This sprawling, probably-quite-important geocities page has hundreds of photos of old Japanese game centres backed up - there's a few Sega ones nestled among them, though can't tell if there's anything new yet
You've heard of "Hi-Tech Land Sega" and "Hi-Tech Sega", now get ready for "Hi-Tech King": the latest (and possibly greatest, if the name is to be believed) in the largely-uncharted waters of Sega's "Hi-Tech" urban game centres that predated the Sega Worlds. This one was apparently in Nakano. I randomly came across it in Game Machine while looking for something else entirely, and there may well be more coverage - I've only barely scratched the surface with this period in its run, compared to others. I personally haven't came across this outgrowth of the "Hi-Tech" naming scheme previously, and I'd be inclined to say it was a one-off, at least if documentation of this period wasn't patchy at best. Can't rule out them rebranding all the others to fit in at some point after this, though I can't find any suggestion of this example ever receiving that treatment... or indeed anything else about it at all, for that matter.
Apologies if I'm missing something, but I don't think that's a Sega operation. The article says "it's independently run but last year they changed to a policy of leasing exclusively from Sega." The manager said they had previously been buying machines but that it had become too expensive due to how quickly the turnover cycle had become. According to the internet, the word 'hi-tech' was in common usage since at least the early 80s in Japan.
You can just see the bottom of a Sega "S" on the sign. I would imagine there were a few independents that became Sega franchisees. I like the idea of a "Hi-Tech King". Robot arms and a throne with lasers.
That is the case, but Sega clearly seem to have taken the location under their wing, so to speak. Compare the décor to other Hi-Tech locations from around that time: It's indeed suspected there's more examples of this, like Pasopiard Yokohama, and probably many others that we won't ever know about since Sega just didn't lend their branding - the latter probably shouldn't fall within the remit of Retro, but the former doesn't look out of place alongside the others that actually were directly managed.
I mean, as I translated, the article explicitly says it's an independently run operation that leases exclusively from Sega (thus the Sega logo on the sign?). And that was a change that had occurred within the last year. I don't think there's any evidence that Sega was involved with the place beyond that... so the name is probably just a coincidence since Hi-Tech was a common word.
This is something to think about, but I don't know how best to handle it yet: https://web.archive.org/web/20071204040215/http://sega.jp/corp/release/2004/0310_1/ There's a load of Japanese properties that Sega had a hand in constructing, such as this one, "S-PULSE DREAM HOUSE". Opened in March 2004, it was a... place... for fans of the J.League football team, Shimizu S-Pulse. Somewhere to watch matches, eat food, buy things and play WCCF (aka the Sega bit). It still exists, but only as a shop, although there was (and may still be) a small chain of these things. It appears that over the last couple of decades, Sega has branched into quite a few more "nuanced" entertainment ventures. Shops and cafes and restaurants that don't have SEGA in massive letters over the door. I don't know how to handle this on the wiki - whether they all get separate pages, or are just compiled as a big list.
I've been thinking about how to present the LB Style Square stores for a while too - shops selling Love and Berry clothing and likely also housing a number of cabinets. There were apparently over 60 of the things at one point, and Mushiking had a temporary equivalent held at other venues. Similar to Oasis Park, Sega also seems to have had a hand in this place, Festival Walk (and in fact may still partly continue to, judging by how it's remained on their website). Sega Arena Soga is on the premises but I'm not quite sure of the association past that point. One last thing I discovered a little while ago is that in what is possibly his most unsung piece of work for Sega, Yu Suzuki had a hand in designing a "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt" café featuring Beach Spikers and Virtua Fighter art for Tokyo Joypolis around the early 2000s.
I think there might have been a chain of Sakura Taisen cafes too, but there's so much going on with that franchise that it's impossible to parse.
Regular squares not doing it for you? You need a "Disney Fun Square from Sega" (ディズニー・ファンスクエア・フロム・セガ) (or "DFS", (sans sofas)): https://web.archive.org/web/20010801012634/http://www.sega.co.jp/sega/corp/news/nr990302.html Supposedly set up in a bit of Shinjuku Joypolis, and later other places in 1999, a set of Disney-themed arcade cabinets. How long did it last? Until at least 2008, and in a sense, it hasn't fully gone away: https://twitter.com/pix8826/status/1248551129488605184 Here's the remnants of one in April 2020. It's also the source of that Mickey Mouse popcorn dispenser.
