Sega AM1

Sega AM1
Founded: 1984
Defunct: 2000-04-21
Merged into: Sega AM3 (1990), WOW Entertainment (2000)
Headquarters: Japan
1990 1999 ← Sega R&D 1 Sega Software R&D Dept. 1 →

Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development Department #1, (Sega AM R&D Dept. #1) was a division within Sega Enterprises. It was formed in primarily to create arcade (or "amusement") games. In May 1999 it became Sega Software R&D Dept. 1, and later WOW Entertainment in 2000.

AM1 is supposed to be the oldest development division within Sega. Koichi Izumi who then was at the sister arcade division Sega AM3, counted numeruos titles developed in AM1, claiming so many were developed that he could not list them all. This page compiles the games mentioned, as well as common credits among titles. And then titles from the WOW Entertainment production history website..

The most popular titles and well known titles from AM1 during the eighties were action or beat' em' up titles, with creators Makoto Uchida on the forefront with Altered Beast andd Golden Axe and Alien Storm. Also noteworthy are the very first Shinobi title by Yutaka Sugano or Shadow Dancer by Yoshiki Ooka.

1991, Sega AM1 had a major shake up, especially with the formation of Sega AM3 which had former Sega AM1 members. Previously involved with Phantasy Star III, Kazunari Tsukamoto went on to work on OutRunners, Harley Davidson & L.A. Riders and The Ocean Hunter with AM1.

Overall the most known titles during the nineties were The House of the Dead and Die Hard Arcade. AM1 also made strides with the big eleborate cabinets of Airline Pilots or Sega Bass Fishing, bringing back the "taikan" (body sensation) concept of arcades, previously introduced by Yu Suzuki and Sega AM2. Another speciality of Sega AM1 were games for the Sega Titan Video arcade board which had an identical architecture to the Sega Saturn, making ports easy, such as with the AM1 developed Virtua Fighter Remix.

Members

• Akira Watanabe
• Eiro Nagata
• Hirosama Kaneko
• Kazunari Tsukamoto
• Kazuo Wakihara
• Makoto Uchida
• Rikiya Nakagawa
• Takashi Oda
• Taku Makino

Former members

• Hisao Oguchi
• Junichi Tsuchiya
• Shuichi Katagi
• Yoshiki Ooka
• Yutaka Sugano

Softography

System 24

• Quiz Rouka ni Tattenasai! (1991)
• Tokoro San no MahMahjan (1992)
• Quiz Mekurumeku Story (1993)
• Tokoro San no MahMahjan 2 (1994)
• Quiz Ghost Hunter (1994)

System 18

• Desert Breaker (1992)

System C2

• Soreike! Anpanman Popcorn Kojo (1992)
• Puyo Puyo (1992)
• Waku Waku Marine (1992)
• Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (1993)
• SegaSonic Popcorn Shop (1993)
• Doraemon no Dokodemodoa (1994)
• Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (1994)
• Stack Columns (1994)
• Zunzunkyou no Yabou (1994)

System 32

• Spider-Man: The Videogame (1991) (final)
• Air Rescue (1992)
• Holosseum (1992)
• Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992)
• Alien 3: The Gun (1993)
• OutRunners (1993)
• Super Visual Football (1994)
• Super Visual Soccer (1994)
• The J.League 1994 (1994)
• Tesou Uranai Chotto Misete (1995)

Model 1

• Wing War (1994)

Model 2

• Sky Target (1995)
• Dead or Alive (1996)
• WaveRunner (1996)
• Sega Water Ski (1997)
• The House of the Dead (1997)
• Motor Raid (1997)

H1 Board

• Cool Riders (1995)

Model 3

• Sega Bass Fishing (1997)
• Ski Champ (1998)

Mega Drive

• Puyo Puyo (1992)

Game Gear

• Puyo Puyo (1993)

Sega Titan Video

• Waku Waku Tama & Friends (1994)
• Sports Fishing 2 (1995) (programming)
• Super Major League (1995)
• Virtua Fighter Remix (1995)
• Golden Axe: The Duel (1995)
• Ejihon Tantei Jimusho (1995)
• Final Arch (1995)
• Critter Crusher (1995)
• Puzzle & Action: Treasure Hunt (1995)
• Die Hard Arcade (1996)
• Magical Zunou Power (1996)
• Columns '97 (1997)
• Aroma Club (1997)
• Waku Waku Shinkansen (1997)
• Maru-chan de Goo! (1997)
• Zen Nihon Pro Wres Featuring Virtua (1997)
• Taisen Tanto-R Sasissu! (1998)
• Stress Busters (1998)
• Byousatsu (unreleased)

Saturn

• Golden Axe: The Duel (1995)
• Virtua Fighter Remix (1995)
• Die Hard Arcade (1997)
• Zen Nihon Pro Wres Featuring Virtua (1997)

NAOMI

• The House of the Dead 2 (1998)
• Zombie Revenge (1999)
• Giant Gram: Zen Nihon Pro Wres 2 in Nihon Budoukan (1999)
• Giant Gram 2000: Zen Nihon Pro Wres 3 Eikou no Yuushatachi (2000)

NAOMI Multiboard

• Airline Pilots (1999)

Dreamcast

• Dynamite Cop (1999)
• Giant Gram: Zen Nihon Pro Wres 2 in Nihon Budoukan (1999)

Sega System 1

• Sindbad Mystery (1984)

Sega Space Harrier

• Enduro Racer (1985)

System 16

• Time Scanner (1987)
• Touryuumon (1994)

System C

• Puyo Puyo (1992) (with Compile)
• Puzzle & Action: Ichidant-R (1994)
• Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (1992)

System C-2

• SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol (1993)
• Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car (1993)
• SegaSonic Popcorn Shop (1993)
• Waku Waku Tama & Friends (1994)

System 32

• Stadium Cross (1992)

Sega Model 2A CRX

• Motor Raid (1997)
• Dynamite Cop (1998)

Sega Model 2B CRX

• Indy 500 (1995)
• Dynamite Baseball (1996)
• Dynamite Baseball 97 (1997)

Sega Model 2C CRX

• Sega Ski Super G (1996)

Sega Model 3 Step 2.0

• Harley-Davidson & L.A. Riders (1997)

Sega Model 3 Step 2.1

• The Ocean Hunter (1998)
• Emergency Call Ambulance (1999)

NAOMI

• Ring Out 4x4 (1999)
• Sega Marine Fishing (1999)
• The Typing of the Dead (1999) (with Smilebit)

Unique/Unknown

• World Bingo (1985)
• Starlight Fortune (1993)
• Teso Uranai Chotto Misete (1993)
• FuwaFuwa Puren (1994)
• Majikaru Zuno Pawa (1996)

Saturn

• Sky Target (1997) (with Tantalus Interactive)
• The House of the Dead (1998) (with Tantalus Interactive)

Dreamcast

• The House of the Dead 2 (1999)

External links

• Sega AM1's production history in the WOW Entertainment website (Internet Archive)