Difference between revisions of "Wave Master"

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[[Image:Wavemaster.svg|right|300px]]
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{{CompanyBob
Game music has come a long way since the days of shrill beeping noises. The game soundtracks of today consist of rich orchestral scores, multi-layered guitars, and thumping modern beats. Sega has a long history of great game music, and much of it has come from one company -- '''Wave Master'''. This award-winning team has created some of the most memorable scores in gaming history. They have also branched out into other endeavors, including game development and music for television.
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| logo=Wavemaster.svg
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| founded=2000-08-01
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| defunct=
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| mergedwith=
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| mergedinto=
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| headquarters=Tokyo, Japan
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| prev=[[Sega Digital Media]]
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| prevdate=2000-08-01
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}}
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'''Wave Master Inc.''' (株式会社ウェーブマスター) is a Japanese music business owned by the [[Sega Sammy Group]]. Originally a successor to [[Sega Digital Media]], Wave Master's original role was to produce music for [[Sega]]'s video games, however is has since branched out into other forms of entertainment such as film and television, and acts as a record label, managing Japanese musicians and artists.
  
Wave Master (formerly known as Sega Digital Media) employs nearly 30-40 sound designers and recording engineers at their Tokyo office. The company is overseen by president [[Yukifumi Makino]], a veteran of the game music industry. Makino's love for music began at an early age, where he was influenced by everything from The Beatles to the Jaws soundtrack. Makino has directed and produced some of Sega's most famous soundtracks, including ''[[Sonic CD]]'', ''[[NiGHTS]]'', and ''[[Space Channel 5]]''.
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Wave Master was also briefly a video game developer in its own right, releasing ''[[Switch]]'' and ''[[New Roommania: Porori Seishun]]'' for the [[PlayStation 2]] (and the PS2 port of ''[[Roommania 203|Roommania #203]]'', originally developed as Sega Digital Media). The company became solely concerned with music in 2003, absorbing [[Sammy]]'s music business, Underground Liberation Force, on 1st April, 2005{{fileref|IR EN 2005-01-28 3.pdf|page=2}}.
  
At the heart of Wave Master's operations is their state-of-the-art recording studio. It is composed of three rooms: a control room with a high-end 56-channel mixing console, a 4.6 x 5 meter "live" room with acoustic reflectors, and a 4 x 6.2 meter "dead" room with sound dampening properties.
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As well as having its own musicians and recording engineers, Wave Master also has a recording studio which has been hired by third-party organisations.
  
Many of the most popular Sega soundtracks have come from Wave Master, including ''Panzer Dragoon Saga'', ''Phantasy Star Online'', and the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Wave Master's music has received critical acclaim, and has been recognized by the International Game Developers Association and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for excellence in the field. In addition to releasing game scores, Wave Master has put out remixes and compilation albums of their music.
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For a while Wave Master were maintaining a handful of sub-labels, the two prominent ones being '''Wave Master Artists''' (for regular musical acts signed up with the record label) and '''Wave Master Entertainment''', used for video game, film and animation soundtracks. Both were established in late 2003{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20071118204111/http://sega.jp/corp/release/2003/0807/}}. As of 2023, Wave Master Artists' management division was transferred to Haru Entertainment.
  
Some of Wave Master's most powerful works feature technology that dynamically changes the music based on game situations. When flying your airship in ''Skies of Arcadia'', the main musical theme subtly changed based on your location in the world. ''Jet Grind Radio'''s pumping hip-hop tracks blended together in a way that mirrored a DJ mixing records on turntables. The main theme of ''Space Channel 5'' progressively decomposed the worse you did in the game.
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==Company statistics==
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*'''Capital:''' 30 million yen{{magref|dmjp|2000-26|36}}
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*'''Number of Employees:''' 41 (2000-03){{magref|dmjp|2000-26|36}}
  
There's more to Wave Master than just game music. In 2000, Wave Master entered the world of game development with a quirky life simulation title called ''Roommania #203''. They also handled the Japanese versions of Visual Concepts' Sega Sports 2K series. Other Wave Master projects include Radio DC (an Internet radio program featuring Sega game music), the Sonic Cafe suite of mobile phone applications, and jingles for TV shows and commercials in Japan.
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==Softography (as developer)==
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{{CompanyHistoryAll|Wave Master|role=Developer}}
  
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==Softography (as support)==
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{{CompanyHistoryAll|Wave Master|role=Support}}
  
