Everything is useful. Anything even remotely related to Sega has a place on the wiki, no matter how small or mundane it seems.
Hah I guess I wasn't the only one to keep their Segaworld admission ticket /> Metropolis was definitely around before SegaWorld's demise, as I went to SegaWorld for the 2nd time on the same day as that party. /> Btw have a photo of the other badges from Metropolis:
Metropolis (venue) was November 1992 Sega World Bournemouth was July 1993 SegaWorld London was September 1996 Sega was trying to launch these things pretty frequently so the others will slot in-between Bournemouth and London (all being smaller than both). I don't genuinely know if any were launched after London, so yeah, London totally didn't come first. But I would imagine most were doomed to failure because they were designed just like every other arcade in this country - the feeling of being tacked onto a bowling alley or whatever as an afterthought. The London branch is genuinely the only UK arcade I can think of that tried to build a sense of atomosphere. And with that have some depressing photos of the final days of SegaWorld London. Because people suck. But if it's any consolation I've counted over 70 Sega Worlds in Japan so far (that's seven-zero, and there's a couple dozen others with different names). And the Tokyo Joypolis is effectively SegaWorld London on steroids, so it's not like this stuff has completely gone.
Awesome collection. Before the demise yeah, but it wasn't around before the decline started, like when SEGAWORLD was in its heyday. Our route included a trip to Hamleys everytime aroun that time. We woulld go to Hamleys, Disney Store, Warner Bros. Store a few others, then I would go to SEGAWORLD with m dad in Trocadero when my grandma, mam and sister wen round the shops at the bottom. That place was a like a SEGA gaming heaven for little me. So you also remember the golden Sonic statue above the Trocadero entrance? I know for sure it was there, but I have no pictures and I have never seen any online, just hoping that you or someone may have pictures of it. /> I can find a picture of the place where it used to be, but cannot find a picture of it... I will take pictures of my SEGAWORLD stuff when I get a chance.
Yes there was a golden statue on the entrance, although I'm not sure where it went. GagaMan did a write-up a few years ago That Sonic statue on a pole still seems to exist in some form though I think this is the same one... anyway this was at ATEI 2009 (it was also there at ATEI 2008) - it's been repainted but Sega Europe probably still have it kicking around.
Oh wow. That top row of badges, excluding the Metal Sonic one, were also used in the Sonic Crackers (no, not Sonic Crackers, this) box. Look, you can even see them in the photo of that page (which incidentally is not quite the same as the final product, you can see the figures changed). I have those myself =P
I remember the Glasgow Sega place being advertised in the city centre. There was a big LED screen above Dunkin Donuts which played advertisements for local businesses and products on a loop, one of which was an animation of Sonic running, rolling into a ball and hitting the bowling pins.
Turns out my maths were slightly wrong - it's 80+ venues in Japan, not 70. At some point in the future each branch will need a separate page, including the closed down ones which would require a trip on the wayback machine to find records of. Also the many which have been converted into bog standard "SEGA" arcades. I can only assume this is where the big money comes from.
The Sega Park locations seem to be listed here. As for the Harlow location, I can provide some further details. It opened in late 1997 (November/December), and took up five regular units of the shopping centre it inhabited. In fact, the regular walkway barriers and shop fronts were removed in favour of floor-to-ceiling glass panels, making the location into a huge presence in the centre. The arcade was very popular for a good few years. I can still remember a good number of the machines they had, too - Virtual On was located there, which was an uncommon find in the UK. The last game to do big money for them was Dancing Stage Euromix. After a few years, the prize section was removed and replaced with an 18+ gambling section. Unfortunately, this attracted chavs in their droves, and they'd frequently harass other customers for money. Poor machine maintenance had also become a major problem in the later days. The location closed in 2003. Here's a picture of very low quality: It was located here: 70-74 Harvey Centre, Harlow, Essex CM20 1XS This belongs to Sega Amusements Europe, and is kept in the foyer of its Chessington sales office when it's not out on show. The Cardiff office is now where production of new games happens. It's well worth noting that Sega Europe and Sega Amusements Europe are very distinct entities that have little to do with one another.
