Every so often, I visit Sega Amusements Europe for the purposes of writing an article. Sometimes it's a public event and things are locked down, but other times I get to explore a bit. Since SAE has expanded into repairs (through the Sega Total Solutions brand) and used machine sales, the warehouse section of the building is often stocked with some neat stuff - they keep spares for games going back 20 years, and have some rarely-seen machines. Occasionally, there's even a prototype cabinet or two hanging about. Here's an idea of what the warehouse is like: And here's one of the cool machines: Anyhow, I'll be keeping pics of this stuff in a Photobucket album for anyone who is interested, and will update the topic when I get more material. Currently, I have pics of the STS and used machine warehouses, plus a Super Challenge (Sega Rally 3) proto cabinet and a testing rig. Enjoy!
Oooh, CyCraft. It's basically a motion simulator which can run different games. I played one at GameWorks at Cincinatti (which is basically a baby SegaWorld, btw). It was running a Japanese Inital D game, and it was EPIC. If any of you have a GameWorks nearby, I highly recommend you stop by, especially on Thursday nights, when you can spend $10 and play all the non-redemption games you want until closing. Spending the night at a Sega arcade and not having to worry about running out of money is simply magical.
I've got an odd question. What happened to the SegaWorld near Piccadilly Circus in London? It used to be there when I was a kid...then it vanished.
Sega World was never a particularly profitable venture, and by 1999 was in a severe state of decline. Management had suspended the paid entry model, replacing the income with the usual arcade income, and many of the original major attractions had closed. Sega pulled out of the location during the Dreamcast era, due to dwindling funds. The arcade changed its name to Funland, and by December 2001 was still open with all six floors (though they were pretty sparse, as many games had been sold off). It was still home to many new games - they had Virtua Fighter 4 and one of the earliest international releases of Pump It Up. The place had a nasty atmosphere though, absolutely awful. Since then, Funland has moved out of the top three floors of the Trocadero (keeping the bottom three of the SegaWorld set-up), and moved back into the old arcade's location within the building. It's still one of the best places to new arcade releases, and the atmosphere has improved greatly. Sonic Retro's UK meetings regularly involve a visit! There was a long-standing theory, involving a lot of wishful thinking, that some of the old Sega World stuff was up on those three closed floors. As it turns out, what is up there is some folding tables, discarded drink cans, rat carcasses, and dust. Lots of dust. =/
