Tom Keil, Regional Sales Manager for Sega Amusements, dies at 63

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Sad news for SEGA arcade fans today, as we learned via Vending Times that Tom Keil, a regional sales manager for Sega Amusements since 2002, has passed away after a battle with cancer. President and COO at Sega Amusements Paul Williams had this to say about Tom: “It is a sad time for us all with the passing of my friend and work colleague, Tom Keil. He was a man admired by many for his integrity, passion for life and sense of goodness. Everyone [who] knew him or met him was touched by the generosity of his nature and personality.”

US General Manager at Sega Amusements Peter Gustafson also shared his thoughts: “Tom put up a valiant and courageous fight against cancer for more than three years. Throughout his ordeal, he never allowed his condition stop or slow him down. His unwillingness to let his disease define him was an inspirational example of how to live fully regardless of the circumstances life hands you.”

Donations in Tom Keil’s honor can be made to The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Duke University Medical Center (DUMC 3624, Durham, NC 27710) or The Caring House (2625 Pickett Rd., Durham, NC 27705).

Check out SEGA’s Plants vs. Zombies The Last Stand arcade cabinet

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SEGA Amusements is teasing new items that will be at their IAAPA 13 show in a few days. One of their machines that they are going to promote is this Plants vs. Zombies The Last Stand arcade machine. This is the first time we have seen the cabinet and its pretty flashy.

First thing you will notice is that this isn’t a port of the mobile game for arcades, it looks like a light gun version of the game. So is this basically House of the Dead: Plants vs. Zombies? Who knows. But it would be awesome to have some House of the Dead cross overs in here. What are your thoughts?

Transformers: Human Alliance gameplay footage hits the net


SEGA’s Ringedge 2 licensed arcade game, Transformers: Human Alliance, has finally gotten some gameplay footage posted online. In this video you will see gameplay from the England stage, which was part of the Facebook vote SEGA held.  Seems that the cheesy voice acting that SEGA light gun shooters are known for has returned in full force in this title. You will take a role of a human, helping Autobots fight against attacking Decepticons.

Director for the title is Mr. Oga-Shi, who directed such light gun titles like Gunblade, Lost World and Let’s Go Jungle/Island franchise.

 

SEGA shows off its new arcade title, Dream Raiders

Above is an artist rendering of the arcade cabinet for SEGA’s new typhoon game, Dream Raiders. I know most of you where thinking this hopefully had something to do with NiGHTS into Dreams, but it doesn’t. Sorry.

The game is set to give players a ‘sense of speed’ by mimicking wind effects in real time as you play. This sort of thing is usually referred to as 4D, so this would be a 4D game. Though I doubt SEGA wants to use it to market it, seeing how most people find 3D to be a gimmick (which it mostly is). The game is running on RingWide arcade board. This is usually used for less graphically powered games. Hit the jump to see screenshots of the game! If you want to see video, SEGA is holding it hostage till they get 100 likes on the game’s Facebook page.