Sega

Sega Corporation
株式会社セガ

Type	Subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings
Industry	Video games former video game console manufacturer
Founded	Standard Games (1940);[1] Service Games (May 1952)[2]
Headquarters	Ōta, Tokyo, Japan International Offices: San Francisco, California, USA Brentford, London, UK Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Jongno, Seoul, South Korea
Key people	Hajime Satomi, CEO of Sega Corp. Hisao Oguchi, President of Sega Corp. Naoya Tsurumi, Head of Sega's Entertainment Business Mike Hayes, President and CEO of Sega West Yu Suzuki Kazunobu Takita, President of Sega Publishing Korea
Products	Sonic the Hedgehog series Sakura Wars series Total War series Virtua Fighter series Shenmue series The House of the Dead series Phantasy Star series Panzer Dragoon series (See complete software listing.) SG-1000 Master System Mega Drive/Genesis(32x, CD) Game Gear Nomad Pico Saturn Dreamcast
Revenue	US$1.64 billion
Employees	3,127 (2009)
Website	Sega Corporation (Japan) Sega of America Sega Europe PlaySega

Sega Corporation (株式会社セガ, Kabushiki-kaisha Sega^?) is a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and former console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. The company is famous for its SEGA! chant that appeared on both commercials and games like Sonic the Hedgehog. The company had success with both arcades and home consoles, but on January 31, 2001, officially left the consumer console business and began concentrating on software development for multiple third-party platforms.^[3]

Sega's main offices, as well as the main offices of its domestic division, Sega Corporation (Japan), are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. Sega's European division, Sega Europe Ltd., is headquartered in the Brentford area of London. Sega's North American division, Sega of America Inc., is headquartered in San Francisco, California; having moved there from Redwood City, California in 1999.^[4][5] Sega Australia's headquarters are located in Sydney, New South Wales. Sega Publishing Korea's headquarters are located in Jongno, Seoul, Korea. The company also has offices in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Italy.

On November 1, 2000, Sega changed its company name from Sega Enterprises, Ltd to Sega Corporation.^[6]

History

Origins and entry into the video game market (1945–1989)

Sega was founded in 1940 as Standard Games (later Service Games) in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States,^[7] by Marty Bromely, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert to provide coin-operated amusements for American servicemen on military bases. Bromely suggested that the company move to Tokyo, Japan in 1951 and in May 1952 "SErvice GAmes of Japan" was registered.

In 1954, another American businessman, David Rosen, moved to Tokyo and established the company Rosen Enterprises, Inc., in Japan to export art. When the company imported coin-operated instant photo booths, it stumbled on a surprise hit: The booths were very popular in Japan. Business was booming, and Rosen Enterprises expanded by importing coin-operated electro-mechanical games.

Rosen Enterprises and Service Games merged in 1965 to create Sega Enterprises. Within a year, the new company released a submarine-simulator game called Periscope^[8] that became a smash-hit worldwide.

In 1969, Gulf+Western purchased Sega, and Rosen was allowed to remain CEO of the Sega division. Under Rosen's leadership, Sega continued to grow and prosper. In 1976, they released a large screen TV, Sega-Vision (not to be confused with their portable media player, Sega Vision).

In the video game arcades, Sega was known for games such as Zaxxon, the first game to employ axonometric projection, and Hang-On, the world's first full-body-experience video game.^[9]

SG-1000

Sega's revenues would hit $214 million by 1982 and in 1983,^[7] Sega would release its first video game console, the SG-1000, the first 3D arcade video game, SubRoc-3D, which used a special periscope viewer to deliver individual images to each eye, and the first laserdisc arcade game, Astron Belt.

In the same year, Sega was one of the victims of the video game crash. Hemorrhaging money, Gulf+Western sold the U.S. assets of Sega to famous pinball manufacturer Bally Manufacturing Corporation. The Japanese assets of Sega were purchased for $38 million by a group of investors led by Rosen and Hayao Nakayama, a Japanese businessman who owned Esco Boueki (Esco Trading) an arcade game distribution company^[10] that had been acquired by Rosen in 1979. Nakayama became the new CEO of Sega, and Rosen became head of its subsidiary in the United States.

