GENDA SEGA Entertainment Changes Name to GENDA GiGO, Fully Acquiring SEGA’s Japanese Arcade Management Division

Cha-cha-changes are happening with SEGA’s arcade division in Japan. If you guys have been keeping up with the news since Covid, SEGA went from trying to launch its own innovative cloud based “FOG” system, to closing down iconic SEGA Arcade landmark locations and even selling 85.1% of its arcade management business to GENDA!

At the time, GENDA announced it would keep the SEGA branding at actual locations and name the company GENDA SEGA Entertainment. Seems plans have changed as GENDA has announced it will rename the company GENDA GiGO. Not only that, the company also announced it was buying the last remaining 14.9% of shares owned by SEGA, meaning SEGA doesn’t have any say in the company (and probably didn’t seeing as they had minority control). SEGA is completely out of the arcade management business! This is a end of a long, historical era for the company.

This doesn’t mean SEGA isn’t making arcade games still, it just means they no longer manage and own their 200 plus locations that they used to manage before Covid. Now I wonder if these arcade locations will still keep the SEGA branding they promised…

UPDATE: Arcade Heroes have confirmed that the existing locations will remove the SEGA branding and replace it with GiGO.

[Translated by: @Gosokkyu]

SEGA’s Mission: Impossible Arcade DX cabinets begin shipping in America & Europe

For old school SEGA fans, before their entry into the (and then exit of) console market, the company had always been about arcades and still are. The latest entry is a licensed Mission: Impossible game that hos now begun shipping its Deluxe cabinets around America and Europe. SEGA’s arcade division isn’t a stranger to using licenses to create high quality arcade experiences since they’ve also made games based around Die Hard, Rambo and even recently Transformers.

SEGA closes sale on SEGA Amusements International and what it means for the future of western SEGA arcades

Back in March, SEGA Amusements’ Roger Penninton left the company after 31 years of service. Considering how SEGA’s Japanese management device was hit hard during Covid-19 which ended up selling 85% of the company back in November of 2020. I had a gut feeling big changes were also coming to SEGA Amusement International and I was right.

While most people write off SEGA Amusement International (prior where known as SEGA Amusement Europe) as just a company that distributes SEGA’s Japanese arcade games to the West; they actually have development teams that are creating original titles. One of the recent titles included Daytona USA 3 (or is that Daytona Championship USA?). All the way back in 2016, the company even wanted to try their hands at making OutRun 3!

So who bought SEGA Amusements International and what does this mean for the future? Oddly enough, the management team working within SEGA Amusement International including industry veteran Paul Williams. For what I read, nothing much will change as the company will still be ‘SEGA Amusements International’, still distribute SEGA’s arcade titles outside of Japan and still work on their own original titles.

SEGA Amusements unveils Mission: Impossible Arcade details and screenshots

SEGA Amusements revealed a new licensed arcade title based on the multi-billion dollar blockbuster film franchise, Mission: Impossible, during IAAPA 2019 and had recently released new details plus first look at screenshots on the game during EAG Show 2020. The premise of the game focuses on you and three of your friends as agents with a mission to save the world by sabotaging enemy plans that aim to weaponized humanoid robots. You will have a range of weapons and high-tech gadgets at your disposal to complete your mission but remember time is not on everyone side. Mission: Impossible Arcade will feature the following:

  • Brand-new dual pistol controllers
  • Next-Generation 4 player special attraction cabinet
  • 9 adrenaline-fueled stages
  • Experience explosive action with surround sound, subwoofers and bass shakers
  • Two 55″ Full HD Screen and 65″ Attract Display

Check out more screenshots of Mission: Impossible Arcade after the break.

SEGA Amusements releases trailer for upcoming arcade racer ATV Slam

Revealed back in October of 2018 by Arcade Heroes, ATV Slam is an upcoming racing game from SEGA Amusements. While the game was said to debut at IAAPA 2018, the event came and went and nothing was seen. Thankfully, Arcade Heroes is back with more information on the game! It appears the game was held back from public exhibition for additional improvements, and now we have a brief trailer showing the racer off.

The trailer description has additional details, including mention of the “custom developed motion platform lets players experience all the bumps just like being on the track” that was previously revealed. Graphics are delivered by Unreal Engine 4 and the game promises a unique AI system. We’ll have more information on the game as we hear it! In the meantime, enjoy the trailer and share your thoughts on the game in the comments below.

SEGA Amusements announces western release of House Of The Dead: Scarlet Dawn

SEGA Amusements have announced that House Of The Dead: Scarlet Dawn, the latest entry in the The House of the Dead franchise, is coming soon to arcades. If you’re thinking “wait, wasn’t this already announced for arcades?”, you’d be right! However, up until now we have only heard news of the game from SEGA’s Japanese arcade division with reports of special events and play tests. Now, with SEGA Amusements sharing information on the game, it looks like western fans won’t have to wait long to play the game for themselves!

[Source: SEGA Amusements]

SEGA’s Next Big Arcade Game: Transformers Shadow Rising

SEGA has had a huge presence in license arcade cabinets, all the way from its conception as a company moving on to their golden age of Japanese arcades. SEGA’s next big licensed arcade game happens to be another Transformers title, being a sequel to 2013’s Transformers: Human Alliance. Transformers Shadow Rising has been showing that Amusement Expo 2018 in its early beta stages. The game so far has been revealed to be 75% complete. It is funny though, that the game’s title reminds me of that one Wheel of Time book… 

Our friends over at Arcade Heroes had a big preview on the new upcoming game, talking about how the game is very similar to 2013 Transformers: Human Alliance but with more focus on co-op. SEGA Amusements has also released a press release which you can read after the jump.

