Sega of America
From Sega Retro
Sega of America | ||
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Founded: March 21, 1985 (as "Sega Enterprises (USA)")[1] | ||
Headquarters:
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Sega of America, Inc. (SoA) is the company responsible for Sega's North American operations. SoA's current incarnation is a result of a merger between Sega Enterprises USA and another subsidiary named Sega of America.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Softography
- 2.1 Discrete logic arcade
- 2.2 Master System
- 2.3 Mega Drive
- 2.4 Game Gear
- 2.5 Mega-CD
- 2.6 32X
- 2.7 Saturn
- 2.8 Dreamcast
- 2.9 Pico
- 2.10 PlayStation 2
- 2.11 GameCube
- 2.12 Xbox
- 2.13 Wii
- 2.14 Nintendo Switch
- 2.15 Game Boy Advance
- 2.16 Nintendo DS
- 2.17 PlayStation Portable
- 2.18 PlayStation Vita
- 2.19 IBM PC
- 2.20 Windows PC
- 2.21 LCD
- 2.22 Master System
- 2.23 Mega Drive
- 2.24 Game Gear
- 2.25 Sega CD
- 2.26 Pico
- 2.27 Sega 32X
- 2.28 Sega Saturn
- 2.29 Dreamcast
- 2.30 PlayStation 2
- 2.31 GameBoy Advance
- 2.32 Xbox
- 2.33 GameCube
- 2.34 Nintendo DS
- 2.35 PlayStation Portable
- 2.36 Xbox 360
- 2.37 Wii
- 2.38 PlayStation 3
- 2.39 Nintendo 3DS
- 2.40 Wii U
- 2.41 Xbox One
- 2.42 PlayStation 4
- 2.43 Nintendo Switch
- 2.44 PC
- 3 External links
- 4 References
History
Pre-1985
The incarnation of Sega Enterprises Inc. that was owned by Gulf+Western had traded as "Sega of America" during the 1970s[2][3][4], mainly referring to its electro-mechanical and discrete logic arcade products (and the Sega-Vision). This name fell out of use when SEI bought Gremlin Industries - Gremlin would act as Sega's way into the fledgling video game market (with SEI's game production facilities wound down), later trading as Gremlin/Sega and Sega/Gremlin before becoming Sega Electronics in 1982. While Sega Electronics was able to make a name for itself during the early 1980s, even producing games for home consoles, its assets were sold to Bally Midway in 1983, leaving Sega without a video game presence in the US for nearly two years.
1985-2008
Sega Enterprises, Ltd. established a subsidiary that would release its arcade games in North America. It was founded as SE, Inc. on March 21, 1985, but its name was changed to Sega Enterprises, Inc. (U.S.A.) seven days later.[1] Another subsidiary, Sega of America, Inc., was established on March 10, 1986[5][6] to assist with consumer products. The two subsidiaries co-existed for several years.
At first, Sega of America allied with Tonka for Master System distribution, though following the launch of the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis in North America), it began to play a much more significant role in the industry. Sega of America's efforts greatly influenced the video game industry as we know it today (for example, it created the VRC ratings board, which led to first industry-wide system, the ESRB)
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sega of America outsourced development for a number of home console games to third-party developers, playing an advisory role throughout the development process. While Sega owned development studios in the US (such as Sega Technical Institute), "Sega of America" is not thought to have had any in-house game programmers or artists, instead being more concerned with marketing and distribution, as well its large quality assurance team. SoA also had a say in hardware decisions - the Sega 32X for example is an American invention, and a great deal of American-led work was put into developing the Sega Dreamcast.
Struggles selling the Sega Saturn in North America led to Japan scaling back its overseas development studios. During this period far fewer games were made in the States, meaning SoA has less influence on game development outside of testing.
During the Dreamcast era, Sega of America came back strong, due to Visual Concepts and the 2K games - as well as strong marketing reminiscent of the Genesis days. Like on Saturn, the bias was more towards localizing Japanese games however. In 2005, Sega of America was hit with a large scale restructuring, with it being designed to appeal more to the Western market, due to it being becoming larger than the Japanese market. This however led to numerous questionable games, with some games being some of the worst in Sega's history. This includes licensed games The Golden Compass, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Iron Man, as well ill fated attempts to reboot SoJ franchises such as with Golden Axe: Beast Rider and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.
