Sega Corporation (stylized as SEGA) is a Tokyo-based multinational video gaming and entertainment company. It is famous for its history of video games, arcade games, and game consoles, and it was one the "big three" console makers from the third to the sixth console generations, competing with Nintendo and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company is currently a subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings, with it and its group companies forming one half of Sega Sammy's operations.
Sega was founded in 1940 in Hawaii as Standard Games, a distributor of coin-op slot machines for American military bases. The company renamed to Service Games in 1946, and relocated to Japan in 1952 in response to tightened slot machine laws. In the 1960s, further crackdowns on gambling machines led to Sega becoming a distributor and later manufacturer of amusement machines. Gulf+Western, the former owners of Paramount, owned Sega from 1969-1984 when a management buyout, backed by Computer Service (CSK) bought out Sega's Japanese divisions from G+W.
In The '70s, Sega began making video arcade games, and profited significantly from the arcade boom during the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Although some of Sega's most famous arcade hits (e.g. OutRun) came in the 1980s, an arcade market downturn in 1982 made Sega shift focus onto home consoles instead.
Sega's earliest consoles, namely the SG-1000 and the Sega Master System, failed to dislodge Nintendo's domination of the Japanese and North American home console market, but did become a market leader in Europe and South America. In the the 16-bit era however, Sega saw its greatest console success with the Sega Genesis, the main challenger to Nintendo during the height of the classic Console Wars.
Sega never managed to reclaim the Genesis's market influence in the console generations that followed it. A mixture of rushed releases and poor third-party relations led to Sega's consoles having weaker libraries compared with their competitors, directly or indirectly leading to the commercial failures of the Sega CD, Sega 32X and the Sega Saturn. Though viewed as excellent in retrospect, the Dreamcast was unable to turn the company around on the console market, and Sega became a third-party developer and publisher on February 3, 2001, ending the company's 18-year run as a major hardware manufacturer.
Outside of consoles and console games, Sega's arcade businesses remained successful throughout their run as a console manufacturer. However, around the turn of the century, continued losses from Sega console failures and poor arcade market conditions caused Sega significant financial difficulties. In 2004, the pachinko manufacturer Sammy Corporation purchased Sega and formed Sega Sammy Holdings, and transferred Sammy's non-gambling assets (including its video game businesses) to Sega.
Sega was also formerly a major player in the pinball industry. Sega Enterprises of Japan produced arcade pinball games from 1971-1973 and 1976-1979, Sega S.A. Sonicnote (a.k.a. "Segasa") of Spain imported and produced pinball tables in Europe from 1974-1986, and Sega Pinball of America was a major pinball producer from 1994-1999.
Subsidiaries
Current
- Amplitude Studios
- Atlus (since 2013)
- Creative Assembly (since 2005)
- Rovio Entertainment (since 2023)
- Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (AKA Sega CS1)
- Sega Sapporo Studio
- Sonic Team (AKA Sega CS2)
- Sports Interactive
- Two Point Studios
- Sega Fave (since 1994; formerly known as Sega-Yonezawa and Sega Toys)
- TMS Entertainment (since 1995)
- Marza Animation Planet
Former
- Red Entertainment (2002-2005)
- Relic Entertainment (2013-2024)
- Sega, S.A. SONIC (1968-2006; now defunct)
- SIMS Co Ltd (1991-2004; now independent)
- Sega Interactive (1992-1995)
- Sega Pinball (1994-1999; now Stern Pinball)
- SegaSoft (1995-2000; staff moved to Sega.com)
- Sega Technical Institute (1990-1996)
- Sega.com, Inc (2000-2003; assets acquired by Nokia)
- Sega Amusements International (until 2021; now independent)
- Visual Concepts (1999-2005)
Affiliates
- Technosoft (IPs owned by Sega since 2016)
Works, Media & Products
By Sega Enterprises (Japan)
Video games and franchises developed and published by Sega:
- 7th Dragon
- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
- 428: Shibuya Scramble (Only for the Wii)
- AB Cop
- After Armageddon Gaiden
- After Burner
- Alex Kidd
- Alien Storm
- Alien Syndrome
- Altered Beast (1988)
- Amazing Island
- Arabian Fight
- Astal
- Aztec Adventure
- Bahamut Senki
- Baku Baku Animal
- Bank Panic
- Basketball Nightmare
- Battle Arena Toshinden (via Toshinden Remix and Toshinden URA on Sega Saturn)
- Battle Corps
- Bay Route
- Bayonetta (the PlayStation 3 version was coded by Sega)
- Bayonetta 2 (Published by Nintendo)
- Bayonetta 3 (Published by Nintendo)
- Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (Published by Nintendo)
- Behind Enemy Lines 1997
- Beyond Oasis
- Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
- Binary Domain
- Bio-Hazard Battle
- Blue Stinger
- Bomberman '94
- Bonanza Bros.
