This story was exploding over the internet this morning and I’ve seen a lot of responses that aren’t true or spread the myth that arcades are done in Japan and that Sega’s done with arcades overall. Let’s be clear about the facts! GENDA, a Japanese company, is skilled in the management of hundreds of arcade machines across the nation. Kiddleton is a Chuck E. Cheeses-like division that is located in Texas. Today’s news is inaccurate. GENDA purchased all shares of SEGA Entertainment Co., Ltd. This means the ownership of the locations is changing. However, this doesn’t mean these locations are shutting down (see the below statement from the company). It’s possible that the Sega name will disappear depending on what GENDA decides. This is not a good decision for those looking to go to a Sega arcade. UPDATE: Famitsu weighs in, explaining that the majority of the resources that Sega had spent on the operations will now shift towards their console game development business (not making a new console, but shifting resources and personnel to the home game development division). IT adds that the locations will maintain their Sega brand, so it will be possible to visit a “Sega arcade” when the day arrives that tourists can go back to Japan again. Here is an explanation from Google Translation that explains what they’re up to. Through the creation of an international entertainment network We aim to make people’s lives more enjoyable. Our goal is to boost the “total amount of fun” around the globe. We are expanding our amusement machine rental service, our online crane business, sales promotion, China business and US business. SEGA Entertainment’s goal is to bring smiles and positive emotions by providing “fun locations”. It has 199 entertainment venues (including 193 amusement centres) throughout the country. We are the third-largest amusement center operator in Japan. We are aiming to revive the industry for both operators and manufacturers through a partnership with SEGA Entertainment. For all the people involved, such as the end user, you can feel that “the enjoyment will increase”. We want to develop an amusement market. I am yet to determine if Joypolis facilities are on this list. I’m not sure, so I’m not going to make any assumptions. UPDATE: Xavier below mentions that Joypolis operations are already owned by an outside company and this news simply expands on the speculation. This doesn’t suggest that Sega has stopped producing arcade machines sale (http://www.ctrpt.com) machines. They recently completed the sale of their stake in one of their many divisions. What are their plans with the money they received through this transaction? I’m not sure. But I haven’t seen or read that suggests Sega is “exiting the arcade game business” like some claim. Sega continues to develop new games and continually inventing. It is often overlooked that arcades in Japan have a different business model than other arcades in the world. It has also had a failure. Most new equipment runs off of revenue sharing to the manufacturer/developer – even when you buy the game cabinet. If you take into account the costs associated with the location, including electricity, rent as well as taxes, salaries and maintenance, the profit margins for operating the business are extremely slim. There is only one system in Japan currently bucking this trend, which is the frequently talked about exA-Arcadia. And the absence of rev sharing is one of the reasons why the platform has done quite well over there. According to reports, GENDA is looking to take the locations in a new direction. The ones who are willing to adjust and make changes are the ones who thrive. This will be monitored and we’ll watch what happens. But, don’t be swept away by all the negatives. In general, there’s plenty of opportunity for growth of Japanese arcades. My passion for video games has been aspect of my life since the age of. Since 2008, Arcade Galactic, located in West Valley City, Utah, I have operated my own arcade. I have soft spots in my heart for Atari, Sega, and Nintendo. Newsbytes: Newsbytes: The Firestone Corporation has stopped lending; CAX 2022; TekyGo! It doesn’t comes unexpected. No big release for 60’th anniversary, no new releases designed for the consumer market, and Corona is the only one to provide the arcade section. It’s quite amazing that SEGA continues to exist. Yes, I’ve read lots of misinformation regarding this report. While reliable news sources like yours and ours were correct on the subject (as always) but a number of online posts made it completely false. Joypolis is not part of the deal as Sega contracted the management of Joypolis to China Animations Character in 2016 by using exactly the same strategy as currently. Joypolis remains in existence and hasn’t changed much apart from Initial D 4 Limeted being replaced by Spicy Taxi; which is an absolute pity. This should be reassuring. I’m fairly certain that the game centers will remain Sega with their own brand. Perhaps the new management will be able to come up with fresh ideas to rejuvenate the arcade video game business.