2008-present
Sega Enterprises Inc. (U.S.A.) was merged with Sega of America, Inc. on April 1, 2008,[1] and Sega of America became the new company's name.
Around 2015, Sega was evaluating on how they should handle the American branch in the future. Effectively, SoA was relocated from San Francisco to Irvine, California, to share the same office with Atlus USA, which Sega had acquired earlier. The main purpose of the new Sega of America and Atlus USA, is to localize the Japanese games of their respective parent company. In addition, a dedicated office for the Sonic franchise in Burbank, California exists as well.
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For many years it was believed that America could not produce video games to Japanese standards - SoA's first home-grown game, Monopoly needed to be "saved" from poor quality production and impending delays in 1988, and this trend often continued, with SoA adopting a policy of quantity over quality (attempting to develop and publish significantly more games than rivals Nintendo to give the impression that Sega systems were backed by more developers, and were hence seen as superior). Over time, Sega of America became the dominant force within Sega, largely thanks to luminous executive Tom Kalinske. This was in thanks to marketing strategies of the Genesis in the US, as well as a strong line-up of games that defined Sega's library like Ecco the Dolphin, ToeJam & Earl, Comix Zone, as well as sports games and other games based on western licenses and movies. The marketing influence of the Sonic The Hedgehog series is also of note, although besides Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the game development staff remained Japanese throughout.
In the mid 90's, SoA largely fell of due to Sega Saturn compatibility and development being very hard for developers. During that period, Tom Kalinske generally disagreed with the policies of Sega of Japan, and went on to do edutainment, which was influenced by SoA's own efforts (mostly by Novotrade) on the Sega Pico. Another venture was SegaSoft an off-shoot branch that focused on original PC games, formed around the mid 90's.
Softography
Discrete logic arcade
- Tracer (1976)
Master System
- Sports Pad Football (1987)
- ALF (1989)
- Dick Tracy (1991)
- X-Men: Mojo World (1996)
Mega Drive
- Fantasia (1991) (production)
- M-1 Abrams Battle Tank (1991)
- Joe Montana Football (1991) (production)
- Dick Tracy (1991)
- Twin Cobra (1991)
- Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (1991)
- Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football (1991) (production)
- California Games (1991)
- Ecco the Dolphin (1992)
- Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude! (1992) (production)
- NFL Sports Talk Football '93 Starring Joe Montana (1992) (production)
- Sports Talk Baseball (1992)
- Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing (1992) (assistance)
- Toxic Crusaders (1992)
- Cool Spot (1993)
- Disney's Aladdin (1993)
- X-Men (1993) (production)
- Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993)
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1993) (assistance)
- Bonkers (1994) (production)
- College Football's National Championship (1994)
- Crystal's Pony Tale (1994)
- Richard Scarry's Busytown (1994)
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure (1994)
- ATP Tour Championship Tennis (1995)
- Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995)
- Scholastic's The Magic School Bus: Space Exploration Game (1995)
- The Ooze (1995)
- VR Troopers (1995) (production)
- X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995) (assistance)
- World Series Baseball '95 (1995)
- College Football's National Championship II (1995)
- Prime Time NFL Football Starring Deion Sanders (1995)
- Garfield: The Lost Levels (1996)
- X-Perts (1996)
- World Series Baseball '96 (1996)
- Mega Games 10 (1997)
- World Series Baseball 98 (1997)
- NFL 98 (1997)
- Activator Command Demo (unreleased)
- B-Bomb (unreleased)
- Head Tracker Test Demonstration (unreleased)
- IO Check Program (unreleased)
- Monster Hunter (unreleased)
Game Gear
- The Majors: Pro Baseball (1992)
- Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude! (1993) (production)