- Border Break
- Brave Firefighters
- Bullet
- Burning Rangers
- Burning Rival
- ChuChu Rocket!
- Clockwork Knight
- Columns
- Code Of Joker
- Confidential Mission
- Congo Bongo
- Cool Riders
- Crack Down (1989)
- Crazy Taxi
- Crusader of Centy
- D2
- D. D. Crew
- Dark Wizard
- Daytona USA
- Decathlete
- Deep Fear
- Demolish Fist
- Desert Breaker
- Dinosaur King
- Dottori-Kun
- Double Dragon I (For the Sega Master System)
- Dragon Force
- Dream Raiders
- Dungeon Explorer 1995
- Dynamite Cop (also known as Dynamite Deka)
- Dynamite Duke
- Dynamite Dux
- Ecco the Dolphin
- Elevator Action 1
- Enduro Racer
- Eternal Champions
- Chicago Syndicate
- X-Perts
- Eternal Legend
- Etrian Odyssey (HD version)
- Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (HD version)
- Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City (HD version)
- ESWAT
- Fallen Realms
- Fantasy Zone
- Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (for Sega Genesis only)
- Fatal Labyrinth
- Feel the Magic
- Fighters Megamix
- Fighting Vipers
- Flicky
- Galaxy Force
- Ghost Squad (2004)
- Gain Ground
- Girl's Garden
- Golden Axe
- GP Rider
- Gunblade N.Y./L.A. Machineguns
- Guilty Gear XX Slash
- Gunstar Heroes
- GunValkyrie
- Hang-On
- Hero Bank
- Hortensia Saga
- The Hybrid Front
- House of the Dead series
- Imabikiso
- Infinite Space
- Jet Set Radio
- Jewel Master
- Kamaitachi no Yoru 2 (PSP only)
- Kenseiden
- Kingdom Conquest
- Kolibri
- Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking
- Laser Ghost
- Last Bronx
- Let's Go Jungle
- Like a Dragon series
- Line Of Fire
- Lode Runner (For SG-1000 version)
- MadWorld
- Machi (PSP only)
- Magical Truck Adventure
- Manic Panic Ghosts
- Mansion of Hidden Souls
- The Maze of the Kings
- Mercs (Consoles only)
- Metal Head
- Metal Slug 6 (For Arcade only via Atomiswave arcade boards)
- Miracle Girls Festival
- Monaco GP
- Super Monaco GP
- Monster Bash (1982)
- Motor Raid
- Napple Tale: Arsia in Daydream
- NiGHTS into Dreams…
- Ninja Gaiden (For Game Gear/Master System only)
- The Ocean Hunter
- Otogi: Myth of Demons (developed by FromSoftware)
- OutRun
- Outtrigger
- Panic!!!
