Sega VirtuaLand

Sega VirtuaLand
Location: Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Opened: 1993-10-15
Closed: 1998

Sega VirtuaLand was an amusement center opened by Sega. Located in the Luxor Las Vegas hotel and opened alongside it in October 1993, the venue was one of Sega's largest and most high-profile up to that point in time, both in the western world and globally. It would pave the way for the later Sega City and GameWorks chains in the USA; Sega is thought to have handed operations over to the Luxor itself not long after the latter chain was established.

History

Development

In 1992, Sega established new regional amusement divisions and opened test amusement facilities outside of Japan for the first time in a number of territories, including the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and Spain. A country where the company had previous arcade presence and a pre-existing official amusement division (Sega USA), the United States, had not seen any Sega-affiliated amusement venues since the sale of the Time-Out chain in July 1990, however a return to operations occurred during the same year with the Game City arcade in Dallas, Texas.

Game City is presumed to have been sufficiently successful, as the following year, Sega entered a three level business partnership with Circus Circus Inc. to develop three amusement facilities in locations owned by them in America. Two would be arcades located in the Grand Slam Canyon and Midway centers, whilst the other, planned to be one of the flagship Sega-branded venues in the western world, would open as a main attraction of the Luxor in Las Vegas, an ambitious new 30-story pyramid complex combining a hotel, family entertainment facilities, and a casino.

Opening

Sega VirtuaLand eventually opened alongside the Luxor itself in October 1993. The venue was a 18,000 square foot complex, which as well as housing coin-operated arcade games, contained bigger mid-size attractions, such as the AS-1, a pair of R360s, and an eight-player Virtua Formula setup. An additional on-site "Sega Store" could also be found. Characterised by the fusion of the Luxor's own ancient Egyptian theming with high-tech Sega branding, VirtuaLand used specially made light shows and promo videos, alongside recent ad campaign material such as Welcome to the Next Level and Sonic the Hedgehog as a mascot.

As one of Sega's largest high-profile openings up to that point in time (outclassed only by the recently-opened Sega World Bournemouth and a number of similar venues in Japan), VirtuaLand received coverage and interest from the media, including numerous gaming and Sega-focused magazines globally. Due to its status as a major entertainment attraction of the Luxor complex itself, it was frequently cited in travel publications, becoming one of the most recognised amusement facilities created by Sega outside of Japan as a result.

Demise

Following VirtuaLand's opening, it was claimed that a target had been made to create around 100 further centers under the same name across the United States. However, these would never materialise, with Sega focusing more on establishing links with larger companies such as Disney to introduce its Amusement Theme Park concept. The ATP plans fell through, and the GameWorks chain of urban entertainment centers was instead made for North America in a joint venture; one of the first locations opened was in Las Vegas, effectively superseding VirtuaLand's status as a flagship facility.

Sega appears to have removed most of its larger simulator equipment and dropped involvement with VirtuaLand at some point after the late 1990s, with it renamed "Games of the Gods" in 1998. Following this, it continued to operate as an unbranded arcade until around 2008, retaining several of its original games (including an Indy 500-upgraded Virtua Formula) to the end. Alongside the nearby IMAX Ridefilm simulator, its space had been reportedly replaced by themed exhibitions by 2009.

Magazine articles

Main article: Sega VirtuaLand/Magazine articles.