SEGA News Bits: Daytona 3 Championship USA Name Change Reaction

On this SEGA News Bits, George and Barry discuss the sudden name change to affect the upcoming arcade racer Daytona 3 Championship USA. Yes, they changed the name and no, it still sounds like they threw a title into a blender. What was the purpose of this name change and what are our thoughts? Click play and find out!

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Daytona 3 Championship USA drops the number, is now Daytona Championship USA

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Earlier today, SEGA Amusements shared a trailer for their upcoming Daytona USA sequel Daytona 3 Championship USA. Upon the trailer’s release, fans were quick to notice that the logo and title had been altered to be simply Daytona Championship USA. I’ll admit, I caught it when I made the initial news post but I brushed it off as being either a mistake on SEGA’s part or a localized name for the game in the UK. But after a bit of clicking around on the SEGA Amusements website, it does indeed look like they have dropped the “3” in favor of a more simplified name.

No reason for the game has been given, but I’d guess they felt that the second game was so long ago (19 years) and not as well known as the original that the “3” just complicated things. Dropping the numbers on franchises seems to be a thing seen across the board, with home console games and movies dropping numbering. The game is still the third Daytona USA, and it will feature three new tracks in addition to the three original Daytona USA tracks.

SEGA Amusements releases Daytona 3 Championship USA Three-Seven Speedway trailer

In anticipation of tomorrow’s EAG International Expo in London, SEGA Amusements has released a new trailer for Daytona 3 Championship USA showcasing the return of the classic Daytona USA track Three-Seven Speedway. From the trailer above you can see some changes they’ve made to the classic track, including a change from classic to modern Sonic carved into the hillside and the lack of the slot machine – an unfortunate element that had to be dropped so that the game could appear in as many arcades as possible due to gambling restrictions in certain regions. But hey, it has the layout and the iconic music and we can’t wait to play it when Daytona 3 Championship USA begins to appear in arcades later this year!

SEGA Amusement CEO says Outrun 3 is ‘on our radar’

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SEGA Amusement has been making the rounds with old school SEGA fans ever since they announced Daytona 3 Championship USA earlier this year. It seems that SEGA Amusement will continue resurrecting old SEGA franchises, at least that’s what it sounds like. In a recent interview with T3, SEGA Amusement International CEO Paul Williams had this to say about a possible OutRun 3:

“Outrun 3 is not on plan at the moment. It is something that is on our radar but I cannot discuss more than that.”

It is interesting that he even spoke about the possibility of OutRun 3, considering how weird SEGA PR used to be in the past. It also seems, from what I gather from the quote that SEGA Amusement has a sort of short list of franchises they would like to bring back. Its not surprising that Daytona 3 Championship USA is one of the first titles considering how popular the original was. Paul Williams also talks about how they work with SEGA Japan developers and why its hard for them to bring SEGA Japanese games over to the states. Very interesting read.

What are your thoughts of the possiblity of OutRun 3? Let us know in the comments below!

[Via: Arcade Heroes]

SEGA News Bits: First Daytona 3 Championship USA Gameplay Reaction

We have not only gotten an official Daytona 3 Championship USA teaser trailer by SEGA Amusements, but we also got 8 minutes of gameplay footage by Arcade Heroes. Today George and Barry will talk about our reactions to Daytona 3 Championship USA cabinet, graphics, sound, and if this game deserves the Daytona USA branding. We want to hear about what you think of Daytona 3 Championship USA, sound off in the comments!

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SEGA Amusements releases Daytona 3 Championship USA teaser trailer

We’ve been talking a lot about Daytona 3 Championship USA over the past week here on the SEGAbits front page, but now we finally get a look at the game in action thanks to a teaser trailer from SEGA Amusements! As seen above, the latest Daytona USA game features the same joyous music and colorful graphics as the original but upped to modern graphical standards. The music is, to my ear, a new arrangement of the classic “Let’s Go Away” from Takenobu Mitsuyoshi who has been rumored to be returning for the project.

Fans should spot some easter eggs including Sonic carved into the cliff and a sign for Virtua Inn in the Virtua Fighter logo style. Give the video a watch and let us know your thoughts in the comments below or in our dedicated forum topic. Learn more about how the game plays, and some other new details, in the preview from Arcade Heroes.

Via Arcade Heroes preview, Daytona 3 Championship USA is slated for a March/April 2017 release. Expect to see a more complete software package at the AMOA/AAMA Amusement Expo in March or maybe at the January UK arcade expo.

SEGA Amusements reveals Daytona 3 Championship USA logo, teases more to come

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The official SEGA Amusements Facebook and Twitter pages, which you really should follow, have just posted the official logo for the recently revealed arcade exclusive Daytona 3 Championship USA. While we’re still iffy on the name (doesn’t Daytona USA 3 Championship sound better?) the logo looks great and, based on the layout, it does sort of read as Daytona USA 3 Championship. Anyway, minor nitpicks aside, it is great to see more official assets and SEGA Amusements promises one week to go before the official reveal at IAAPA 2016. Here’s hoping more teases release before then. Of course a trailer would be what we’re all hoping for. More info as we hear it!

After the break, check out how the new logo compares to past games in the franchise. Thank you Daytona International Speedway for never updating your logo.

SEGA News Bits: Daytona 3 Championship USA Announced for Arcades Reaction

If you have been reading the blog you know we have been following the announcement of Daytona 3 Championship USA, which was teased a few days ago and we finally got confirmed yesterday. Now join George and Barry as they discuss their reaction to the Daytona 3 Championship USA announcement, what they want to see from the game and our general opinion on the game being arcade exclusive. Tell us your general opinion about Daytona 3 Championship USA in the comments below!

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