In 1984, the multibillion dollar Japanese conglomerate CSK bought Sega, renamed it to Sega Enterprises Ltd., headquartered it in Japan, and two years later, shares of its stock were being traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. David Rosen's friend, Isao Okawa, the chairman of CSK, became chairman of Sega.

In 1986, Sega of America was poised to take advantage of the resurgent video game market in the United States.

Sega Master System

Sega would also release the Sega Master System and the first Alex Kidd game, who would be Sega's unofficial mascot until 1991 when Sonic the Hedgehog took over. While the Master System was technically superior to the NES,^[11] it failed to capture market share in North America and Japan due to highly aggressive strategies by Nintendo and ineffective marketing by Tonka in the United States. However, it was a huge hit in the UK, most of Europe, Australia and New Zealand, trouncing Nintendo's console. It also dominated the Brazilian markets until Sega discontinued the system in Brazil in 2000.

Sega as a major console manufacturer (1989–2001)

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

Mega Drive/Genesis, European/Australian (PAL) version.

Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega's mascot since his introduction in 1991.

With the introduction of the Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega of America launched an anti-Nintendo campaign to carry the momentum to the new generation of games, with its slogan "Genesis does what Nintendon't." This was initially implemented by Sega of America President Michael Katz.^[12] When Nintendo launched its Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, Sega changed its slogan to "Welcome to the next level."

The same year, Sega of America's leadership passed from Michael Katz to Tom Kalinske, who further escalated the "console war" that was developing.^[13] As a preemptive strike against the release of the Super Nintendo, Sega re-branded itself with a new game and mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. With his hip attitude and style, he was marketed to seem "cooler" than Mario, Nintendo's mascot.^[14] This shift led to a wider success for the Genesis and would eventually propel Sega to 65% of the market in North America for a brief time.^[15] Simultaneously, after much previous delay, Sega released the moderately successful Sega CD as an add-on feature, allowing for extra storage in games due to their CD-ROM format, giving developers the ability to make longer, more sophisticated games, the most popular of which was Sega’s own Sonic CD.^[16] Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was also released at this time, and became the most successful game Sega ever made,^[17] selling six million copies as of June 2006.^[17]

Despite their massive advances in the arcades, Sega’s share of the home market plummeted to 35% by 1994.^[15] That year, Sega released the Sega 32X in an attempt to upgrade the Mega Drive/Genesis to the standards of more advanced systems. It sold well initially, but had problems with lack of software and hype about the upcoming Sega Saturn and Sony's PlayStation.^[18] Within a year, it was in the bargain bins of many stores.^[19] Also in 1994, Sega launched the Sega Channel, a subscription gaming service delivered by local cable companies affiliated with Time-Warner Cable or TCI through which subscribers received a special cartridge adapter that connected to the cable connection. At its peak, the Sega Channel had approximately 250,000 subscribers.^[20]

Sega versus Accolade

In 1992, Sega lost the Sega v. Accolade case, which involved independently produced software for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Accolade had copied a small amount of Sega's code to achieve compatibility with the Sega Genesis platform. The verdict set a precedent that copyrights do not extend to non-expressive content in software that a system requires to be present to run the software.^[21] The case in question stems from the nature of the console video game market. Hardware companies often sell their systems at or below cost, and rely on other revenue streams such as in this case, game licensing. Sega was attempting to "lock out" game companies from making Mega Drive/Genesis games unless they paid Sega a fee (something its competition has done in the past). Their strategy was to make the hardware reject any cartridge that did not include a Sega trademark. If an unlicensed company included this trademark in their game, Sega could sue the company for trademark infringement. Though Sega lost this lawsuit, all later Sega systems seemed to incorporate a similar hardware requirement.

