History - Personal - http://maxpages.com/elfart/Sega

IT ALL BEGAIN WITH...
When he noticed the popularity of mechanical coin-operated games on US military bases in Japan, enterprising David Rosen decided to try to bring them to the United States. So he founded to Service Games in 1954 to do just that. At a time when the vacuum tube still reigned supreme, Service Games stood for the cutting edge of available technology. Their launch product line included everything from jukeboxes and air-hockey tables to punching bags and pinball machines.

SEGA TAKES OFF
From its launch, the Service Games business grew steadily. Tired of just handling imports, Rosen decided in the 60s to make his own coin-operated games and acquired a factory through the purchase of a Tokyo jukebox and slot machine maker. The company began stamping SEGA- short for SErvice GAmes, on the games it produced and Rosen decided to stick with the name. Throughout the rest of the decade, Sega released several successful games, including Punching Bag, a heavy-duty coin-op built like a battleship, Skill Diga, Periscope, Basketball, Duckhunt and Drivemobile.

SEGA GOES ELECTRONIC
In the early 70s, Sega Enterprises was acquired by the U.S. based Gulf + Western Industries. Through this acquisition, Sega was able to continue it rapid expansion, beginning with the "new" technology of electronic and video games. Blazing trails into the new electronic game territory, Sega released a new battlefield simulator, Combat, featuring randomly moving targets and a fluorescent battle zone, and Sega Gun Fight with an "authentic desert setting" where blazing pistols can duel in a sagebrush skirmish.

SEGA ENTERS THE HOME
The early 1980s featured a lot of important "firsts" for Sega, including the first laser disc game (Sega Astron Belt), the first 3D video game (SUB-ROC-3D), and the first video game console (the SG-1000, a precursor to the Master System, released in Japan). Meanwhile, Frogger and Zaxxon were huge arcade hits. It was also during this time that Sega of America is established out of Sega Enterprises to adapt and market video game products to the rapidly growing North American market. Sega of America was also asked to develop hardware for the U.S. markets; its first creation is the Sega Master System.

CONSOLES GROW UP
Following on the success of the Master System, Sega produced the Sega Genesis. It's the first affordable 16-bit system, and it quickly becomes the hottest-selling game system in the country. A few years later, Sega launched the predecessor to the Master System, the Sega Saturn. The 32 bit system sold 200,000 units on the first day in Sega's native Japan, but ultimately fell short in the increasingly competitive market. However, the Saturn's impressive games roster, with cool titles like Panzer Dragoon, Clockwork Knight, Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, Sega Rally, Fighters Megamix, Dead or Alive, Shining Force 3, Grandia, Nights, and Burning Rangers, and its new style of game play set the standard for game development in the industry.

ENTER DREAMCAST
With the launch of Dreamcast, Sega is poised once again to lead the gaming industry into unexplored territories. With tons of games at launch and 128-bit graphics, not to mention the peripherals and its online capabilities, Dreamcast is guaranteed to take gaming to never-before-seen levels.

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Page Updated Mon Dec 6, 1999 7:33pm EST