Sega Arena Padou

Sega Arena Padou


Location: 大阪市西区千代崎3, Japan
Opened: 1997-03-01^[1]
Closed: 2007-01-31^[2]

Sega Arena pa・dou (セガアリーナ pa・dou) is a former Sega Arena venue opened by Sega.

Located in the "pa・dou" building jointly managed by Sega and Osaka Gas on the grounds of the Osaka Dome stadium,^[3] it was the first location to be opened under the naming scheme's new concept when launched alongside it in March 1997.^[4] The centre and building have since been closed permanently and demolished.

History

During 1996, Sega opened a number of successful new Joypolis indoor theme parks in Japan under their Amusement Theme Park concept - Fukuoka Joypolis broke visitor records repeatedly in its first weeks of operations, and the newly-flagship Tokyo Joypolis became popular with couples. In spite of this, the year also saw another decline in Sega's operating income from amusement venues, with some of the initially successful Sega World locations lagging behind in the midst of a wider downward trend in the amusement industry,^[5] and the scrapping of the unprofitable Galbo scheme of indoor theme parks.^[6]

In an attempt to remedy these issues during 1997, Sega's amusement operations divisions experimented with pre-existing schemes such as Joypolis and Sega World, and created two new chains, Club Sega and Sega Arena; these were dubbed "nextage" facilities,^[7] and followed more fluid concepts, with no two facilities initially bearing much resemblance to each other except their name and use of varying amounts of coin-operated arcade machines.

The latter chain began in March with Sega Arena pa・dou, a 3,300m² facility on the grounds of the newly-developed Osaka Dome stadium.^[8] By combining stone-age theming, approximately 200 coin-operated arcade machines, and a number of attractions and food outlets previously found to be popular in Joypolis venues, it ran as a entertainment centre within a larger complex, partnering with other businesses including bowling alleys and restaurants.^[9]

In the months following its opening, Sega took to holding regular events to draw in visitors, including game tournaments and limited time gift handouts.^[10] However, on days where there were no concerts or sports held at the stadium, resultant visitor numbers for many of the Osaka Dome's external facilities are said to have been poor,^[3] leading to the eventual withdrawal of all its attraction operations during the mid 2000s. Alongside the rest of the Padou building itself, Sega Arena closed during 2007^[2] for redevelopment plans. Its former grounds have housed an Aeon Town shopping mall since 2013.^[3]