==Team's Employees==
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===[[Dreamcast]]===
'''''Wave Master''''' is also notable for achieving popular music in their games. There are a number of popular composers that have stuck with the developer for a long time, and are well known around the fanbase:
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{{multicol|
*[[Yukifumi Makino]] (head of Wave Master from 1991-2004 now moved to Delfi Sound Inc.)
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* ''[[Daytona USA 2001]]'' (2000)
*[[Fumie Kumatani]]
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* ''[[Guru Guru Onsen 2]]'' (2001)
*[[Tomoya Ohtani]]
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* ''[[Guru Guru Onsen 3]]'' (2002)
*[[Kenichi Tokoi]]
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* ''[[Hundred Swords]]'' (2001)
*[[Runblebee]]- (works with Kenichi Tokoi)  
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* ''[[Jet Set Radio|De La Jet Set Radio]]'' (2000)
*[[Hideaki Kobayashi]]
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* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' (2001)
*[[Tomonori Sawada]]
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* ''[[Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream]]'' (2000)
*[[Naofumi Hataya]]
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Ver.2]]'' (2001)
*[[Mariko Nanba]]
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' (2000)
*[[Jun Senoue]] (also works with Sonic Team)
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* ''[[Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! & Asobou!]]'' (2001)
*[[Yutaka Minobe]] (left in Wave Master in 2005 now moved to Delfi Sound Inc.)
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* ''[[Rez]]'' (2001)
*[[Seirou Okamoto]]
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* ''[[Sakura Taisen 2]]'' (2001)
*[[Taihei Sato]]
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* ''[[Sakura Taisen 3]]'' (2001)
*[[Takahito Eguchi]]
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* ''[[Sakura Taisen 4]]'' (2002)
*[[Masaru Setsumaru]]
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* ''[[Samba de Amigo Ver.2000]]'' (2000)
*[[Tatsutoshi Narita]]
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* ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' (2000)
*[[Fumitaka Shibata]] (now head of Wave Master and Sega Digtal Studio)
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* ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' (2001)
*[[Takenobu Mitsuyoshi]]
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* ''[[Space Channel 5: Part 2]]'' (2002)
*[[Tomoko Sasaki]]
 
*[[Hideki Naganuma]]
 
*[[Saori Kobayashi]]
 
*[[Junko Shiratsu]]
 
*[[Yayoi Wachi]]
 
*[[Tatsuya Kousaki]]
 
*[[Tatsuyuki Maeda]]
 
  
==Games developed by Wave Master==
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===[[Game Boy Advance]]===
* ''Roomania #203'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]], [[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''[[Baseball Advance]]'' (2002)
* ''Switch'' (2002) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''[[J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! Advance]]'' (2001)
* ''New Roommania: Porori Seishun'' (2003) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''[[Puyo Pop]]'' (2001)
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* ''[[Sonic Advance 2]]'' (2002)
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* ''[[Sonic Advance 3]]'' (2004)
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* ''[[Sonic Advance]]'' (2001)
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* ''[[Sonic Battle]]'' (2003)
  