- World Series Baseball (1993)
- Poker Face Paul's Gin (1994)
- Poker Face Paul's Solitaire (1994)
- X-Men: GamesMaster's Legacy (1994)
- X-Men (1994)
- Poker Face Paul's Blackjack (1994)
- Poker Face Paul's Poker (1994)
- World Series Baseball '95 (1994)
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure (1994)
- Chicago Syndicate (1995) (production)
- Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995)
- NHL All-Star Hockey (1995)
- Sports Trivia (1995)
- Sports Trivia: Championship Edition (1995)
- VR Troopers (1995) (production)
- X-Men: Mojo World (1996)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Mega-CD
- Sol-Feace (1991)
- Cobra Command (1992)
- Batman Returns (1993)
- Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (1993)
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (1993)
- Ground Zero Texas (1993)
- Wirehead (1995)
32X
- Doom (1994)
- Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996)
- Garfield: Garfield in TV land! (unreleased)
- Genesis 32X Sample Program (unreleased)
Saturn
- Bug! Playable Preview (1995)
- Sega Saturn Choice Cuts (1995)
- NHL All-Star Hockey (1995) (production)
- Black Fire (1995)
- Ghen War (1995)
- Sega Screams Volume 1 (1996)
- Congo the Movie: The Lost City of Zinj (1996)
- 3 Free Games With Purchase of Sega Saturn (1996)
- Sega Screams Volume 2 (1997)
- World Series Baseball 98 (1997)
- Cyber Troopers Virtual-On NetLink Edition (1997)
- NetLink Game Pack (1997)
- Daytona USA: C.C.E. NetLink Edition (1998)
- Astrocade (unreleased)
- Blast Track (unreleased)
Dreamcast
- Generator Vol. 1 (1999)
- Web Browser (1999)
- Geist Force (unreleased)
- KRAD (unreleased)
- Frog Pond (unreleased)
Pico
- A Year at Pooh Corner (1994) (production)
- Storyware Sampler (1996)
- Sesame Street: Alphabet Avenue (1997)
PlayStation 2
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- Gungrave (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- World Series Baseball 2K3 (2003)
- ESPN College Hoops (2003)
- ESPN Major League Baseball (2004)
- ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NHL 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NBA 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN College Hoops 2K5 (2004)
- Sega Fun Pack: Sonic Mega Collection Plus & Shadow the Hedgehog (2009)
GameCube
- Home Run King (2002)
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- Sonic Adventure 2-Pack (200x)
Xbox
- NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- World Series Baseball 2K3 (2003)
- ESPN College Hoops (2003)
- ESPN Major League Baseball (2004)
- ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NHL 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NBA 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN College Hoops 2K5 (2004)
- Iron Phoenix (2005)
- 2 in 1 Combo Pack: Sonic Heroes/Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (2005)
- 2 in 1 Combo Pack: Sonic Mega Collection Plus/Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (2005)
Wii
- Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (2008)
- Daisy Fuentes Pilates (2009)
- Sega Fun Pack: Sonic and the Secret Rings & Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (2009)
Nintendo Switch
- Sonic Forces + Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD Double Pack (2020)
- Sonic Mania + Team Sonic Racing Double Pack (2020)
Game Boy Advance
- The Tower SP (2006)
- Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (2006)
Nintendo DS
PlayStation Portable
- Sega Fun Pack: Sonic Rivals 2 & Sega Genesis Collection (2009)
- Phantasy Star Defender's Pack! (2011)
- Double Rivals Attack Pack! (2011)
- Double Super Hero Pack! (2011)
PlayStation Vita
IBM PC
- Joe Montana Football (1990)
Windows PC
- The Gigglebone Gang: AlphaBonk Farm (1994)
- Elroy Goes Bugzerk (1995)
- The Gigglebone Gang: Pantsylvania (1995)
- Elroy Hits the Pavement (1996)
- Sonic's Schoolhouse (1996)
- Garfield: Caught in the Act (1997)
- Sega Rally Championship (1997)
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 (1997)
- Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (1997)
- Daytona USA Deluxe (1997)
- Sega Touring Car Championship (1998)
- Sega Puzzle Pack (1999) (production)
