Sega AM3

Sega AM3
Founded: 1990
Defunct: 2000-04-21
Merged into: Hitmaker
Headquarters: Japan

Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development Department #3, (Sega AM R&D Dept. #3) was a division within Sega Enterprises. It was formally established in April 1993, due to an internal reorganization of the arcade development section, and existed primarily to create arcade (or "amusement") games. During its existence, this division was commonly referred to as Sega AM3, being the "third" of several R&D divisions within Sega's Japanese operations. From May 1993 onwards, Hisao Oguchi acted as AM3's general manager. AM3 existed for most of the 1990s until May 1999 when it became Sega Software R&D Dept. 3.

Like AM1 and AM2, AM3 brought it's own colour to Sega's amusememnt operations. Most notabe are rail shooters (Rail Chase, Gunblade NY, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), sports (Decathlete, Virtua Tennis) and games that simulate real life careers in Crazy Taxi, Jambo! Safari or Derby Owners Club. VR-1 and Dragon Ball Z V.R.V.S. are also notable for experimenting with virtual reality and motion controls.

Members

• Hisao Oguchi
• Juro Watari
• Kenji Kanno
• Maasaki Ito
• Manabu Washio
• Mie Kumagai
• Nobuyuki Yamashita
• Shinichi Osagawara
• Shintaro Ito
• Takeshi Goden
• Tetsu Okano
• Yoshiro Akata

Former members

• Atsushi Saito
• Junichi Tsuchiya
• Kenji Arai
• Kenji Sasaki
• Tetsuya Mizuguchi

Softography

Y Board

• Rail Chase (1991)

System 18

• D. D. Crew (1991)
• Wally o Sagase! (1992)

System 24

• Dynamic Country Club (1991)

System 32

• Rad Mobile (1991) (final)
• Dark Edge (1993)
• SegaSonic the Hedgehog (1993)
• Jurassic Park (1994)
• Dragon Ball Z V.R.V.S. (1994)

System C2

• Poto Poto (1994)

Model 1

• Star Wars Arcade (1993)
• Dennou Senki Net Merc (1995)

Model 2

• Rail Chase 2 (1995)
• Sega Rally Championship (1995)
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (1996)
• Last Bronx (1996)
• Sega Rally Special Stage (1996)
• Top Skater (1997)

Sega Titan Video

• Baku Baku Animal (1995)
• Funky Head Boxers (1996)
• Decathlete (1996)
• Winter Heat (1997)

Model 3

• Le Mans 24 (1997)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
• L.A. Machineguns (1998)
• Dennou Senki Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.2 (1998)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park Special (1998)
• Dennou Senki Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram Special (1998)
• Magical Truck Adventure (1998)
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.4 (1999)

NAOMI

• Crazy Taxi (1999)

Medal game

• Bingo Party (1993)

Saturn

• Sega Rally Championship (1995)
• Decathlete (1996)
• Sega Rally Championship Plus (1996)
• Manx TT Super Bike (1997)
• Last Bronx (1997)
• Sega Rally Championship Plus NetLink Edition (1997)
• Winter Heat (1998)

Windows PC

• Manx TT Super Bike (1997)

Large attraction

• VR-1 (1994)

X Board

• Carribean Roule (1992) (with Sega AM6)
• Royal Ascot (1992) (with Sega AM6)

Model 1

• Star Wars Arcade (1994)

System 32

• Hard Dunk (1994)
• Rad Mobile (1990)
• Title Fight (1992)

Sega Model 2A CRX

• Manx TT Superbike (1995)
• Sega Rally Championship (1995)

Sega Model 2B CRX

• Rail Chase 2 (1995)
• Gunblade NY (1995)
• Last Bronx (1996)

Sega Model 2C CRX

• Top Skater (1997)

Sega Model 3 Step 1.5

• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
• Le Mans 24 (1997)

Sega Model 3 Step 2.0

• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (1998)

Sega Model 3 Step 2.1

• Dirt Devils (1998)
• L.A. Machineguns (1998)
• Magical Truck Adventure (1998)

Sega Titan Video

• Baku Baku Animal (1997)
• Funky Head Boxers (1995)
• Winter Heat (1997)

Unique/Unknown

• Bingo Party (1993)
• Exciting Boat Race (1993)
• VR-1 (1994)

Sega Saturn

• Baku Baku Animal (1995)
• Sega Rally Championship (1995) (with Sega CS)
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (1996) (with CRI and Sega CS)
• Funky Head Boxers (1995)
• Decathlete (1996)
• Last Bronx (1996)
• Winter Heat (1998) (with Data East)

Dreamcast

• Crazy Taxi (1999)
• Cyber Troopers Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.4 (2000)

Magazine articles

Main article: Sega AM3/Magazine articles.

External links

• Sega AM3's production history on the Hitmaker website (Internet Archive)