Joypolis

Joypolis (ジョイポリス) is a chain of indoor amusement theme parks created by Sega and operated by CA Sega Joypolis in Japan and China. Themed around futurism and video games, the parks feature interactive attractions based on original concepts, Sega intellectual properties, and licenced franchises, as well as coin-operated arcade machines and other facilities. It was originally the flagship chain under the company's Amusement Theme Park concept.

After strong financial growth during the late 1980s and early 90s, advancements made by rivals like Namco in opening large family amusement facilities, and high-tech developments at theme parks such as the opening of Star Tours at Disneyland, Sega envisioned opening a global chain of indoor theme parks to expand its business beyond video games and become a major player in the entertainment industry. This tentatively began with the smaller Osaka ATC Galbo and the Galbo scheme in April 1994, before becoming solidified with the then-flagship Yokohama Joypolis in July.

Typically, a Joypolis acts as a large, multi-story entertainment complex, with shops, restaurants, coin-operated arcade games, and the capacity for officially-held events. Its main selling points are Sega's mid-size and large attractions, such as bumper cars, indoor roller coasters, and virtual reality simulators, which the company began designing and building in the late 1980s. It was not feasible for such large, permanent attractions to be featured in typical arcade settings, so Sega effectively built its own parks to house these concepts.

Since the first Joypolis location opened in Japan, Sega has created numerous other indoor theme parks worldwide based on successful parts of the original parks, such as SegaWorld London, Sega World Sydney, and later Sega Republic. Managerial problems, cashflow issues, and general financial pressures at Sega during the late 1990s and early 2000s caused the closures and downsizings of many of these, however Tokyo Joypolis and newer branches opened in China during the 2010s continue to operate.

Locations

• Tokyo Joypolis (1996 - )
• Shanghai Joypolis (2014 - )
• Qingdao Joypolis (2015 - )

Former locations

• Yokohama Joypolis (1994 - 2001)
• Niigata Joypolis (1995 - 2000)
• Shinjuku Joypolis (1996 - 2000)
• Fukuoka Joypolis (1996 - 2001)
• Kyoto Joypolis (1997 - 2002)
• Umeda Joypolis (1998 - 2018)
• Okayama Joypolis (1998 - 2018)
• Joypolis VR Shibuya (2018 - 2020)

Artwork

• 

  1994 logo

• 

  1996 logo

• 

  2012 logo

External links

• Sega Japan's Joypolis homepage (Japanese)