- Panzer Dragoon
- Pengo
- Penguin Land
- Performai series:
- Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
- Persona 5 Royal (non-PlayStation ports)
- Phantasy Star
- Platoon Leader
- Prince of Persia (for Sega CD and Sega Master System)
- Pole no Daibouken
- Power Drift
- Pulseman
- Puyo Puyo (since 1998, though original owner Compile had free rein until 2001)
- Puyo Puyo (1992)
- Puyo Puyo 2 (For PlayStation 2 only, via 3D-Ages)
- Puyo Puyo Sun (For PlayStation only)
- Puyo Puyo~n
- Puyo Pop (2001)
- Puyo Puyo Fever
- Puyo Puyo Fever 2
- Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary
- Puyo Puyo 7
- Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary
- Puyo Puyo Tetris
- Puyo Puyo Chronicle
- Puyo Puyo Champions
- Quackshot
- Racing Hero
- Rad Mobile
- Rail Chase
- Ranger X
- Rent A Hero
- Resonance of Fate (PS4 and PC versions by tri-Ace and Arc System Works)
- Rez
- Riot City
- Rise of Nightmares
- Ristar
- Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure
- The Rumble Fish (First game only for the PS2)
- Sakura Wars series
- Samba de Amigo
- Samba de Amigo: Party Central
- Samurai Showdown (For Sega Genesis only)
- Samurai Showdown VI (For Arcade only via Atomiswave arcade boards)
- Sands of Destruction
- SDI: Strategic Defense Initiative
- Seaman 2
- Segagaga
- Sega Golden Gun
- SEGA Hard Girls
- Sega Ninja
- Sega Rally
- Sega Strike Fighter
- Sega Superstars
- Seishun Scandal
- Shenmue
- Shining Series
- Shin Megami Tensei I (Sega CD version by SIMS Co Ltd, a joint venture by Sega and Sanritsu)
- Shin Megami Tensei Liberation: Dx2 (in collaboration with Atlus)
- Shin Megami Tensei V (published by Sega in North America)
- Shinobi
- Shinobi (1987)
- Shadow Dancer
- The Revenge of Shinobi
- Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
- Shinobi Legions (for Japan and European/PAL territories only)
- Shinobi (2002)
- Nightshade (2003)
- Shinobi (2011)
- Silpheed (Sega CD version developed by Game Arts)
- Skies of Arcadia
- Sky Target
- Slashout
- Sonic the Hedgehog series
- Space Channel 5
- Space Fury
- Space Harrier
- Spike Out
- Streets of Rage
- SubRoc-3D
- Super Monkey Ball
- Super Robot Wars X-Ω (developed, but published by Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Sword of Vermilion
- Tempo
- Thunder Blade
- Thunder Force
- Time Stalkers
- Too Spicy
- Tough Turf
- Toy Fighter
- Turbo
- Under Night In-Birth (For first game to Exe:Late Arcade versions)
- Valkyria Chronicles
- Valis III (for Sega Mega Drive only)
- Vampire Night (published by Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Vanquish
- Virtua Cop
- Virtua Fighter
- Virtual Hydlide (for Japan and European/PAL territories only)
- Virtua Racing
- Virtual-ON
- Virtual Tennis
- Wonder Boy
- Wonder Gravity
- World Series Baseball
- Zaxxon
- Zunzunkyou No Yabou
Western Developed:
- Alpha Protocol
- Astro Blaster
- Bug
- Carnival
- Company of Heroes (via purchase of Relic Entertainment)
- Condemned: Criminal Origins (co-published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
- The Club
- Comix Zone
- The Conduit
- Crush
- The Cave
- Doom (Only for Sega 32X)
- Double Switch
- Endless Dungeon
- Endless Space 2 (via purchase of Amplitude Studios)
- Floigan Bros.
- Football Manager
- Frogger II: Threeedeep!