==Music & Sound developed by Wave Master==
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===[[PlayStation 2]]===
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' (1991) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' (1992) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Astro Boy]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Sonic CD]]'' (1993) ([[Sega CD]])
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* ''[[Initial D: Special Stage]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'' (1994) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Nightshade]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic & Knuckles]]'' (1994) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! 2003]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic 3 & Knuckles]]'' (1994) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! 2]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic Crackers]]'' (Cancelled) (1994) ([[Sega Genesis]])
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* ''[[Puyo Pop Fever]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Knuckles Chaotix]]'' (1995) ([[Sega 32X]])
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* ''[[Rez]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Panzer Dragoon]]'' (1995) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Shinobi (2002)|Shinobi]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Sonic Xtreme]]'' (Cancelled) (1996) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Saka Tsuku 2002: J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! ]]'' (2002)
* ''[[NiGHTS into Dreams]]'' (1996) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Christmas NiGHTS]]'' (1996) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Space Channel 5: Part 2]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Panzer Dragoon Zwei]]'' (1996) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Switch]]''  (2002)
* ''[[Sonic 3D Blast]]'' (1996) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Sonic Jam]]'' (1997) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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===[[Xbox]]===
* ''[[Sonic R]]'' (1997) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Burning Rangers]]'' (1998) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Gunvalkyrie]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Panzer Dragoon Saga]]''(1998) ([[Sega Saturn]])
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* ''[[Jet Set Radio Future]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'' (1998) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Panzer Dragoon Orta]]'' (2002)
* ''Air Nights'' (Cancelled) (1998) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus]]'' (2003)
* ''[[ChuChu Rocket!]]'' (1999) ([[Dreamcast]], [[Game Boy Advance]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Samba de Amigo]]'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]], [[Arcade]])
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* ''[[Puyo Pop Fever]]'' (2004)
* ''Samba de Amigo Ver.2000'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic Shuffle]]'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Jet Set Radio]]'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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===[[GameCube]]===
* ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg]]'' (2003)
* ''Roommania #203'' (2000) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' (2001) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2]]'' (2002)
* ''Phantasy Star Online Ver.2'' (2001) ([[Dreamcast]])
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Rez]]'' (2001) ([[Dreamcast]], [[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox 360]])
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* ''[[Puyo Pop Fever]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Sonic Mega Collection]]'' (2002) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Sonic Adventure 2: Battle]]'' (2002)
* ''Skies of Arcadia Legends'' (2002) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut]]'' (2002)
* ''Jet Set Radio Future'' (2002) ([[Xbox]])
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* ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic Adventure 2: Battle]]'' (2002) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Sonic Mega Collection]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Sonic Advance]]'' (2002) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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* ''[[Panzer Dragoon Orta]]'' (2002) ([[Xbox]])
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===[[NAOMI]]===
* ''Sonic Adventure 3'' (Cancelled) (2002) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2'' (2002) ([[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Dragon Treasure]]'' (2003)
* ''Switch''  (2002) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''[[Samba de Amigo Ver.2000]]'' (2000)
* ''[[Space Channel 5: Part 2]]'' (2002) ([[Dreamcast]], [[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''New Roommania: Porori Seishun'' (2003) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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===[[NAOMI 2]]===
* ''Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2 Plus'' (2003) ([[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Initial D: Arcade Stage]]'' (2001)
* ''Phantasy Star Online Episode 3: Card Revolution'' (2003) ([[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Initial D: Arcade Stage Ver. 2]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg]]'' (2003) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Initial D: Version 3]]'' (2003)
* ''[[Sonic Adventure DX]]'' (2003) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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}}
* ''[[Sonic Advance 2]]'' (2003) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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* ''[[Sonic Battle]]'' (2004) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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==Softography (non-Sega)==
* ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' (2004) ([[Nintendo GameCube]], [[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], PC)
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These games do not have pages on Sega Retro.
* ''[[Sonic Mega Collection Plus]]'' (2004) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], PC)
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* ''[[Sonic Advance 3]]'' (2004) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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====[[Game Boy Advance]]====
* ''[[Feel the Magic: XY/XX]]'' (2004) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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* ''Rika-chan No Oshare Nikki'' (2004)
* ''[[Sega Superstars]]'' (2004) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''Astro Boy'' (2004) ([[PlayStation 2]])
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====[[PlayStation 2]]====
* ''Puyo Pop Fever'' (2004) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Dreamcast]], [[Nintendo GameCube]], [[Xbox]], Mac OS, [[Game Boy Advance]], Microsoft Windows, Pocket PC, Personal digital assistant, [[PlayStation Portable]], [[Nintendo DS]], [[Arcade]])
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* ''Super Galdelic Hour'' (2001; [[Enix]])
* ''Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst'' (2004) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''Ghost Vibration'' (2002; [[Artoon]]/[[Eidos]]/[[Infogrames]])
* ''Phantasy Star Online Episode 4'' (2005) ([[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''Onimusha Blade Warriors'' (2003; [[Capcom]])
* ''Puyo Pop Fever 2'' (2005) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[PlayStation Portable]], [[Nintendo DS]])
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* ''[[The Rub Rabbits!]]'' (2005) ([[Nintendo DS]])
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====[[Xbox]]====
* ''[[Sonic Gems Collection]]'' (2005) ([[Nintendo GameCube]], [[PlayStation 2]])
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* ''Blinx: The Time Sweeper'' (2002; Artoon/[[Microsoft]])
* ''[[Sonic Rush]]'' (2005) ([[Nintendo DS]])
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* ''Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space'' (2004; Artoon/Microsoft)
* ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog (game)|Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' (2005) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''Fifth Phantom Saga'' (Cancelled) (2005) ([[PlayStation 3]])
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<!-- The Super Galdelic Hour one is from Naofumi Hataya's archive page from somewhere look at posts around http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=8815&view=findpost&p=540151 - andlabs -->
* ''[[Sonic Riders]]'' (2006) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], [[Nintendo GameCube]])
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* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' (2006) ([[PlayStation 3]], [[Xbox 360]])
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==Discography==
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis]]'' (2006) ([[Game Boy Advance]])
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{{Discography|Wave Master}}
* ''[[Phantasy Star Universe]]'' (2006) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox 360]], PC)
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* ''[[Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus]]'' (2007) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox 360]], PC)
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===Wave Master Artists===
* ''[[Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'' (2007) ([[Nintendo Wii]])
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{{Discography|Wave Master Artists}}
* ''[[Sonic Rush Adventure]]'' (2007) ([[Nintendo DS]])
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* ''[[NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams]]'' (2007) ([[Nintendo Wii]])
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===Wave Master Entertainment===
* ''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games]]'' (2007) ([[Nintendo Wii]], [[Nintendo DS]])
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{{Discography|Wave Master Entertainment}}
* ''Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary'' (2007) ([[Nintendo DS]], [[PlayStation 2]], [[PlayStation Portable]], [[Nintendo Wii]])
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* ''[[Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity]]'' (2008) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[Nintendo Wii]])
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===Sound! Shock Series===
* ''[[Sega Superstars Tennis]]'' (2008) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[PlayStation 3]], [[Xbox 360]], [[Nintendo Wii]], [[Nintendo DS]])
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{{Discography|Sound! Shock Series}}
* ''Phantasy Star Portable'' (2008) ([[PlayStation Portable]])
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* ''[[Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood]]'' (2008) ([[Nintendo DS]])
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==List of staff==
* ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' (2008) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[PlayStation 3]], [[Xbox 360]], [[Nintendo Wii]])
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{{StaffList|Wave Master|employees=yes}}
* ''[[Let's Tap]]'' (2008) ([[Nintendo Wii]])
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* ''[[Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' (2009) ([[Nintendo Wii]])
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==Magazine articles==
* ''Phantasy Star Zero'' (2009) ([[Nintendo DS]])
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{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}
* ''Puyo Puyo 7'' (2009) ([[Nintendo DS]], [[PlayStation Portable]], [[Nintendo Wii]])
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* ''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games'' ([[Nintendo Wii]], [[Nintendo DS]])
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==Gallery==
* ''Sonic Mega Collection 3'' (2010) ([[PlayStation 2]], [[PlayStation 3]], [[Xbox 360]], [[Nintendo Wii]])
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<gallery>
 +
SoundShockSeries logo.png|Sound Shock Series label logo
 +
</gallery>
  
