Sega AM1

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Sega AM Research & Development No. 1
Sega

Sega AM Research & Development No. 1[a] is a development department within Japanese video game developer Sega that also previously existed as Wow Entertainment and Sega Wow Inc.[b] AM1 spent most of its early existence under the leadership of Rikiya Nakagawa and developed a number of arcade games for Sega.

In 2000, Sega split its development studios into nine semi-autonomous companies, with AM1 becoming Wow Entertainment. Wow developed games for the Dreamcast and later other consoles as well as arcade games. In 2003, as part of studio consolidations within Sega, Wow was merged with Overworks Ltd.[c] (originally titled Sega CS Research & Development No. 2[d] and later AM7) and renamed to Sega Wow. Nakagawa resigned a few weeks later after Sammy Corporation acquired a significant amount of shares in Sega. Sega Wow was re-integrated back into the company the next year. Since then, the AM1 division has continued within Sega.

History

See also: Sega development studios

Rikiya Nakagawa joined Sega as a programmer in 1983.

Ninja Princess, Alien Syndrome, and Choplifter.[2] Although the exact date of the transition is not known, some time after the release of Power Drift, Sega began to separate the amusement division into the Amusement Machine Research and Development teams, or AM teams. AM1 was formed not long after the decision was made to separate the teams.[3] Hisao Oguchi worked with AM1 before later going to AM3.[4]

Nakagawa was made manager of AM1 in September 1991.[5] According to Nakagawa, he was working with AM2 with Yu Suzuki before being made head of AM1. He has also stated that his job focus had to change upon taking the new title, with less coding and more production and schedule management.[2] Joining him at AM1 were members of Team Shinobi, who had developed Alien Syndrome and the arcade version of Golden Axe.[3] AM1 also included Makoto Uchida, the lead developer for Golden Axe, who had also developed Altered Beast as well as several other Sega arcade titles.[6][7]

arcade system board (PowerVR
2 chip on the NAOMI board pictured).

During the next few years, AM1 made several technological advances in their game development. The team used

arcade system board.[11] Some of AM1's other titles developed were Sega Bass Fishing, Sega Strike Fighter, and Wild Riders.[12]

In April 2000,

Nihon Television and Kodansha for the development of additional games.[11]

Wow's offices were based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.[12][13] In addition to Dreamcast games, such as Sega Bass Fishing 2, Wow developed for other consoles. The Game Boy Advance received Columns Crown, and games were developed for the GameCube, as well as the Xbox and PlayStation 2. Arcade games, such as The House of the Dead III, were also released.[12]

Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity
, developed by AM1

In 2003, Hisao Oguchi was named president of Sega. He announced his intention to consolidate Sega's studios into "four or five core operations".

Sega Ages 2500 series. Ultimately, only Dragon Force eventually became an outsourced project with Okunari helming the project and the Sega Ages 2500 series as whole.[23]

During mid-2004, Sammy bought a controlling share in Sega at a cost of $1.1 billion, creating the new company Sega Sammy Holdings, an entertainment conglomerate.[24] Prior to the acquisition by Sammy, Sega began the process of re-integrating its subsidiaries into the main company,[25] which was completed by October 2004.[26] Sega Wow's 215 employees were split across consumer and arcade development after the integration back into Sega.[27]

The AM1 division has continued within Sega since the re-integration of Sega Wow. Further development since 2004 has included smartphone games, such as

Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity, Puyopuyo!! Quest Arcade, Fist of the North Star: Battle Medal, and Starhorse III,[29] as well as Sangokushi Taisen, a digital collectible card and trading card game.[30] AM1 is said to be the broadest division of Sega covering arcade video games, smartphone apps, games for kids, medal games, and simulators.[31]

Overworks

A large letter "O" with a large "W" in front of it and the word "Overworks" below
Overworks' logo

Overworks was a development division of Sega, originally founded as CS Research and Development #2. It was led by Noriyoshi Ohba,

Sakura Wars 3: Is Paris Burning?,[34] and GuruGuru Onsen.[11] They also released a game for arcades called Dragon Treasure.[36] After the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, Overworks continued to work on Sakura Wars 4: Fall in Love, Maidens and a sequel to Shinobi, before being consolidated into Wow Entertainment.[34] After serving as vice president of Sega Wow, Ohba departed Sega in 2004 to join Interchannel.[37] The CS2 designation would later be given to Sonic Team by 2010.[38]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: セガ第一AM研究開発本部, Hepburn: Sega Daiichi Ē Emu Kenkyū Kaihatsu Bu
  2. ^ Japanese: 株式会社セガワウ, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Sega Wau
  3. ^ Japanese: 株式会社オーバーワークス, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Ōbāwākusu
  4. ^ Japanese: セガ第二CS研究開発部, Hepburn: Sega Daini Shī Esu Kenkyū Kaihatsu Bu