- Full Auto
- The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks (Only for DS)
- Headhunter
- Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit
- Humankind
- Kid Chameleon
- MLB Manager Online 2011
- Mr. Bones
- Nancy Drew: White Wolf of Icicle Creek (Only for Wii)
- Night Trap
- The Ooze
- Quake (Only for Sega Saturn)
- Rome: Total War
- Stormrise
- Spiral Knights (co-production with Three Rings Design, which was purchased by Sega late in 2011)
- SolSeraph
- Sega Heroes
- Space Siege
- Two Point Hospital
- Total War (from Spartan: Total Warrior onward, via purchase of Creative Assembly)
- Toe Jam And Earl
- Tembo the Badass Elephant
- Viking: Battle for Asgard
- Vectorman
- Worms Forts: Under Siege
Licensed games by Sega:
- 404 GAME RE:SET
- Alien 3: The Gun
- Aliens vs. Predator (2010)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines
- Aliens: Infestation
- Alien: Isolation
- The Adventures of Batman and Robin
- Astro Boy: Omega Factor
- Batman Returns (Game Gear)
- Batman Returns (Genesis)
- Berenstain Bears' Camping Adventure
- Bleach: The 3rd Phantom
- Bonkers (Sega)
- Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
- Chakan: The Forever Man
- Charlotte's Web: Wilbur and Friends
- Captain America: Super Soldier
- Castle of Illusion
- Company of Heroes (via purchase of Relic Entertainment)
- Dawn of War (via purchase of Relic Entertainment)
- Dawn of War III (new game by Relic)
- Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles (except for Japan)
- Deep Duck Trouble
- Dick Tracy (Sega)
- Dinosaurs For Hire
- Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun
- Eye of the Beholder (Sega CD port)
- F-Zero GX (with Nintendo, GX and AX)
- Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (Gameplay based on the Like a Dragon series)
- Fist of the North Star: Twin Blue Stars of Judgment
- Fate/Grand Order (known as Fate/Grand Order Arcade)
- Garfield: Caught in the Act
- Ghostbusters (1990)
- The Golden Compass
- Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!
- Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA
- Home Alone (Sega)
- Initial D Arcade Stage
- Iron Man
- Iron Man 2
- Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Le Mans 24
- Lupin the 3rd: The Shooting
- The Magic School Bus
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic (Winter) Games
- Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter
- McDonald's De Asobou!
- Mechanical Violator Hakaider: The Last Judgement
- Melty Blood (For Melty Blood: Act Cadenza and Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code Arcade versions)
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Sega)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie (Genesis and Game Gear versions)
- Mission Impossible Arcade
- Mystic Defender
- Neon Genesis Evangelion
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (1996 Saturn game)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: 2nd Impression
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Girlfriend of Steel (Saturn version)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Digital Card Library
- Rambo Arcade
- Saint Seiya: Cosmo Fantasy
- Saint Seiya Online
- Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku
- Shadowrun (Only for SEGA Genesis)
- Spider-Man vs. the Kingpin
- Spider-Man: The Video Game
- Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator
- Star Wars: Racer Arcade
- Star Wars Trilogy Arcade
- TaleSpin (Sega)
- Thor: God of Thunder (2011)
- Total War: Shogun 2
- Total War: Warhammer (Spin-Off of Total War)
- The Lucky Dime Caper
- Transformers: Human Alliance
- Ultraverse Prime
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (via purchase of Relic Entertainment)
- X-Men (1993)
- X-Men 2: Clone Wars
Outside Games/Franchises published by Sega in a set region:
Japan:
- Atlantis II
- Battletoads (Only for Sega Mega Drive/Game Gear)
- Closers Online
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (For Nintendo Switch only)
- Crimson Gem Saga
- DJ Boy
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Baldur's Gate (also developed the cancelled Dreamcast port)
- Baldur's Gate II
- Planescape: Torment
- Icewind Dale
- Neverwinter Nights
- Earthworm Jim (via Sega Channel)
- Elevator Action (For SG-1000 only)
- Empire of Sin (Only via PSN)
- Full Spectrum Warrior (For Playstation 2 only)
- Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers (For Playstation 2 only)