Sega Saturn

A "Round Button" Sega Saturn

On May 11, 1995, Sega released the Sega Saturn (with Virtua Fighter) in the American market, which utilized a 32-bit processor and preceded both the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64. However, poor sales in the West (including the traditional stronghold markets in Europe) led to the console being abandoned.^[14] Notable titles include several titles exclusive to the Japanese market, like Radiant Silvergun and Sakura Taisen, involving fighting games like Last Bronx, rail shooters, such as Panzer Dragoon and The House of the Dead and a few well regarded RPGs; Panzer Dragoon Saga, Grandia, and Shining Force 3.

In 1997, Sega entered into a short-lived merger with Bandai. However it was later called off, citing "cultural differences" between the two companies.^[22] Entertainment fun center GameWorks was founded in 1997 as well as the now defunct Sega World theme parks.

Dreamcast

Japanese/American Sega Dreamcast and European Controller with VMU. Notice the different color swirls

On November 27th 1998, Sega launched the Dreamcast game console in Japan. The Dreamcast was competitively priced, partly due to the use of off-the-shelf components, but it also featured technology that allowed for more technically impressive games than its direct competitors, the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. An analog 56k modem was also included, allowing gamers to play multi-player games online on a home console for the first time, featuring titles such as the action-puzzle title Chu Chu Rocket, Phantasy Star Online, the first console-based MMORPG, and the innovative Alien Front Online, the first console game with online voice chat. The Dreamcast's launch in Japan was a failure. Launching with a small library of software and in the shadow of the upcoming PS2, the system would not gain great success, despite several successful games in the region. The Western launch a year later was accompanied by a large amount of both 1st party and 3rd party software and an aggressive marketing campaign. It was extremely successful and earned the distinction of "most successful hardware launch in history," selling a then-unprecedented 500,000 consoles in its first week in North America.^[23] Sega was able to hold onto this momentum in the US almost until the launch of Sony's PlayStation 2. The Dreamcast is home to several innovative and critically acclaimed games of the time, including one of the first cel-shaded titles, Jet Set Radio; Seaman, a game involving communication with a fish-type creature via microphone; a rhythm game involving the use of maracas, Samba de Amigo; and Shenmue, an adventure game of vast scope with freeform gameplay and a striking attempt at creating a detailed in-game city. Despite receiving critical acclaim, these titles failed to garner much public attention in the face of the upcoming PlayStation 2 launch.

Faced with debt and competition from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, Sega officially discontinued the Dreamcast hardware in 2001. The final game Sega released for it was Puyo Puyo Fever on Feb 24/2004. The final licensed game for the Dreamcast was Trigger Heart Exelica on Feb 22/2007. The most recent non licensed independent release for the Dreamcast is Rush Rally Racing on Nov 4/2009.

Shift to a software manufacturer (2001–2005)

On January 23, 2001 a story ran in Nihon Keizai Shimbun that said Sega was going to cease production of the Dreamcast and develop software for other platforms.^[24] After the initial denial, Sega Japan then put out a press release confirming they were considering producing software for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance as part of their "New Management Policy".^[25][26] Then on January 31, 2001, Sega of America officially announced they were becoming a third-party software publisher.^[3]

The company has since developed primarily into a platform-neutral software company, known as a "third-party publisher", that creates games that will launch on a variety of game consoles produced by other companies, many of them former rivals, the first of which was a port of Chu Chu Rocket to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

Arcade units are still being produced, first under the Sega NAOMI name, and then with subsequent releases of the Sega NAOMI 2, Sega HIKARU, Sega Chihiro, Triforce (in collaboration with Nintendo and Namco) and the Sega Lindbergh.

This chart points out their financial trouble in the 1998-2002 time periods. This financial data comes from their Annual Reports.^{[27][28][29][30]}

By March 31, 2002, Sega had five consecutive fiscal years of net losses.^[31] To help with Sega's debt, CSK founder Isao Okawa, before his death in 2001, gave the company a $695.7 million private donation,^[32] and also talked to Microsoft about a sale or a merger with their Xbox division, but those talks failed.^[33] On February 13, 2003, Sega announced plans to merge with Sammy, but plans fell through. Discussions also took place with Namco, Bandai, Electronic Arts and again with Microsoft.

