Difference between revisions of "Smilebit"

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[[File:Smilebit.svg|thumb|right|250px]]
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{{CompanyBob
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'''Smilebit''' was a research and development division within [[Sega]]. After a company shakeup in 1998, Smilebit emerged as a replacement for [[Sega AM6]], and operated until 2004  when Smilebit itself became known as Sega's '''Sports Design R&D Dept.''' (''New Entertainment R&D Dept. #3''). Both Sega AM6 and Smilebit had built up a reputation for producing Sega's line of sports titles, and are now the only team at Sega catering for this genre.
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| logo=Smilebit.svg
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| founded=2000-04-21{{fileref|IR EN 2003-07-30.pdf|page=4}}
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| defunct=2004-07-01{{fileref|IR EN 2004-05-18.pdf}}
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| headquarters=Japan
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| prevdate=2000-04-21
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| prev=[[Sega Software R&D Dept. 6]]
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| nextdate=2004-07-01{{fileref|IR EN 2004-05-18.pdf}}
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| next=[[Sega Sports Design R&D Dept.]]
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}}
  
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Smilebit's creation brought together specialist teams within Sega AM6 such as [[Team Aquila]] (''[[Victory Goal]]'') and [[Team Andromeda]] (''[[Panzer Dragoon]]''), though several of these members moved over to [[United Game Artists]] and [[Amusement Vision]]. It was headed by [[Shun Arai]] until 2004, and is now run by [[Takayuki Kawagoe]].
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'''Smilebit''' (スマイルビット) was a research and development subsidiary of [[Sega Corporation (2000-2015)|Sega Corporation]]. It is best seen as a logical continuation of [[Sega Software R&D Dept. 6]] (formerly known as [[Sega CS1]]). It is largely different to CS1, with the majority of those developers leaving Sega to join the new start-ups [[Artoon]] and [[Land Ho!]], or having joined the new [[Sega Software R&D Dept. 9]]/[[United Game Artists]]. Smilebit is largely based on [[Sega PC]] instead. Over time, Smilebit became the de facto studio for sports games, with the majority being aimed at Japan. Internationally, Smilebit was known for it's high-end Dreamcast and Xbox titles. Those developers ended up at largely at [[New Entertainment R&D Dept.]].
  
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Before specializing solely in sports games Smilebit was also responsible for cult classics such as ''[[Jet Set Radio]]'' and ''[[The Typing of the Dead]]''.
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Following a corporate restructure at Sega in October 2003, Smilebit was redefined as a developer exclusively dedicated to sports games{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231122221751/https://dengekionline.com/data/news/2003/10/2/4de4797b84de660ec1f84f185bf76b5d.html}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231130002500/https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20180418132/}}. President [[Shun Arai]] was transferred to [[Sega Creative Center]], replaced by [[Takayuki Kawagoe]], and the developers associated with the ''[[:category:Panzer Dragoon (franchise)|Panzer Dragoon]]'' and ''[[:category:Jet Set Radio|Jet Set Radio]]'' franchises migrated to [[Amusement Vision]]{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20231122221751/https://dengekionline.com/data/news/2003/10/2/4de4797b84de660ec1f84f185bf76b5d.html}}, taking with them the in-development arcade game ''[[Ollie King]]''.
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The company was reintegrated with [[Sega Corporation (2000-2015)|Sega Corporation]] as '''Smilebit Div''' (スマイルビットDiv) in July 2004, and rebranded as [[Sega Sports Design R&D Dept.]] in November the same year.{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20091219123904/http://sega.jp/segamoba/about/column.html}}
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==Company statistics==
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*'''Capital:''' 120 million yen{{magref|dmjp|2000-26|35}}{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20010412114044/http://www.smilebit.com/gaiyou.html}}, 220 million yen{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20040612191953/http://www.smilebit.com/company/company.html}}
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*'''Number of Employees:''' 105 (2000-07-01){{magref|dmjp|2000-26|35}}, 106 (2000-07-01){{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20010412114044/http://www.smilebit.com/gaiyou.html}}, roughly 60 (2003-10-01){{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20040612191953/http://www.smilebit.com/company/company.html}}
  