- Galapagos: Mendel's Escape
- Ghost Master
- Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (For Arcade only)
- Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- (For Arcade only)
- Guilty Gear -STRIVE- (For Arcade only)
- Incubation: Time Is Running Out
- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (Only for Nintendo Switch via physical copies)
- Hundred Swords
- Killzone (Only for the first game in Japan/Asia. The other games were released by Sony's Japanese branch)
- Knives Out Game Rhythm Pack (Only for Nintendo Switch)
- Silver (Only for PC)
- The Getaway: Black Monday
South Korea:
- Darius Cozmic Revelation
- Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless
- Fate/Extella Link (Published with Korean subtitles through PSN/Nintendo eShop or physical copy)
- Persona 3 (Portable version)
- Persona 4 (Golden version)
- Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 5
- Persona 5 Royal (Only via PSN)
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 3 Reload
- Rune Factory 5
- Soul Hackers 2 (Only when purchased online)
- Unicorn Overlord
- Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception
- Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
- Utawarerumono: ZAN
Asia:
- Battletoads (Only for Sega Mega Drive/Game Gear)
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Catherine (For Full Body version only with Traditional Chinese/Korean subtitles)
- Closed Nightmare (For Southeast/East Asian countries with Traditional Chinese subtitles)
- Crimson Gem Saga (All countries except South Korea)
- Destiny Connect: Tick Tock Travelers (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Disgaea: Hour of Darkness only for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch)
- Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless (Published with Traditional Chinese subtitles)
- Dragon's Crown (Only when purchased through PSN for the Pro version)
- Empire of Sin (Only via PSN)
- Fate/Extella Link (Published with Traditional Chinese subtitles through PSN/Nintendo eShop or physical copy)
- Granblue Fantasy Versus
- Lapis X Labyrinth (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 3 (Portable version via Steam)
- Persona 4 (Golden version via Steam)
- Persona 5 (Only when purchased through PSN)note
- Persona 5 Royal (Only via PSN)
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Only when purchased through PSN)note
- Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 4: Arena Ultimax
- Persona 5 Strikers (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 3 Reload
- Rune Factory 5
- Senran Kagura: Burst (Only when purchased through PSN with Chinese/Korean subtitles)
- Shadowverse: Champion's Battle (Only when purchased through the Nintendo Eshop)
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (Only when purchased through PSN with Chinese/Korean subtitles)
- Soul Hackers 2 (Only when purchased online)
- SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
- Tsuhou Senkyo (Only when purchased through PSN with Chinese subtitles)
- Unicorn Overlord
- Yomawari: Night Alone (Published with Chinese subtitles only for the Nintendo Switch)
- Yomawari: Midnight Shadows (Published with Chinese subtitles only for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch)
North America:
- Armored Core 4
- Catherine (For Full Body version only if purchased via PSN)
- Dark Savior
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Midnight Resistance (Only for Sega Genesis)
- M.U.S.H.A. (Only when purchased through Virtual Console Wii)
- Paperboy (Only for Sega Master System)
- Persona 4 (Golden version)note
- Persona 5 Royalnote
- Persona 3 (Portable version)
- Persona 5 Strikers (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Only when purchased through PSN)note
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 3 Reload
- Rastan (Only for Sega Master System)
- Robotica
- Seaman
- Soul Hackers 2 (Only when purchased online)
- Shin Megami Tensei V (Only when purchased through the eShop)
- Space Firebird
- Spy Hunter (1983) (For non-arcade ports)
- Taito Legends
- Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
- Unicorn Overlord
Europe:
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Batman (Sunsoft) (Only for Sega Mega Drive)
- Battletoads (Only for Sega Mega Drive/Game Gear)
- Catherine: Full Body (Only via PSN)
- Chase H.Q.