With this shift to software development, this affected Sega's Australian operations. Sega Ozisoft ceased to operate in its current form with Sega Enterprises selling its share in Sega Ozisoft and was bought over by Infogrames in 2002. This led to Infogrames having an Australian presence for the first time but decided to change the company name for its Australian operations to GameNation. Sega then went to find an Australian distributor, and made a deal with THQ Asia Pacific, who at the time until 2006 had deals with Capcom. In 2003 GameNation was changed to Atari Australia and then challenged THQ Asia Pacific to the distribution rights to Sega's IP's in Australia but failed. In early 2008 Sega Corporation announced that Sega would re-establish an Australian presence, effectively ending THQ's distribution of Sega's products in Australia and would be a subsidiary of Sega of Europe, rather than being a separate local subsidiary like Atari Australia, Nintendo Australia and THQ Asia Pacific.

In August 2003, Sammy bought the outstanding 22% of shares that CSK had,^[34] and Sammy chairman Hajime Satomi became CEO of Sega. With the Sammy chairman at the helm of Sega, it has been stated that Sega's activity will focus on its profit-making arcade business rather than its loss-making home software development. In late December, Sega released Sonic Heroes selling over 2 million copies. It was the first multi-platform Sonic game, with identical versions on the Xbox, the PlayStation 2 and the GameCube.

During the middle of 2004, Sammy bought a controlling share in Sega Corporation at a cost of $1.1 billion, creating the new company Sega Sammy Holdings, one of the biggest game manufacturing companies in the world. With the merger, Sega reabsorbed its second party studios and began to reorganize them. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, father of Sega Rally and Space Channel 5, cited the changes in the corporate culture after the Sega-Sammy merger.^[35]

On January 25, 2005, Sega's Visual Concepts, a studio Sega dubbed a "1.5" developer, was shut down by Take-Two Interactive. Sega used the parlance "1.5" as a mid-point of sorts between first-party and second-party developer status: that is, a wholly owned studio that would otherwise be known as a first-party developer, but was outside of internal development teams. Visual Concepts was known for many Sega Sports games including the ESPN NFL Football series, formerly NFL2K. The sale also came with Visual Concept's wholly-owned subsidiary Kush Games. Take Two subsequently announced the start of the publishing label 2K Games because of this purchase.

Current status (2006–present)

By the end of 2005, Sega experienced strong earnings growth across multiple divisions. Contributing to the company's success were strong pachinko sales,^[36] and sales of software titles Ryu Ga Gotoku (known as Yakuza outside of Asia), Mushiking, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

In an effort to appeal to western tastes, they partnered with Obsidian Entertainment to develop a new RPG for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC based on the Aliens franchise, which was subsequently cancelled.^[37] The partnership was the latest in a series of collaborations with western video game studios, including Monolith Productions (Condemned: Criminal Origins), Bizarre Creations (The Club), and Silicon Knights (who have yet to announce their project with Sega).

That desire to have a more Western appeal for Sega was shortly followed up by Sega acquiring British developer Sports Interactive after a successful run of publishing Football Manager 2005 and 2006, in which they managed to sell 1.5 million copies,^[38] the deal was said to be worth in the region of £30 million ($52 million) by Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive’s Managing Director.^[39] This was, however, not the only developer Sega acquired, as they also purchased American developer Secret Level. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed,^[40] Secret Level had begun work before being bought by Sega to “recreate a classic Sega franchise" for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in July 2005, which was revealed to be Golden Axe: Beast Rider later that year.

While Sega continued its expansion in the West, on May 8, 2006, it was announced that Sega of Japan had begun helping famed Sega developer and Sonic Team head Yuji Naka (known for being the main programmer for the original Sonic the Hedgehog games and Nights into Dreams...) to start up his own company titled "Prope" (Latin for "beside" and "near future")^[41] in which Sega helped provide 10% startup capital^[42] and have the option to publish games produced from the studio if they wished to.