 
==Softography==
 
==Softography==
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*''[[Sega Rally 2]]'' (1999)
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{{CompanyHistoryAll|Smilebit|Smilebit Div|showmobile=yes}}
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*''[[Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou!]]'' (1999)
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*''[[J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou!]]'' (1999)
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==List of staff==
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*''[[Pro Yakyuu Team de Asobou!]]'' (1999)
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{{StaffList|Smilebit|employees=yes}}
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*''[[Jet Set Radio]]'' (2000)
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*''[[The Typing of the Dead]]'' (2000) (also with [[WOW Entertainment]])
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==Photo gallery==
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*''[[Soccer Tsuku Tokudaigou: J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou!]]'' (2000)
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<gallery>
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*''[[90 Minutes: Sega Championship Football]]'' (2001)
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HundredSwords developers DCM JP 2000-37.jpg|''[[Hundred Swords]]'' lead developers
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*''[[Hundred Swords]]'' (2001)
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</gallery>
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*''[[The Typing of the Dead: U.S Edition]]'' (2001) (also with WOW Entertainment)
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*''[[Derby Tsuku 2]]'' (2001)
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==Magazine articles==
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*''[[Soccer Tsuku Tokudaigou 2: J.League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou!]]'' (2001)
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{{mainArticle|{{PAGENAME}}/Magazine articles}}
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*''[[Virtua Striker 3]]'' (2001) (also with Amusement Vision)
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*''[[Virtua Striker 3 Ver.2002]]'' (2002) (also with Amusement Vision)
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==External links==
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*''[[Virtua Striker 2002]]'' (2002) (also with Amusement Vision)
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* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040609212523/http://www.smilebit.com/index.html Smilebit Official websites (Japanese, Internet Archive)]
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*''[[Jet Set Radio Future]]'' (2002)
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*''[[Panzer Dragoon Orta]]'' (2002)
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==References==
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*''[[Gunvalkyrie]]'' (2002)
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<references />
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*''[[Baseball Advance]]'' (2002)
 
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*''[[Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! Advance]]'' (2002)
 
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*''[[The Typing of the Dead 2003]]'' (2002) (also with [[WOW Entertainment]])
 
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*''[[Soccer Tsuku 2002: J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou!]]'' (2002)
 
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*''[[J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! Advance]]'' (2002)
 
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*''[[The Typing of the Dead 2004]]'' (2003) (also with [[WOW Entertainment]])
 
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*''[[Derby Tsuku 3]]'' (2003)
 
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*''[[J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 3]]'' (2003)
 
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*''[[J. League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! '04]]'' (2004)  
 
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*''[[Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! Europe Championship]]'' (2006)
 
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*''[[The Typing of the Dead 2]]'' (2007) (also with [[WOW Entertainment]])
 
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*''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games]]'' (2007) (also with [[Sonic Team]], [[Nintendo]] and [[Racjin]])
 
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*''[[Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games]]'' (2009) (also with [[Sonic Team]], [[Nintendo]] and [[Racjin]])
 
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*''[[Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games]]'' (2011) (also with [[Sonic Team]], [[Nintendo]] and [[Racjin]])
 
 
{{clear}}
 
{{clear}}
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{{SegaDevs}}
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{{SoJ}}
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[[Category:Development Companies]]
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[[Category:Sega companies]]

Latest revision as of 08:02, 30 June 2024

https://segaretro.org/images/4/4a/Smilebit.svg

Smilebit.svg
Smilebit
Founded: 2000-04-21[1]
Defunct: 2004-07-01[2]
Headquarters:
Japan
2000-04-21
2004-07-01[2]

Smilebit (スマイルビット) was a research and development subsidiary of Sega Corporation. It is best seen as a logical continuation of Sega Software R&D Dept. 6 (formerly known as Sega CS1). It is largely different to CS1, with the majority of those developers leaving Sega to join the new start-ups Artoon and Land Ho!, or having joined the new Sega Software R&D Dept. 9/United Game Artists. Smilebit is largely based on Sega PC instead. Over time, Smilebit became the de facto studio for sports games, with the majority being aimed at Japan. Internationally, Smilebit was known for it's high-end Dreamcast and Xbox titles. Those developers ended up at largely at New Entertainment R&D Dept..

Following a corporate restructure at Sega in October 2003, Smilebit was redefined as a developer exclusively dedicated to sports games[3][4]. President Shun Arai was transferred to Sega Creative Center, replaced by Takayuki Kawagoe, and the developers associated with the Panzer Dragoon and Jet Set Radio franchises migrated to Amusement Vision[3], taking with them the in-development arcade game Ollie King.

The company was reintegrated with Sega Corporation as Smilebit Div (スマイルビットDiv) in July 2004, and rebranded as Sega Sports Design R&D Dept. in November the same year.[5]

Company statistics

  • Capital: 120 million yen[6][7], 220 million yen[8]
  • Number of Employees: 105 (2000-07-01)[6], 106 (2000-07-01)[7], roughly 60 (2003-10-01)[8]

Softography

Triforce

Chihiro

Dreamcast

Game Boy Advance

PlayStation 2

GameCube

Xbox

Windows PC

i-mode 90x

J-Sky (50KB)

List of staff

Photo gallery

Magazine articles

Main article: Smilebit/Magazine articles.

External links

References

  1. ↑ File:IR EN 2003-07-30.pdf, page 4
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:IR EN 2004-05-18.pdf
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://dengekionline.com/data/news/2003/10/2/4de4797b84de660ec1f84f185bf76b5d.html (Wayback Machine: 2023-11-22 22:17)
  4. ↑ https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999905/20180418132/ (Wayback Machine: 2023-11-30 00:25)
  5. ↑ http://sega.jp/segamoba/about/column.html (Wayback Machine: 2009-12-19 12:39)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dreamcast Magazine, "2000-26 (2000-08-04,11)" (JP; 2000-07-21), page 35
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.smilebit.com/gaiyou.html (Wayback Machine: 2001-04-12 11:40)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://www.smilebit.com/company/company.html (Wayback Machine: 2004-06-12 19:19)


Timeline of Sega of Japan research and development divisions








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