- Special Criminal Investigation
- Commando (Capcom) (Published via Sega, S.A. SONIC)
- Crusader of Centy
- Dark Savior
- Disney's Toy Story
- Ikari Warriors (First game published via Sega, S.A. SONIC)
- The Matrix Online
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- M.U.S.H.A. (Only when purchased through Virtual Console Wii)
- Persona 4: Arena Ultimax
- Persona 4 (Golden version)
- Persona 3 (Portable version)
- Persona 5 Royal (Only via PSN)
- Persona 5 Strikers (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Only when purchased through PSN)note
- Persona 4: Arena Ultimax
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 3 Reload
- Rastan (Only for Sega Master System)
- Renegade (Only for Sega Master System)
- Resident Evil (Only for Sega Saturn)
- Road Blaster
- Robo Aleste
- Snake Rattle 'n' Roll
- Soul Hackers 2 (Only when purchased online)
- Super Hydlide (Only for Sega Mega Drive)
- Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
- Tenchu: Time of the Assassins
- Ultima IV (Only for Sega Master System)
- Unicorn Overlord
United Kingdom:
- Sheriff
- Tenchu: Time of the Assassins
- Ultima IV (Only for Sega Master System)
- Unicorn Overlord
Oceania:
- Battletoads (Only for Sega Mega Drive)
- Batman (Sunsoft) (Only for Sega Mega Drive)
- Catherine: Full Body (Only via PSN/eShop)
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- M.U.S.H.A. (Only when purchased through Virtual Console Wii)
- Persona 4 (Golden version)note
- Persona 3 (Portable version)
- Persona 5 Royal (Only via PSN)
- Persona 5 Strikers (Only when purchased through PSN)
- Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Only when purchased through PSN)note
- Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
- Persona 4: Arena Ultimax
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Persona 3 Reload
- Soul Hackers 2
- Super Hydlide (Only for Sega Mega Drive)
- Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
- Tenchu: Time of the Assassins
- Ultima IV (Only for Sega Master System)
- Unicorn Overlord
Films produced by Sega:
- Comix Zone (TBA)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Feature Film (with Studio Gainax, Production I.G, King Records, Kadokawa Shoten, TV Tokyo, Movic, and Toei Company; current rights are with Studio Khara and Toho)
- Evangelion: Death and Rebirth (1997)
- The End of Evangelion (1997)
- Evangelion: Death (True)2 (1998)note
- Revival of Evangelion (1998)note
- Adolescence of Utena (1999; with J.C. Staff, Shogakukan, GANSIS, King Records, Movic, and Toei)
- Sakura Wars: The Movie (2001; with Production I.G, Kadokawa, Imagica, Rentrak Japan, Nippan, Chara-Ani and Toei)
- Shenmue: The Movie (2001) note
- Sonic the Hedgehog (film series) (with Paramount, Original Film and Blur Studio)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
- Space Channel 5 (TBA)
- Streets of Rage (TBA; with Lionsgate)
TV Shows produced by Sega:
- Sakura Wars: The Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms
- Sakura Wars: The Radiant Gorgeous Blooming Cherry Blossoms
- Sakura Wars (2000)
- Sakura Wars Sumire
- Sakura Wars: École de Paris
- Sakura Wars: Le Noveau Paris
- Sakura Wars: New York
- Sakura Wars the Animation
- Shenmue
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sonic Boom
- Sonic Prime
- Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie
- Sonic Underground
- Sonic X
- Knuckles
- Virtua Fighter
Tropes associated with Sega:
- Actor Allusion: A number of early '90s German TV commercials managed to pull this off with Mike Myers' and Dana Carvey's German voice actors from Wayne's World as actors. Whilst they did play different characters with no further allusion to Wayne's World whatsoever, they acted out the very same shtick once again and even dressed quite recognizably.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: Alex Kidd was their initial answer to Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. series, but that was eventually taken over by Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Always Second Best:
- Since the time of SG-1000, Sega seems to always strike in second place behind Nintendo, with occasional third or worse place in some situations (PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era, as well as the classical Console War in Japan, where the PC Engine actually outsold the Genesis.)
- Averted in some markets, such as Europe (especially the UK) and South America, where Sega's dominance was unquestioned. In the 8-bit era, the NES (thanks to bad marketing decisions by Nintendo) was practically mythical in the UK but the Sega Master System was pretty popular. To this day, unlicensed Master System clones are still on the market in South America.
- Cash-Cow Franchise: Sega's attempts to trickle out AAA games have yielded varying results. A retraux sequel to Streets of Rage made waves in 2020. Phantasy Star had a bit of a renaissance as an MMO. Ecco the Dolphin comes in at a very distant third, but it has a cult fanbase. Currently, their only true example of this is Sonic the Hedgehog, followed by Puyo Puyo (though only in Japan), and Like a Dragon.
- Compilation Re-release: Extremely fond of them, especially concerning their Genesis library. They range from being franchise-specific, to encompassing as many games from a given platform as they can fit into a cartridge, disc or downloadable file package.