- Sega Smash Pack (1999) (production)
- Sega Smash Pack 2 (2000) (production)
LCD
- Baseball (1994)
- Ecco the Dolphin (1994)
- Eternal Champions: Special Moves Edition (1994)
- Football (1994)
Unlike in Sega of Japan, all games are created with an external company
Master System
- Joe Montana Football (1990)
- Ariel the Little Mermaid (1992)
- California Games II (1993)
- Ecco the Dolphin (1993)
- Home Alone (1993)
- Sonic Spinball (1993)
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994)
Mega Drive
- ToeJam & Earl (1991)
- Ariel the Little Mermaid (1992)
- Toxic Crusaders (1992)
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun (1992)
- Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude (1992)
- Kid Chameleon (1992)
- Menacer 6-Game Cartridge (1992)
- TaleSpin (1992)
- Barney's Hide & Seek Game (1993)
- Cyborg Justice (1993)
- Dinosaurs for Hire (1993)
- Eternal Champions (1993)
- NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana (1993)
- Richard Scarry's Busytown (1993)
- Sonic Spinball (1993)
- The Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure (1993)
- ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1993)
- X-Men (1993)
- Bonkers (1994)
- College Football's National Championship (1994)
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994)
- Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (1994)
- Shadowrun (1994)
- Taz in Escape From Mars (1994)
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1994)
- Wacky Worlds (1994)
- World Series Baseball (1994)
- College Football's National Championship II (1995)
- Comix Zone (1995)
- Ecco Jr. (1995)
- Striker (1995)
- The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1995)
- The Magic School Bus (1995)
- Vectorman (1995)
- World Series Baseball '95 (1995)
- X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995)
- Vectorman 2 (1996)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Game Gear
- Joe Montana Football (1991)
- Ariel the Little Mermaid (1992)
- California Games II (1993)
- Ecco the Dolphin (1993)
- Home Alone (1993)
- Sonic Spinball (1993)
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994)
Sega CD
- Ecco the Dolphin (1995)
- Ecco: The Tides of Time (1995)
- Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side (1995)
- Wild Woody (1995)
Pico
- A Year at Pooh Corner (1994)
- Mickey's Blast into the Past (1994)
- Ecco Jr. and the Great Ocean Treasure Hunt! (1994)
- Tails and the Music Maker (1994)
- Smart Alex and Smart Alice: Curious Kids (1995)
- Crayola Crayons: Create a World (1995)
- Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Going Places (1995)
- Storyware Sampler (1996)
- Math Antics with Disney's 101 Dalmatians (1996)
Sega 32X
- Star Wars Arcade (1994)
- Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples (1995)
- Kolibri (1995)
- World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders (1995)
- Spider-Man: Web of Fire (1996)
Sega Saturn
- Bug! (1995)
- NHL All-Star Hockey (1995)
- Die Hard Arcade (1996)
- Three Dirty Dwarves (1996)
- Mr. Bones (1996)
- NBA Action (1996)
- Bug Too! (1997)
- Manx TT Super Bike (1997)
- NFL '97 (1997)
- Scud: The Disposable Assassin (1997)
- Sky Target (1997)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Dreamcast
- NBA 2K (1999)
- NFL 2K (1999)
- Metropolis Street Racer (2000)
- NBA 2K1 (2000)
- NFL 2K1 (2000)
- Floigan Bros. Episode 1 (2001)
- Headhunter (2001)
- NBA 2K2 (2001)
- NCAA College Football 2K2 (2001)
- NFL 2K2 (2001)
- Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (2001)
- Ooga Booga (2001)
PlayStation 2
- Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future (2001)
- NFL 2K2 (2001)
- NBA 2K2 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- Sega Soccer Slam (2002)
- World Series Baseball 2K3 (2002)
- ESPN College Hoops (2003)
- ESPN NFL Football (2003)
- NBA 2K (2003)
- ESPN College Hoops 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN Major League Baseball (2004)
- ESPN NBA 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
- Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (2004)
- Sega Genesis Collection (2006)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
GameBoy Advance
- Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms (2002)
- Phantasy Star Collection (2002)
- Super Monkey Ball (2002)
- The Revenge of Shinobi (Game Boy Advance) (2002)
- Crazy Taxi: Catch a Ride (2003)
- Jet Set Radio (Game Boy Advance) (2003)
- Charlotte's Web (2006)
- Sonic Genesis (2006)
Xbox
- ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth (2002)
- World Series Baseball 2K2 (2002)
- NBA 2K2 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K2 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- Sega Soccer Slam (2002)
- ESPN College Hoops (2003)
- ESPN NFL Football (2003)
- ESPN NBA Basketball (2003)
- ESPN College Hoops 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN Major League Baseball (2004)
- ESPN NBA 2K5 (2004)
- ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
- Spartan: Total Warrior (2005)
GameCube
- NBA 2K2 (2002)
- NBA 2K3 (2002)
- NCAA College Basketball 2K3 (2002)
- NFL 2K3 (2002)
- Sega Soccer Slam (2002)
- Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (2004)
Nintendo DS
- Sega Casino (2005)
- Charlotte's Web (2006)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Aliens: Infestation (2011)
- Captain America: Super Soldier (2011)
- Thor: God of Thunder (2011)
PlayStation Portable
- Sonic Rivals (2006)
- After Burner: Black Falcon (2007)
- Alien Syndrome (2007)
- Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (2007)
- Sega Genesis Collection (2006)
- Sonic Rivals 2 (2007)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- Full Auto 2: Battlelines (2008)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
Xbox 360
- Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005)
- Full Auto (2006)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008)
- Golden Axe: Beast Rider (2008)
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Universe at War: Earth Assault (2008)
- Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection (2009)
- Aliens vs. Predator (2010)
- Alpha Protocol (2010)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Captain America: Super Soldier (2011)
- Thor: God of Thunder (2011)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013)
- The Cave (2013)
Wii
- Alien Syndrome (2007)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Samba de Amigo (2008)
- The Conduit (2009)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Tournament of Legends (2010)
- Captain America: Super Soldier (2011)
- Conduit 2 (2011)
- Thor: God of Thunder (2011)
PlayStation 3
- Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005)
- Full Auto (2006)
- The Golden Compass (2007)
- Condemned 2: Bloodshot (2008)
Nintendo 3DS
- Captain America: Super Soldier (2011)
- Thor: God of Thunder (2011)
- Shinobi 3D (2012)
- Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (2014)
- Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (2014)
Wii U
- The Cave (2013)
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (2014)
Xbox One
- Sonic Mania (2017)
PlayStation 4
- Sonic Mania (2017)
Nintendo Switch
- Sonic Mania (2017)
PC
- Tomcat Alley (1995)
- Rocket Jockey (1996)
- Obsidian (1996)
- Three Dirty Dwarves (1996)
- Emperor of Fading Suns (1997)
- Grossology (1997)
- Lose Your Marbles (1997)
- Scud: Industrial Evolution (1997)
- The Space Bar (1997)
- Fatal Abyss (1998)
- Flesh Feast (1998)
- Net Fighter (1998)
- Plane Crazy (1998)
- Relativity(1998)
- Sega Smash Pack (PC) (1999)
- Vigilance (1998)
- Sega Swirl (2000)
- The Matrix Online (2005)
- Charlotte's Web (2006)
- Condemned (2006)
- The Golden Compass (2009)
- Iron Man (2008)
- Space Siege (2008)
- The Incredible Hulk (2008)
- Universe at War: Earth Assault (2008)
- Alpha Protocol (2010)
- MLB Manager Online (2011)
- Spiral Knights (2011)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013)
- Godsrule: War of Mortals (2013)
- Sonic Mania (2017)
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 California Business Search: Entity #C1271130
- ↑ Billboard, "August 14, 1976" (US; 1976-08-14), page 113
- ↑ Billboard, "September 4, 1976" (US; 1976-09-04), page 47
- ↑ Billboard, "April 29, 1978" (US; 1978-04-29), page 59
- ↑ California Business Search: Entity #C1299989
- ↑ Sega Visions, "February/March 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 81