consoles and games sold by them had special gold (sometimes white) sticker on the box to help customer distinguish clones from original. Taiwan was the first country outside of Japan and the U.S. to receive the [[Sega Channel]] around September/October of 1995.
-[[Sega Saturn]] seems to be distributed by [[Computer & Entertainment Inc.]] (全崴资讯)<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref>. C&E was before that, like other companies (for example [[Realtec]]) producing unlicensed products overseas, and C&E's ''[[Xin Qi Gai Wang Zi]]'' (otherwise known as ''Beggar Prince'') was given a global release by [[Super Fighter Team]]. C&E work with [[Game Bank]] to release official Saturn games. [[Koei]] was one of the first Japanese video game companies to have active operations in both China and Taiwan, so Saturn games such as ''[[Sangokushi IV]]'' and ''[[Sangokushi V]]'' have seen official releases in these regions. Sega Saturn was pretty popular here but was distributed chaotically with a lot of parallel imports and pirate software.<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072</ref>
+[[Computer & Entertainment Inc.]] (全崴资讯) and other companies (for example [[Realtec]]) produced unlicensed products overseas, and C&E's ''[[Xin Qi Gai Wang Zi]]'' (otherwise known as ''Beggar Prince'') was given a global release by [[Super Fighter Team]].
-Sega introduced [[Pico]] to Taiwan and Indonesia in late 1997 and expect to achieve total sales of 330,000 units in both countries by 2000.<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-to-launch-pico-toy-computer-in-1997--118094</ref>
+==Sega Saturn==
+[[Sega Saturn]] seems to be released here by unknown distributor and was pretty popular but distribution was chaotic. Sega's agent withdrew from the market at some point and console was  left with a lot of parallel imports, pirate software and unstable market price<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072</ref>.
+Sega introduced [[Pico]] to Taiwan and Indonesia in late 1997 and expect to achieve total sales of 330,000 units in both countries by 2000<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/sega-to-launch-pico-toy-computer-in-1997--118094</ref>.
 Windows PC games from Sega released in late 90s, were distribute by [[Worldwise Enterprise]] and [[Media Master International]].
 ==Pacific T-Zone==
-On August 28, 1998, [[Pacific T-Zone]] signed an agreement with Sega to distributed [[Sega Dreamcast]] in the region.<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072</ref> Sega tried to contact Taiwanese producers to create and port games for Saturn and Dreamcast<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5813</ref>. For example, Daewoo released in 1999 [[Senken Kigyouden]]<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/3449</ref>. [[Dianji Sega Saturn]] and [[Dianji Dreamcast]] were magazines published at the time. On November 27, 1998, T-Zone released Dreamcast with 4 games. Demand was estimated on 10,000 units but due to shortages, only small part of this got to Taiwan and the rest was expected to arrive on January 1999.<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5410</ref> [[Sega.com Asia]], (online subsidiary of Sega Japan for Asia)<ref>https://segaretro.org/Press_release:_2000-04-26:_Sega.com_Opens_Hong_Kong_Office</ref>announced in August 2000, that [[Gigamedia]] will launch a online service for consoles in late 2000/early 2001<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=yDreamcast</ref><ref>https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/08/16/segacom-moves-into-taiwan</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010208231942/http://www.sega.com.hk/b5/aboutsega/press3.htm</ref>, but it never happened.<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref> Sega.com Asia said in August that Sega sold 400,000 Dreamcast consoles in Taiwan and expects the number to exceed 1.2 million by 2002<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=y</ref>.
+On August 28, 1998, [[Pacific T-Zone]] signed an agreement with Sega to distributed [[Sega Dreamcast]] in the region.<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/6072</ref> Sega tried to contact Taiwanese producers to create and port games for Saturn and Dreamcast<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5813</ref>. [[Koei]] was one of the first Japanese video game companies to have active operations in both China and Taiwan, so Saturn games such as ''[[Sangokushi IV]]'' and ''[[Sangokushi V]]'' have seen official releases in these regions. Daewoo released ''[[Senken Kigyouden]]'' in 1999 <ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/3449</ref> and C&E work with [[Game Bank]] to release official Saturn games as well. [[Dianji Sega Saturn]] and [[Dianji Dreamcast]] were magazines published at the time.
+On November 27, 1998, T-Zone released Dreamcast with 4 games. Demand was estimated on 10,000 units but due to shortages, only small part of this got to Taiwan and the rest was expected to arrive on January 1999.<ref>https://www.ithome.com.tw/news/5410</ref> [[Sega.com Asia]], (online subsidiary of Sega Japan for Asia)<ref>https://segaretro.org/Press_release:_2000-04-26:_Sega.com_Opens_Hong_Kong_Office</ref>announced in August 2000, that [[Gigamedia]] will launch a online service for consoles in late 2000/early 2001<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=yDreamcast</ref><ref>https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/08/16/segacom-moves-into-taiwan</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010208231942/http://www.sega.com.hk/b5/aboutsega/press3.htm</ref>, but it never happened.<ref>https://www.gcores.com/articles/99611</ref> Sega.com Asia said in August that Sega sold 400,000 Dreamcast consoles in Taiwan and expects the number to exceed 1.2 million by 2002<ref>https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB966278876957260118?tesla=y</ref>.
 ==After Dreamcast==