- Console Wars: The Sega vs. Nintendo war (mainly Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis vs. Nintendo's SNES) is possibly the most famous one of them all.
- Also worth noting that someone at NEC tried to start a war with Sega of all things in the Johnny Turbo comics by creating a Bland-Name Product Evil Corporation called FEKA in said comic, and then indirectly bashing Sega for claiming that the Genesis was the first 16-bit console (protip: Sega was right, the TurboGrafx-16 had a 8-bit CPU coupled with a 16-bit GPU- which resulted in a lot of games looking good but playing abysmally. The Genesis on the other hand had a 16-bit CPU). Cooler heads prevailed though and the FEKA plot was dropped after two books.
- Content Warnings: After the controversy surrounding Night Trap and Mortal Kombat flared up, Sega started their own self-regulatory classification system known as the Videogame Rating Council, which rated games' content within three levels: GA for General Audiences, MA-13 for Mature content suitable for people over 13, and MA-17 for people over 17. However, there was little consistency in the difference between an MA-13 and an MA-17, with only a few games receiving the latter for seemingly arbitrary reasons.note With the subsequent formation of the ESRB, Sega quietly dropped the now-redundant VRC.
- Department of Redundancy Department: "Sega" derives from Service Games. Before the rename to Sega Corporation, Sega was known as Sega Games Company Limited, or "Service Games Games Company Limited" (similar to Detective Comics Comics).
- Derivative Differentiation: Their early games started off by shamelessly ripping off of other popular games of the day—for example, Congo Bongo, an obvious clone of Donkey Kong. Their original mascot, Alex Kidd, was an obvious attempt to ride the coattails of Super Mario Bros.. Even their Sega Master System clearly patterned itself after the NES, right down to having identical controllers. Despite success in other countries, they all badly underperformed in the US due to Nintendo having a very strong grip on the gaming market. Realizing that playing by Nintendo's own rules would get them nowhere, they decided to go in the opposite direction and become Nintendo's antithesis with the Sega Genesis, aiming for older audiences and darker games with slicker graphics, action and very lax censorship policies—their first own pack-in game was Altered Beast, a gory beat-em-up that would never have been allowed on the NES. Their newest mascot for the console, Sonic The Hedgehog, was a unique contrast from the Mario series in art and gameplay, and also a contrast to the Mario-derivative Alex Kidd (who was quickly abandoned by the company once the technicolor insectivore made waves). Unsurprisingly, it worked.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Sega was originally just a regular arcade game company for decades before they jumped into making video games around the 1970's. Also, their original mascot, Alex Kidd, was more genial in tone and gameplay than Sonic.
- Family Business: Since Sammy's acquisition of the company,
- Frivolous Lawsuit / Disney Owns This Trope: In December 2012, they filed a lawsuit against Level-5 demanding 900 million yen (US $11 million) for allegedly infringing two patents they got in 2009 and 2011 on using drag-and-drop and tap commands on a touchscreen to control characters (i.e. using a touchscreen as a freaking touchscreen). Over a game that Level-5 released in 2008. Level-5 called them out on their patent trolling and tore them a new one in quite possibly the most epic pwning ever to happen via corporate public statement.
- Also happened when child company Atlus (which they freshly bought off Index Corp.) tried to sue the developer of PlayStation 3 emulator RPCS3 despite it already being tried in the past (Sony vs. Connectix, and Sony lost) just because it allowed the PS3 version of Persona 5 to run on a PC. They were quick to back down when several digital rights non-profit organizations called them out on it. See Atlus' page for full details.
- Logo Joke: Before the arrival of the Sega Saturn, nearly every single game booted up with the logo appearing onto the screen, with elements of the game the system's playing usually interacting with the logo or the screen it appears on in some way. Here's a list of them all.
- Mascot: Formerly Alex Kidd. Now, it's Sonic the Hedgehog.
- Mascot with Attitude: Sonic the Hedgehog, the Trope Maker by which all others are based on.
