Sega

Associated With

Sega and its predecessor companies - creator or operator, brand

Defining Feature

A business spanning arcade equipment, game software and successive home consoles

Status

Home-console manufacture discontinued in 2001 — Sega continued its consumer games business

Overview

Sega grew from an amusement-machine business into a defining name in arcades and home video games.

Its consumer console line began with the SG-1000 in 1983 and expanded through systems including the Mega Drive, Game Gear and Saturn. These consoles brought Sega's arcade identity into the home.

The Dreamcast followed with a built-in modem and online ambitions. Sega stopped manufacturing the console in 2001 and concentrated its consumer business on games.

Why It Mattered

Sega carried the speed, colour and character of its arcade business into home gaming. The Dreamcast's built-in modem showed the company's continuing technical ambition even as its console-manufacturing era approached its end.

Amusement-Machine Origins

• Sega's predecessor businesses imported, maintained and manufactured commercial amusement equipment.
• The name Sega derived from Service Games.

Consumer Hardware Timeline

• The SG-1000, released in July 1983, was Sega's first consumer game console.
• Sega's timeline records the Mega Drive in 1988, Game Gear in 1990 and Saturn in 1994.

The Dreamcast Endpoint

• Dreamcast launched in Japan on 27 November 1998 with a standard 33.6 Kbps modem.
• Sega decided in January 2001 to stop Dreamcast manufacture and concentrate its consumer business on content.

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