SEGA Sports R&D
SEGA Sports R&D (also known as SEGA Sports Japan) is the group responsible for creating the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series. The studio houses game developers from the defunct divisions Team Andromeda and Smilebit, which were responsible for developing Sega properties such as Panzer Dragoon and Jet Set Radio.
History
Team Andromeda
Initially founded in mid-1994 as part of Consumer Software R&D Dept. 1, Team Andromeda became a separate internal development team during the Sega Saturn's lifespan. The group produced three Panzer Dragoon titles and, after the release of its final game Panzer Dragoon Saga in 1998, was then dissolved.
After the restructuring, many of the group's members joined Sega's Smilebit and United Game Artists development teams. Former Team Andromeda staff have also developed video games at other studios, including Polyphony Digital, Artoon, feelplus and Land Ho.
Smilebit
Key members of Team Andromeda were folded into the new second-party Sega studio Smilebit Corp., fondly remembered for crafting such titles as Jet Set Radio, Panzer Dragoon Orta and GunValkyrie. On July 1, 2004, three months before the completion of the Sega Sammy merger, Sega's internal development studios were again restructured. Smilebit was shut down and its personnel were absorbed by two new groups: New Entertainment R&D Dept., which included many members of the recently closed Amusement Vision group, and Sega Sports Japan, which is composed entirely of former Smilebit team members.
Sega Sports Japan
Best known for Mario & Sonic game series.
Games developed as Team Andromeda
Games developed as Smilebit
Games developed as Sega Sports Japan
References