[Hivebrain]

Original Sega Park website: https://web.archive....w.segapark.com/

It specifically says there are 10 locations (presumably not including Sega Worlds). Can we account for them all?

Colindale, Brighton and Southampton confirmed; plus Reading, London and Bristol need checking. That's 6.

[Black Squirrel]

Glasgow would be 7.

[Sploit]

Xilla, on 06 November 2014 - 07:05 PM, said:

I believe the only SegaSonic machine in Europe was in Metropolis for many years! Alas when I finally visited it (2 months before it got converted to a GAME) it was well gone.

The machine was probably moved over to there from SEGAWORLD upon its decline/demise.

I remember the SegaSonic machine in SEGAWORLD, it was on the Top Floor just before the exit, right next to Sonic The Fighters.

My dad always got me a couple of credits on Sonic The Fighters, but SegaSonic was always broken for one reason or another, watched it's attract mode plenty though.

[Black Squirrel]

Once upon a time UK:Resistence were sent some photos of a Sega Hi-Tech Land. I don't know where this is/was - do you?

It may have been re-branded. The Akihabara branch was:

http://segaretro.org...n_Akihabara.jpg
http://segaretro.org...n_Akihabara.jpg
http://segaretro.org...ihabara_Alt.jpg

bonus points if you can add to Club Sega or Sega World (Japan).

[Sploit]

Would a scan of my SEGAWORLD London admission ticket be of any use for the wiki?

I could perhaps take a couple of pictures of some of the merchandise I have from there too. I don't have loads, but have a few bits n bobs that my dad bought me when he took me there as a kid.

A couple of years back I also bought some SEGAWORLD jackets off ebay, which appeared to be branded staff uniform items (I sold one of them - a sleeveless leather jacket thing, but still have 2 jackets and a clip on tie thing).

[Black Squirrel]

Everything is useful. Anything even remotely related to Sega has a place on the wiki, no matter how small or mundane it seems.

[GagaMan]

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:

[Black Squirrel]

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.

[Sploit]

GagaMan, on 07 November 2014 - 01:40 PM, said:

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:

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.

This post has been edited by Sploit: 07 November 2014 - 04:29 PM

[Black Squirrel]

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.

[Overlord]

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

[Xilla]

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.

[Black Squirrel]

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.

[NiktheGreek]

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

Black Squirrel, on 07 November 2014 - 04:40 PM, said:

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.

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.

[Black Squirrel]

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...X_EqRqvrwzjroZQ
Once a Sega Park & Leisure Exchange, then a Leisure Exchange... now a
https://www.google.c...0!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?

This post has been edited by Black Squirrel: 08 November 2014 - 04:44 PM