Sega
| Sega | |
|---|---|
| |
| Founded | June 3, 1960 |
| First Super Mario game | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) |
| Latest Super Mario game | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition (2020) |
| Current president | Yukio Sugino |
Sega Corporation (also referred to and stylized as SEGA) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Starting as an arcade-focused company, Sega moved into the game console market in the early 1980s with the SG-1000, later releasing platforms such as the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive in Japan and European regions) and Sega Saturn. After a string of primarily-western commercial failures and profit losses in the later half of the 1990s, Sega quit the home console business in 2001, moving on to become a software developer. Sega is most known for their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, who debuted in 1991. The company is currently a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings.
Rivalry
During Sega's time in the console business, during the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, the company usually mocked Nintendo's properties in their games. In addition, marketing from the era usually portrayed Sega's platforms as superior to Nintendo's, even going as far to mention the company by name. An early mockery toward Nintendo can be found in the final game of the Alex Kidd series, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, where the first boss was originally going to be named Mari-Oh, a parody of Mario. However, it was later changed to Kabuto. In the British Sonic The Comic series from Fleetway, characters known as the "Marxio Bro's," a trio of electricians who were parodies of both the Mario Bros. and the Marx Brothers, appeared.
To counter these mockeries of Mario, Rare had Sonic make a "cameo appearance" in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. His shoes, as well as a weapon from a fellow platforming mascot rival, Earthworm Jim's blaster, are seen next to a trash can during Cranky Kong's contest labeled "No Hopers."
Move to third-party game development
The production of Sega's last console, the Dreamcast, was discontinued in 2001 as part of a big restructuring strategy and also because of Sega not having enough resources to compete due to multiple system failures (Sega CD, 32X, and Sega Saturn).[1]
ChuChu Rocket! marked the first SEGA-published game on a Nintendo system, specifically the Game Boy Advance. Since then, both Sega and Nintendo have collaborated on several projects. Their first effort resulted in F-Zero GX and F-Zero AX. The two companies later collaborated to create a crossover game featuring both Mario and Sonic, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which began the Mario & Sonic series. Sonic also appears as a playable fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Other Sega-owned characters have also appeared as fighters in the series, namely Bayonetta in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (as DLC in the former) and Joker (a character from Sega subsidiary Atlus) in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as DLC. By using a Sonic amiibo, players can unlock an outfit based on Sonic in Yoshi's Woolly World, Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Mario Maker. Yoshi's Island Zone is a downloadable level in the Wii U version of Sonic Lost World, which features Sonic in Yoshi's Island.
As a third party developer, Sega currently makes games for a variety of devices, ranging from video game consoles to smartphones. On April 1, 2019, Sega took over technical support for Capcom's arcade machines that were still actively getting support.[2][3] This included their latest six Super Mario-related machines, and Sega's support for them lasted until June 2023.[4][5] Sega's own maintenance service for Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition ended on February 28, 2023.[6]
Super Mario games
- Canceled Donkey Kong parking attendant arcade game[7]
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games – Wii, 2007; Nintendo DS, 2008
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – Wii, 2009; Nintendo DS, 2009
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Wii, 2011; Nintendo 3DS, 2012
- Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – Wii U, 2013
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Wii U, 2016; Nintendo 3DS, 2016
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Arcade Edition – Arcade, 2016
- Luigi's Mansion Arcade – Arcade, 2017 (outside Japan)
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – Nintendo Switch, 2019
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Arcade Edition – Arcade, 2020
References
- ^ "Sega announces drastic restructuring"
- ^ "業務用アミューズメント機器のサービス業務移管スケジュールに関するお知らせ". Capcom.
- ^ "株式会社カプコン社の業務用AM機器サービス業務開始時期について". Sega.
- ^ "弊社取扱い製品のサービス対応終了に関するご案内". Sega.
- ^ "カプコン社製品のサービス対応終了に関するご案内". Sega.
- ^ "弊社製品保守対応の終了について". Sega.
- ^ Hilliard, Kyle (December 29, 2016). Meet The Man Who Put Mario And Zelda On The Philips CD-i. Game Informer. Retrieved January 06, 2017.