Sega World "Sega Omoshiro Yuugi Goten" Kisogawa セガ ワールド 『セガ おもしろ遊戯御殿』 木曽川 https://web.archive.org/web/20040815143756/http://www.sega.co.jp/release/nr040514_1.html Japanese public service broadcasting + ninjas + Sega = ??? Oasis Bird オアシスバード https://web.archive.org/web/20040815143721/http://www.sega.co.jp/release/nr040422_1.html Very poor showing online for this one - a low resolution, watermarked poster. It was a relaxation space in a shopping mall. Also Mushiking. Sadly if you look this up you're likely to find a completely unrelated Japanese cafe where you get to sit with real tropical birds. I've yet to find Sega offering such a service (although there are cat cafes in Yakuza 6 and Judgment if that counts).
Puns! Sega World Kanazawa once had a space known as Segacha! (セガッチャ！) https://web.archive.org/web/20040220115400/http://www.sega.co.jp/release/nr030109_1.html They cornered off a section of what was then Sega World Kanazawa and filled it with "gacha gacha" machines. You may know this as Gashapon (spoilers: that might not be the correct name) or "toy dispensers" where you put in a coin, turn the handle and get a thing. Bandai seems to be taking credit for their invention as they've been producing these devices since 1977, but how old are gumball machines? (answer: very) These days there are entire stores dedicated to this purpose: I don't know if Sega's efforts were an important step on that road, or whether it was something that had occurred for years. I do know their grand plans of rolling this out aggressively didn't materialise, since I can only find a few low resolution photos from 2002/2003. Zoning off a section of a store for one type of machine wasn't new though - Sega were already doing it with UFO catchers and photo booths. Did Sega make their own gatcha machines? I don't think so, but they did license out properties to fill them. And no we're not covering this very well - do step in and make it better.
And this period of history involved "Studio Sega" https://web.archive.org/web/20040705003633/http://www.sega-am.jp/studio_sega/ A special place for girls. No girl? No entry. Actually no entry full stop, since they've been dead since 2007. I don't know what you're missing since none of it was ever documented.
Christ you couldn't make it up: https://sega.jp/topics/211216_1/ Sega opened a dedicated gatcha section of Sega Mito today. So yes, very much still a thing. Actually to be fair this is "Genda Sega Entertainment" now, and the new strategy seems to be... erm... leave things alone? I imagine Covid plays a role, but nothing drastic has occurred since the sell-off last yar - a few new game centers opened at the beginning of the year and they've opened... a shop for Korean uniforms and a shop selling banana smoothies. Right-o.
And... it's gone. https://genda.jp/2022/01/28/全国のアミューズメント施設の屋号を「gigo」へ一/ Sega has sold off the rest of their shares to Genda, and now the company in charge is "Genda GiGO". "Get into (the) Gaming Oasis". Not sure if this means a full rebrand is on its way. I wonder how new Yakuzas will cope.
RIP Sega Arcades, shame I never got to one before this happened. Also according to a destructoid article I read this will also mean the end of the arcade Sega branding.
Opening on the 25th: Sega Shizuoka. On the same grounds as where Sega World Shizuoka used to be, until the entertainment complex it was in got demolished at the start of 2020. Looks like there's now been a new one built called "ARTIE", containing most of the same stuff as before, though the old Sega World seems to have been bigger. Considering the full Genda GiGO buyout I wonder how long this one has left until a rebrand - or whether new openings after it will use the Sega brand ever again. Probably not. Meanwhile, at the other operations division Sega divested itself of, though not fully - Joypolis Sports.
1994 2000s 2019 2022 ah. Not sure about the current approach to the rebrand on Retro - whilst it needs to be taken note of, it's not as if the 200+ places are being properly closed or converted to a different format. The newer "GiGO" brand clogging up the page and navbox for the Sega-era one with a different logo + etymology is also something which could be addressed too, though I've no idea how to make the distinction right now.
Something seemingly written out of history: Takeshiba GiGO, supposedly the second GiGO centre to open after the original in Roppongi the previous year. Except maybe not - the article in Famitsu seems to have been written whilst it was still being prepared with no opening date given, and the one other reference I can find of it right now is in this. Trustworthy Japanese sources haven't mentioned its supposed existence, and up to now the famous Ikebukuro location was understood to be the second, so I question whether this one actually ever ended up operating to begin with. In any case, it probably wasn't around at all already by 1997.