Due to the continued success of Sega’s software sales, the company reported on May 17, 2006 a 31% rise in net profits from that of the previous year of the period ending March 31, 2006, being posted at ¥66.2 billion ($577 million), as well as an increase in operating profit growing by 13% from the previous year, being posted at ¥553.2 billion ($4.82 billion).^[43] Notable titles to have helped Sega increase profits in the West, such as Shadow the Hedgehog (which sold over a million copies)^[44] and Sonic Riders, whilst in Japan, games such as Yakuza, Mushiking and Brain Trainer Portable continued to have strong sales.

Although Sega seemed poised to continue increasing profits, the company reported a massive drop of 93% profits for the period ending June 30, 2006 compared to the same period the previous year. Net income for the company dropped from $98.3 million (a year earlier) to $7.12 million for this period as well as total sales dropping from $926.5 million to $809.1 million,^[45] Sega reported that the decrease in profits was due to no significant big releases by its slot machine division.

Despite this, Sega reported in November a massive 52% rise in profits for the periods between April and September 2006, compared to the same period last year.^[46] Software sales for the company had also increased with 5.75 million. Of those units, 1.76 million were sold in Japan, 1.59 million in Europe, 2.36 million in the US and 30,000 in other regions.^[47] a number of titles were said to have performed well, in particular Super Monkey Ball: Touch & Roll for the Nintendo DS and Football Manager 2006 for the Xbox 360 having sold well. While Sega performed better in 2006, they had slashed their forecasts for the year ending March 2007 by 20% with an anticipated profit of $536.7 million, down from the initial profits of $656.7 million.

On August 26, 2007, IGN Australia announced that Sega would re-establish itself in Australia, ending THQ Asia Pacific's distribution of Sega products in Australia. Sega Australia has a very close relationship with Nintendo Australia, despite Sega Ozisoft and NAL previously being rivals in the Australian gaming market. Sega Australia currently do not distribute in New Zealand, instead like most other Australian publishers, they opt to let retailers take care of the distribution e.g. EB Games Australia and Kmart.

Continuing to prepare more games for the Western market, Sega was able to bridge a partnership with New Line Cinema in September to develop a game for the movie tie-in game The Golden Compass ^[48] and also partnered themselves with Fox to develop two new games based on the Alien franchise.^[49] Sega then assigned critically acclaimed developers Gearbox software to develop a first person shooter (Aliens: Colonial Marines) and Obsidian Entertainment to develop an RPG based on the popular film franchise for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The latter was cancelled for undisclosed reasons by Sega. However Aliens: Colonial Marines is still in production by Gearbox and has an expected release date of 2010. Sega has also been publishing games from independent studios (such as Platinum Games), and is currently considering turning them into franchises.

Sega has also designed an online flash game site dubbed "PlaySEGA," which includes both original games and ports of classic games, with retro Sonic games being promised in the long run.^[50] Users of this site earn various amounts of "PlaySEGA Rings," which they can use to customize and house their avatar or enter weekly cash drawings.

On February 10, 2009, Sega approved a patent for two controller designs, one that looks similar to the Sega Saturn 3D pad with an added touch screen device and one that looks similar to the Mega Drive/Genesis 6-button pad.^[51] Sega also approved a patent for USB Flash Memory cards and Hard drive on July 7, 2009.^[52]

In September 2009, evidence was uncovered^[53] that suggests Sega is expanding into the online gambling sector with the launch of an online casino and poker room in October 2009.

Software studios

Currently, the Consumer R&D Division focuses on development of game software for consoles, handhelds and mobiles. The division is headed by Toshihiro Nagoshi ^[54] The Amusement R&D Division focuses on the development of game software for arcade and slot machines. The division is headed by Hiroshi Yagi.^[54]

Hardware teams

Hideki Sato is the primary man responsible for every Sega Arcade and Home Consumer System ever made. The Sega Saturn was designed by Away Team.

Currently, Nintendo helps SEGA to make games for Nintendo's handheld and home consoles.