<!-- This information originally appeared on SEGA's homepage. I believe some of the 'highlights to be incorrect, as Wave Master would not have worked on Sonic 1, etc. -Alexbt -->
 
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
* [http://www.wave-master.com/ Wave-Master.com]
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040419104955fw_/http://www.wave-master.com/wm/index.html]
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* [http://www.wave-master.com/ Wave-Master.com] (Record label)
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references />
  
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{{SoJ}}
 +
[[Category:Record labels]]
 
[[Category:Music]]
 
[[Category:Music]]

Revision as of 19:06, 18 March 2024

https://segaretro.org/images/e/e6/Wavemaster.svg

Wavemaster.svg
Wave Master
Founded: 2000-08-01
Headquarters:
Tokyo, Japan
2000-08-01

Wave Master Inc. (株式会社ウェーブマスター) is a Japanese music business owned by the Sega Sammy Group. Originally a successor to Sega Digital Media, Wave Master's original role was to produce music for Sega's video games, however is has since branched out into other forms of entertainment such as film and television, and acts as a record label, managing Japanese musicians and artists.

Wave Master was also briefly a video game developer in its own right, releasing Switch and New Roommania: Porori Seishun for the PlayStation 2 (and the PS2 port of Roommania #203, originally developed as Sega Digital Media). The company became solely concerned with music in 2003, absorbing Sammy's music business, Underground Liberation Force, on 1st April, 2005[1].

As well as having its own musicians and recording engineers, Wave Master also has a recording studio which has been hired by third-party organisations.

For a while Wave Master were maintaining a handful of sub-labels, the two prominent ones being Wave Master Artists (for regular musical acts signed up with the record label) and Wave Master Entertainment, used for video game, film and animation soundtracks. Both were established in late 2003[2]. As of 2023, Wave Master Artists' management division was transferred to Haru Entertainment.

Company statistics

  • Capital: 30 million yen[3]
  • Number of Employees: 41 (2000-03)[3]

Softography (as developer)

Softography (as support)

NAOMI

Dreamcast

Pico

Game Boy Advance

PlayStation 2

GameCube

Xbox

N-Gage

Nintendo DS

PlayStation Portable

PlayStation 3

Windows PC

Palm OS

Dreamcast

Game Boy Advance

PlayStation 2

Xbox

GameCube

NAOMI

NAOMI 2

Softography (non-Sega)

These games do not have pages on Sega Retro.

Game Boy Advance

  • Rika-chan No Oshare Nikki (2004)

PlayStation 2

Xbox

  • Blinx: The Time Sweeper (2002; Artoon/Microsoft)
  • Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space (2004; Artoon/Microsoft)


Discography

Vinyl

CD

Wave Master Artists

Wave Master Entertainment

CD

Sound! Shock Series

CD

List of staff

Magazine articles

Main article: Wave Master/Magazine articles.

Gallery

External links

References


Timeline of Sega of Japan research and development divisions








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