London's very good at throwing up addresses: Sega Park Unit 7, 88-96, High Road, Wood Green N22 6HE Sega Megaworld Care Of Debenhams, 275-287 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 1NA Sega Park 74-75 Eastgate Centre, Basildon, Essex SS14 1AF the Houndsditch one is throwing up the (wrong) postcode though. I think it's here http://lh3.ggpht.com/yOJYJN8ikFzIPa12T1_UG4KYKxji3zYV1SCNQKyu11uFWvPoVox-UeQ_64W5kzCTD__X_EqRqvrwzjroZQ Once a Sega Park & Leisure Exchange, then a Leisure Exchange... now a https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5148177,-0.0779858,3a,75y,223.25h,88.8t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sGOU8520saQ1e1d5ao-LOKw!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en take-away You'll have to excuse me if I'm re-treading over already found Sega Parks - I live up North and to me it's all "LONDON". Also I think in total this is more than ten?
Glasgow would have been: Hollywood Bowl Cranston Street Finnieston Glasgow. The alley was later rebranded as AMF who operated it until 2006 when they relocated to Springfield Quay (taking over another bowling alley in the process). The building has since been demolished and is now a car park for the SkyPark development on Elliot Street. The AMF Bowling at Springfield Quay has since reverted to the Hollywood Bowl name, another Hollywood also exists in Coatbridge. The Sega branding would have been in 1993, possibly gone by 1995.
Sega World Birmingham, Sega Park Glasgow, Sega Park Harlow. I've only learnt very recently that street view has the option to change dates, to when the vans last went around. Shame this service wasn't around ten years ago.
Came across this by accident http://freespace.virgin.net/brian.curtis1/about_brian_curtis.html This is the bloke who apparently created the artwork for a good chunk of these venues. Apparently he did 14 across the UK and France.
I think we have pages for all the Sega Parks in the UK now. It turns out there were 11 of them, 4 of which were in London. There's an unknown number in Spain and Portugal as well. Apparently this man started some of them: http://es.linkedin.com/in/georgepaultaylor
Did we get this one? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.516108,-0.1200981,3a,75y,292.76h,77.29t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1srNB6O_0HExE-XmIYV8rftw!2e0!6m1!1e1 7 Great Queen Street, Holborn, London. This too appears to have become a Leisure Exchange, now it's a corner shop. The sign was taken down sometime betwen October 2008 and June 2012 according to Street View.
Spanish addresses that didn't lead me to empty fields: - Jeréz de la Frontera, E 11407, Cádiz - Centro de Ocio, ZigZag Murcia, E - San Fernando Plaza Centro Comercial y de Ocio, San Fernando, Cádiz (this was signposted up until at least 2012) - Julio Iglesias, 29660 Marbella Andalusia Formatting might be a bit off - I can't claim to understand how addresses in Spain work. They were mostly in shopping centres which means no Street View. I can't wait for photos to be posted because of course, that will totally happen.
Sega Cities in the US - 31 Fortune Dr, Irvine, California 92618 - this became a GameWorks in 1997. - Park Meadows Mall, Douglas County, Colorado - Golden Ring Mall, Baltimore, Maryland (there might have been a Sega Time-Out here too) - San Jose Pavilions, San Jose, California (it's an hp Pavilion now - don't know what it was then) - Cottonwood Mall, Albuquerque, New Mexico (opened 1997-03-28?) - Circle Centre, Indianapolis (later GameWorks until 2010) - Lakeline Mall, Cedar Park, Texas and one in Canada: - 99 Rathburn Rd W Mississauga, ON L5B 4C1, Canada - now just called The Palladium Apparently they were going to make 40 or so in Canada while the US versions were being turned into GameWorks-es.
Maybe the US venues will be easier to find photos for. Also, video. Videoing birthdays and whatnot is apparently more popular in America, even as far back as the 90s.
Super ultra mega points go to whoever can solve this mystery: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xwoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44&dq=sega+continental&hl=en&sa=X&ei=P9VoVK_-I4KLaJX_gaAG&ved=0CCgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false In July 1968 Sega opened the "Golden Center Game Corner" in Yokohama (although the sign outside just says "ゴールデン センター" or "Golden Center"). I don't know where that is/was - do they still own it under a different name? Bonus super ultra mega points if you can find the Osaka branch - it might be the first Sega arcade! EDIT: some points lost because I found the building: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@35.4500473,139.6304424,3a,75y,123.9h,110.13t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sBLC4uXcpLfQGZNN6tZO9eQ!2e0!6m1!1e1 apparently it used to literally be painted gold.