Recognized company personnel

In alphabetical order

Corporate personnel

American

• Charles Hawk: Former vice president of strategy and corporate affairs
• Simon Jeffery: Recruited from Lucas Arts, Simon Jeffery President SOA (2003–2009)
• Tom Kalinske: President SOA (1991–1996), Former Board Member (1990s)
• Michael Katz: President SOA (1989–1991)
• Peter Moore: Vice President (199X–1999) President SOA (1999–2003)
• David Rosen: Co-Founder, Board Member
• Scott Steinberg: Vice president of marketing SOA (2003–2007)
• Bernie Stolar: Recruited from Sony, President SOA (1996–1999)
• Bruce Lowry: President SOA (1986–1988)^[55]

European

• Robert Deith: Chariman Sega Europe (1991–2001)
• Paul Williams: Sega Amusements Ltd CEO (Present)

Australian

• Jonathan Clavin: Former Sega President of Australian Intercontinental Operations (1987–2001)
• Darren MacBeth: Managing Director of Sega Australia's operations.^[56]
• Vispi Bhopti: PR for Sega Australia Pty Ltd and former Nintendo Australia PR.^[56]

Japanese

• Hayao Nakayama: Co-Founder, President SOJ (1984–1998)
• Shoichiro Irimajiri: President SOJ (1998–2000)
• Isao Okawa: President SOJ (2000–2001) (died shortly after Dreamcast was discontinued, forgave the debts Sega owed him and gave the company his $695 million worth of Sega and CSK stock to Sega Corporation.)^[57]
• Hisao Oguchi: President SOJ (2001–2004)

Korean

• Yasutaka Sato: President SPK (2005–2008)
• Kazunobu Takita: President SPK (2008–present)

Research & Development

Hardware Division

• Hideki Sato Head of Sega Away Team (1985–2001) (also called Sega Hardware Team R&D)

Video Game Software Division

• Toshihiro Nagoshi: H NE R&D 1 also known as CS1 Team.
• Mie Kumagai: Head of AM R&D 3, only studio with a female HOD.
• Yuji Naka: Co-creator of company mascot, owner of development studio Prope.
• Yu Suzuki: Head of New Entertainment R&D 2 (also called DigitalRex).

Advertisement campaigns

Sega has had a long history of different slogans and ad campaigns.

Arcade

• The Arcade Experts. (early '80s)

Sega Master System

• The challenge will always be there.
• Major fun and games!
• Now, there are no limits.
• Hot hits today! More hits on the way!
• Do me a favor, plug me into a Sega (talking TV).

Mega Drive/Genesis

• Genesis does what Nintendon't!
• Blast Processing
• The name "Sega!" being composed by a "choir".
• Welcome To The Next Level. (Also used for the Game Gear. Referenced in Shadow The Hedgehog)
• To be this good takes AGES, To be this good takes SEGA.
• Siga Sega! ("Follow Sega!", used in Brazil during the early '90s)
• Sega, c'est plus fort que toi ! ('Sega, it's stronger than you!', cult French TV slogan, early '90s)
• 16 bit arcade graphics!
• Cyber Razor Cut
• La Ley del Más Fuerte (The Law of the Strongest, Spanish slogan from 1993–94)
• The more you play with it, the harder it gets.^[58]
• Pirate TV (Britain, also featured as a comic series in Sonic the Comic)
• Canal Pirata Sega (Spain)
• Sega,é mais forte que tu (Sega, It's stronger than you, Portugal, early '90s)
• Someone Yelling "SEGA!".

Saturn

• A little bit too real (early print ad in the US)
• Welcome to the Real World - Sega Saturn. (Early UK TV slogan)
• Segata Sanshiro: "Sega Saturn Shiro!" ("Play Sega Saturn!")
• When you have Sega Saturn, nothing else matters.
• The Game is Never Over (also used in last European Mega Drive commercials.)
• Peligrosamente real (Dangerously Real. 1st Spanish slogan)
• Contraprográmate (De-Program-Yourself, Spain, 1997)
• The Plaything ad.
• The Theater of the eye (mid-'90s US ad.)
• Nous ne sommes pas sur la même planète ('We are not on the same planet', French slogan in the mid-'90s)
• Perigosamente Real (Dangerously Real, Portugal.)