- Never Accepted in His Hometown: Sega saw great success in markets such as Europe, South America and eventually North America, but never did well in Japan. Part of the company's downfall is due to obsessing over trying to capture the Japanese market while casually throwing away the loyal fanbase they had built up abroad, by designing the Saturn (and to a lesser extent, the Dreamcast) largely around things that tried to appeal to Japanese rather than western gamers (painfully obvious when they rebooted the Sonic continuity outside of Japan with Sonic Adventure).
- Subverted now with their arcade division, as they are not only the most prolific arcade manufacturer in the world, but the most profitable arcade company in Japan. Whereas ventures like Sega World London at the Trocadero proved to be too much of a financial commitment to maintain abroad, Sega still had the largest assortment of large-scale arcades throughout Japan and Asia as a whole until 2021.
- Also subverted with their Mobile Phone Game division, with titles such as Chain Chronicle, IDOLA: Phantasy Star Saga, Shin Megami Tensei Liberation: Dx2, Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!, and Yumeiro Cast (before its closure) gaining significant amount of popularity among Japanese playerbase.
- And also subverted with their toys and merchandising division. Sega regularly produces figures, dolls, and stationaries of practically every popular Anime and Manga series at this point (such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Love Live!, and Fate/stay night, to name a few), with these merchandises often prone to become collectors' items because of its' tendencies to be released as limited merchandises obtainable through UFO Catcher machines and Lucky Draws. They have also recently launched a high-quality figurine line, S-Fire to significant acclaim.
- Outright averted with the Like a Dragon series where it's a Cash-Cow Franchise with no signs of losing momentum anytime soon. Ever since the first game in 2005, the series has seen several sequels, spin-offs and HD remasters released, with almost every game becoming best-sellers and falling under Playstation's "The Best" line. A prequel and remake of the first game were released to commemorate the series' ten year anniversary, and the seventh game in the main series was released to critical and commercial success.
- Overall, Sega's current reputation in Japan subverts this trope, as they are now considered one of the biggest media conglomerates in Japan that does not only produce video games with their many ventures.
- Put on a Bus: After Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle flopped with critics and retail and Sonic the Hedgehog made Sega realize the technicolor insectivore was their real answer to Mario, Alex Kidd was dropped as their mascot in favor of Sonic and permanently retired from the companies game line-up. Kidd has made the occasional cameo since then, but he is largely forgotten today... that is until 2021 saw the release of Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, a remake of the first game.
- Right Hand Versus Left Hand: The rivalry between Sega's Japanese and American branches is the stuff of industry legend, with the 16- and 32-bit generations marred with SOJ's jealousy of SOA's success and hamstringing their efforts on projects in favor of their own, while simultaneously offering up counterproductive projects like the Sega 32X as work on the coming Saturn continued along. By the time the Dreamcast ended its life cycle, it looked to hardcore fans like Sega's worst enemy was themselves.
- Screwed by the Network: The Dreamcast was too good to last.
- Sigil Spam: Sonic the Hedgehog makes a lot of cameo appearances in the companies games. He even appeared in the Sega CD and Sega Channel boot up. He is their mascot, and they want you to know it.
- Title Scream: Read the caption below the image. First heard in Japanese Sega commercials, it was most famously used internationally at the start of all the major 2D Sonic games. Variations on the scream can also be heard on start-up of Panic!, all the Project Diva games and K-On! Houkago Live!.
- Enforced because the reason for the scream being there in the first place is because it's actually filler to replace an early Sound Test idea that never came to be in Sonic the Hedgehog. In fact, this one sound byte takes up more memory than entire levels do.
- US commercials that reveled in the X-treme 90's image they were portraying at the time also often ended with a different voice quickly screaming "SEGA!"
- Take That!: Their entire advertising campaign throughout their console years famously consisted of lobbing Take Thats at competing consoles.
- Virtual YouTuber: Since 2022, Popona, an IDOLA: Phantasy Star Saga tie-in VTuber (later a Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis official VTuber) has been promoted to the status of "SEGA Official VTuber" and now covers the company as a whole. Her channel can be found here.