I can confirm that in 1994 and 1995 at the very least, Sega were running "Sega Park"s in Japan. They were probably re-branded, but that was the name of choice back then. So if you're wondering why they set up a bunch of Sega Parks in the UK when they quite clearly weren't parks, that'll be the reason - copying the Japanese naming scheme.
Bonus undocumented Joypolis parks, never before seen in English! Kyoto Joypolis Shinjuku Joypolis Fukuoka Joypolis Niigata Joypolis There's also a thing called "Sega World Galbo" which is older than all of these but bigger than your average Japanese arcade. a.k.a. it had an AS-1 machine which usually means it's significant. It warrants more investigation... by someone not me hopefully. As for France, I found this coin a while back and couldn't understand where it came from: http://segaretro.org/File:CentreSega_Token_Heads.jpg http://segaretro.org/File:CentreSega_Token_Tails.jpg turns out it's from this shopping complex in Paris https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.8718016,2.339223,3a,75y,163.06h,91.94t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sGhp_uPIMA1zEBslyk5zNlQ!2e0!5s20080501T000000!6m1!1e1?hl=en-GB "Micromania Centre Sega" or words to that effect. Given that none of these places exist anymore I think we're doing rather well.
Sega Zone Catford Very little info on this one, not even an exact address. If I had to guess, I'd say 116-118 Rushey Green, simply because there's a Quicksilver there now and some old business listings say "Saga" was at that address.
JAPAN Hi-Tech Land Sega | Sega World (Japan) | Sega Arena | Club Sega | everything else I've got photos for most of the venues I know about (those that are missing are closed venues - the list of open ones is complete). I don't know how to correctly format Japanese addresses though. Also I have no idea what the differences between the types of arcade are other than they were opened at different time periods. And names might be wrong... and photos might be wrong... and basically what I want is someone to double check what I'm doing. 100+ pages on this subject need to be made. Any takers?
The first Sega World. Maybe. idk I've been doing the Japanese stuff by myself for the most part. While I'm still confident Sega ran arcades during the 70s and 80s... I can't find photographic evidence (though there's stuff for the late 1960s). This is therefore the earliest example of a "modern" Sega arcade with video games in it I can find. http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/asaka0704/56823558.html In 1989 a "Sega World" opened as part of a complex known as "Tokyo Roof", which no longer exists and I don't know much about it. It had a pretty big feature, Sega Super Circuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqexeuTP0K0 Basically they stripped out some OutRun cabinets, shoved some CCD cameras (digital!) onto some radio controlled cars and linked them all up to create first-person miniature car racing. Supposedly this was first shown in 1987 (at Yume Kouba 87? Koujou 87? *) but it was 1989 where it got a permanent home. It may have been moved to one of the Joypolis-es in the mid-90s - you'll not find this thing today. This flyer seems to suggest there was an R360 cabinet there too. And G-LOC is a 1990 release so that suggests this place stuck around for a few months at least. *BRAIN MELT TIME: this event got its own famicom game where its mascots were the main characters: Yume K?j?: Doki Doki Panic!. (Super Mario Bros. 2)
Plonk. Yokkaichi Galbo (??????), Osaka Galbo (?????), Ichikawa Galbo (?????). Three big-ish Sega arcades from the early 1990s that we know absolutely nothing about, however it seems that some of the big-ish attractions which also showed up in London and Sydney started their lives off there. I'm also up to 172 Sega World locations in Japan. I have everything from about mid-2002 onwards but there aren't any lists for those built before that date, so I've just been stabbing in the dark. I'm surprised nobody cares - I found one which is/was loosely themed around Sonic 3, where bits of the arcade are named after zones in the game and there's Sonic and a plane and everything.
I ran into some photos, so more on that "Centre Sega" in Paris Centre Sega http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_13_03_15_9_28_23.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_13_03_15_9_25_58.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_13_03_15_9_23_21.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_13_03_15_9_18_35.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_02_01_15_11_26_42.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_02_01_15_11_24_36.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_02_01_15_11_21_39.jpeg http://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/gallery/2_02_01_15_11_18_34.jpeg
That article mentions Megaworlds (which I don't think we previously knew was a Sega thing) in Acton, Romford, Croydon and Harrow. Presumably they just misnamed Sega Park Acton, so that's three new arcades we can add to the list.
They want you to register. I say screw that. http://I.imgur.com/F7RJZlg.jpg http://I.imgur.com/G1ND4wh.jpg http://I.imgur.com/erbCmmN.jpg http://I.imgur.com/S2UWGMr.jpg
I'm guessing it's no coincidence that Sega Megaworld Croydon, Sega Megaworld Harrow and Sega Megaworld Romford were all set up within branches of Debenhams. I would suggest that's why the Acton branch changed its name - it wasn't.
I remember there being an arcade in the Glasgow branch of Debenhams, I don't think it was Sega-branded through. Only game I actually remember being in there was a sit-down Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo.
Hey Spanish speakers: http://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3AUltimaGeneracion_ES_09.pdf&page=31 ^ this is an article about a Spanish arcade supposedly created by Sega called "Divercor" or "Diver Cor"(?). The internet is returning nothing for me - this one really does seem to have been forgotten - can you help? Also this looks like it might be of value: http://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3AUltimaGeneracion_ES_05.pdf&page=104
Hey Portuguese speakers: Combing through issues of Super Game Power, the Brazillian gaming magazine, and then this turns up: http://I.imgur.com/qjZrXnw.jpg (mid-1998) The shopping centre still exists, but the Joypolis doesn't. Info is scarce - all I'm getting are the Japanese versions.
I don't know enough about Brazillian geography to know if there's some obvious info I'm supposed to get by context, but I don't see any city name there, just "X street". Or was there just one "Shopping Center Norte" in the entire country at the time?
The latest in undocumented Sega arcades: XiV World by Sega Since I made this topic we've lost a few Sega Worlds, and we're set to lose more.
someone out there cares I'm sure From French magazine Arcades (#7, April 1988) I don't know how seriously to take this, but there's a caption that's described as (in French) the entrance to a Sega arcade. "Game Carnival". And there's a little blue light on one of the outdoor signs - a Sega logo? I have reason to believe Sega owned Japanese arcades (or "game centers" as they're often called) throughout the 70s and 80s, but I've had a hard time tracking them down. Is this one?
That's a great article ... their trip to SoJ in 1988. I'm pretty sure they went with the TILT guys, who also did an article in the April 1988 edition (pages 14-19) of TILT. Combining the two articles gives a fantastic insite into SoJ in 1988.
Things to thank Sega for #4324932804: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqe1yE3ff1Q The 1983 horror film "Nightmares" (which is four short stories rolled into one) devotes part of its runtime to video games. Filming apparently took place in Time-Out Fox Hills Mall which was owned by Sega at the time. When vector graphics attack...