References

  1. ^ a b Fahey, Rob (December 18, 2003). "Sega arcade development chief resigns". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Sega New President's Story: Rikiya Nakagawa". Dreamcast Magazine. SoftBank Publishing. August 2000. pp. 93–96. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020 – via Sega-16.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781476631967
    .
  4. ^ "NG Alphas: An Interview With Hisao Oguchi". Next Generation. No. 32. August 1997. pp. 54–55. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "Nakagawa leaves Sega Wow". IGN. December 17, 2003. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  6. ^ Buchanan, Levi (September 25, 2008). "Golden Axe Retrospective". IGN.
  7. ^ "The History of Sega Japan R&D, Part 1: The Origins and the 80s". Segabits. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  8. ^ Horowitz 2018, p. 177-184.
  9. ^ Day, Ashley (2007). "Company Profile: Sega Technical Institute". Retro Gamer. No. 36. Imagine Publishing. pp. 28–33.
  10. ^ "Hitmaker Lounge". hitmaker.co.jp. Sega AM3. Archived from the original on April 22, 2003. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Sega's new beginning". Edge. No. 89. Future plc. October 2000. pp. 68–78.
  12. ^ a b c Torres, Ricardo (May 17, 2006). "Wow Entertainment interview". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "Sega Wow - Company information". segawow.com (in Japanese). Sega Wow. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  14. ^ Fahs, Travis (April 21, 2009). "IGN Presents the History of Sega". IGN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  15. ^ Parish, Jeremy (September 3, 2009). "9.9.99, A Dreamcast Memorial". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^ Montfort, Nick; Consalvo, Mia. "The Dreamcast, Console of the Avant-Garde". Loading... The Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. 6 (9): 82–99.
  17. ^ Fahey, Rob (May 20, 2003). "Sega reports a profit, but top execs step down". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  18. ^ Doree, Adam (July 25, 2013). "Sega Studio Mergers: Full Details". Kikizo. Superglobal Ltd. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  19. ^ "元セガワウの中川力也氏がサミーの開発本部長に就任". Famitsu (in Japanese). December 25, 2003.
  20. ^ Sugawara, Tetsuji (September 19, 2008). "第46回アミューズメントマシンショー タイトーブースレポート". GAME Watch (in Japanese). Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  21. ^ "Nakagawa Leaves Sega Wow". IGN. December 17, 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  22. ^ Doree, Adam (September 7, 2004). "Sega Wow: The Kikizo Interview 2004". Kikizo. Superglobal Ltd. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  23. ^ 実存 (2019-09-09). ""セガが好きすぎるセガ社員"奥成さんってどんな人？ セガのやり過ぎ（!?）企画の裏につねにこの人あり！". 電ファミニコゲーマー – ゲームの面白い記事読んでみない？ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  24. ^ Hirohiko Niizumi (June 1, 2004). "Sammy reveals new logo, changes at Sega". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  25. ^ Fahey, Rob (June 29, 2004). "Sega development studios return to the fold". GamesIndustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  26. ^ Fahey, Rob (October 4, 2004). "Sega and Sammy complete merger, new holding company launched". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  27. ^ "Notice on Reorganization of the Company's R&D Subsidiaries" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2013. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  28. ^ 株式会社インプレス (2013-07-04). "Sega Networks, iOS / Android "Chain Chronicle" the official announcement". GAME Watch (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  29. ^ "R&D1 Title List". buzz.sega.jp (in Japanese). Sega Interactive Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  30. ^ "『三国志大戦』見参！（前編）". Sega.jp (in Japanese). Sega. April 21, 2005. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  31. ^ "注目の企業 ～ セガ第一研究開発本部". careerlabotary.jp (in Japanese). October 30, 2013. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  32. ^
    SoftBank Publishing
    . June 14, 1996. p. 136.
  33. ^ "名作アルバム -『ザ・スーパー忍』-". sega.jp. Sega. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  34. ^ a b c Fahs, Travis (September 9, 2010). "IGN Presents the History of Dreamcast". IGN. Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  35. ISSN 1058-918X
    .
  36. ^ "Creator's Voice". Sega.jp. Sega. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  37. ^ "Premium Agency Appoints Noriyoshi Ohba as Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of Production" (PDF). Premium Agency, Inc. March 3, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  38. ^ Inemoto, Tetsuya (28 December 2011). "Producer Takashi Iizuka speaks, "Sonic Generations White Space-Time Space / Blue Adventure" Production Secret Story and Sonic Series 20 Years of Progress". www.4gamer.net (in Japanese). Aetas, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2018.

External links

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