Dreamcast

• It's Thinking. (tagline used in US launch)
• Up to 6 billion players. (tagline used in Europe launch)

Post Dreamcast years (2002–2003)

• The return of the "Sega!" choir.

Seal of Quality

The Sega Seal of Quality.

The Sega Seal of Quality was an icon placed on the packaging of all video games that had Sega's official approval to be played on a Sega console system. As was the case with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, the intention behind the "seal" was to avoid the mistakes that led to the Video Game Crash of 1983 by ensuring that games were compatible with the intended Sega console system, and to censor content that Sega felt was inappropriate for their image.

The Sega Seal of Quality was an icon that Sega put on its own video games along with certain video games published by a third party software developer. As was the case with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, the Sega seal appeared on a video game's box and marketing as a means of informing the consumer that Sega had previewed the game before its release to ensure that the game was fully compatible for its intended home console system, and had met a certain level of Sega's standard of quality (in terms of graphics, sound, challenge and possible offensive content). However, the Sega Seal of Quality was otherwise very different than the Nintendo Seal of Quality.

In a 1993 magazine advertisement,^[59] Sega described the meaning of their Seal of Quality as follows:

The Sega Seal of Quality. With it, you're assured a game has passed the most rigorous battery of quality control and playability tests ever devised, and that it pushes the limits on the fun meter. What's more, the Seal guarantees the game, when used properly and not as a door stop, will not damage a Sega Genesis, Sega CD or color portable Game Gear. Without the Seal? Well, about the only thing we can guarantee is that you could be setting yourself up for a big, big headache. If that happens, don't come crying to us.

Sega never required a third party software developer to earn the official Sega Seal of Quality as a precondition for publication, although most developers chose to do so. Furthermore, a game could earn the seal even if it contained certain themes that its major competitor, Nintendo, would have prohibited: blood, scantily clad female villains, and graphic violence. Hence, the Sega Seal of Quality was given out to Sega Genesis games that depicted blood (Splatterhouse 2, Techno Cop), and scantily clad females (Streets of Rage, Final Fight CD).

Video games released on a Sega home console system were still censored for other taboo or controversial depictions, i.e. profanity, nudity, prostitution, homosexuality. However, this was done by the software developer and not as a requirement issued by Sega to the developer.

In 1993 Sega of America permitted Acclaim to keep the graphic violence and gore in its port of Midway's popular arcade game titled Mortal Kombat. As this game and other games sparked a national controversy over the violent content in video games, Sega created the Videogame Rating Council to give a descriptive rating to every game sold on a Sega home console system in the United States. This rating, along with the seal, would appear on the game's box and marketing. The Videogame Rating Council was phased out in 1994 with the adoption of the industry wide Entertainment Software Ratings Board.

Sega gradually shifted the scope of their seal of quality to focus less on content and more on assuring consumers that a game was fully compatible with its intended home console system. The Seal was dropped in 2001, at the height of the Dreamcast's lifecycle.

See also

• List of Sega video game franchises
• Lists of Sega games
• List of Sega video game consoles

References

• Sega financial report
• Yahoo! Finance details for Sega Corporation
• Yahoo! Finance details for Sega of America
• Sega's entry into and growth in the American market is documented in Terry Sanders' film The Japan Project: Made in Japan.

External links

• SEGA Casino Onine
• Sega of America's official website
• Sega of Japan's official website
• Sega of Europe's official website
• Sega of Australia's official website
• Sega Online Casino Review
• Sega's Official YouTube Channel
• Sega Sammy Holdings official website
• The History of Sega at Jap-Sai.com
• SEGA Saturno Spanish Sega Saturn & Sega community
• SEGA Publishing Korea's official website
• Sega Addicts Podcast official website
• Sega Master System games in Flash