Sega of America

Leaving this here because I really don't know how to deal with it right now.

In the mid-1970s there was a "Sega of America". Can't tell if it was a company or a trading name - it was based in California, headded by Harry M. Kane and produced Bullet Mark. The "home theatre division" of "Sega Enterprises, Inc." made the Sega-Vision^[1]. Sega Electronics was separate.

My feeling is that all US Sega operations were either closed or sold to Bally Midway in 1984. A new Sega of America would then form in 1986. -Black Squirrel (talk) 14:07, 16 November 2018 (CST)

I've something for you here... and here (under "disco equipment & services", you will see "Sega Ents. Inc." listed) ... I'll save them now...--Asagoth (talk) 14:33, 16 November 2018 (CST)

Edit: This looks like a "salad"... International Light & Sound Exposition (ILS '77, Chicago):

"Chicago-based Diversitronics, which supplies equipment to the disco, A/V and industrial training markets, will show an SQ-12 controller with remote power pack, a Sega- Vision model SR-620 commercial projection system with a 66 inch diagonal screen, and a model DCR550 compact console for mobile deejays."- source...

So why was Diversitronics showing a Sega-Vision model SR-620 in a Chicago show and not Sega?... Distributors?... Partners in "crime"?... Suppliers of parts?... What?--Asagoth (talk) 17:25, 16 November 2018 (CST)

I knew I had read something similar, somewhere... you're right man... US Sega operations were sold to Bally Midway, not in 1984 but earlier, in 1982... this is confirmed in the book Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games on page 4...--Asagoth (talk) 12:45, 17 November 2018 (CST)

I think the 1984 date is correct - Sega Electronics were definitely releasing games under the Sega brand in 1983. I suspect Bally Midway might have bought shares in 1982 though - I think they had a stake in the company for a bit. -Black Squirrel (talk) 12:58, 17 November 2018 (CST)

Ok man ... if you say so, I believe in you... but one thing is certain... there was two "Sega of America"... --Asagoth (talk) 13:05, 17 November 2018 (CST)

A bit of an explanation as to what happened 1984-1986. Sega of Japan opened up a U.S. coin-op sales office in early 1985, just a few months after Sega Electronics was sold to Bally Midway. Sega of America seems to have grown out of the San Jose coin-op sales office in 1986.

"Steve has been with Sega for 12 years, first with Sega of Japan and then in the U.S. After graduating from a university in Tokyo, he began as a production engineer working on Sega coin-op games and was involved in the programming of the arcade hit, "Turbo". Steve was sent to the U.S. for training as a game programmer (his background was in coin-op hardware), and he has been with Sega in the U.S. through many ups and downs on both the coin-op and consumer side of the business. When Gulf & Western sold Sega of Japan in 1984 to a group of Japanese investors, the less profitable U.S. coin-op and consumer divisions were closed. A Sega coin-op sales office was established by Sega of Japan in San Jose in early 1985, with Steve acting as engineering coordinator between the U.S. and Japan. With news of Nintendo's success in the New York launch of the NES for Christmas, 1985, Sega of Japan made a quick decision in March, 1986 to adapt it's Mark III system for the U.S. market and re-open a U.S. consumer division of the company."--Pirate Dragon (talk) 12:12, 25 November 2018 (CST)

I've just spent the afternoon searching high and low for "Sega of America", circa 1975-1978. I really don't think it was an actual company, but rather, a trading name for "Sega Enterprises, Inc." (mostly because SEI seems to start declaring its head offices at the Redondo Beach factory in 1978). 1985/1986 does seem to be the year where they officially invent a company called "Sega of America, Inc.".

In between times SEI bought into Gremlin Industries, and that branch became America's output. There is no mention of "Sega of America" between 1978 and 1985.

But what's very clear is that Sega never went away, despite some of the news coverage suggesting the opposite. Sega Enterprises, Inc. was in the background, managaing... things. What I've yet to dermine is whether it still exists today - it was there throughout the 1990s doing whatever it is it did, but Sega hasn't mentioned it in recent documents.

I also don't know how best to document this on the wiki - whether every division of Sega should get its own page so we're consistent. -Black Squirrel (talk) 12:28, 25 November 2018 (CST)

What about this?...or this... --Asagoth (talk) 12:44, 25 November 2018 (CST)