SEGA game news: Visit the premises of the famous Japanese publisher with JV!
Published on 26/11/2022 at 09:40
It is not given to everyone to discover the head office of a publisher, even less Japanese. However, on the sidelines of the Tokyo Game Show 2022, the JV editorial staff had the opportunity to explore the premises of a historic player… those of SEGA. It’s time to enter the lair of Sonic and Kazuma Kiryu located in the Garden Tower in the heart of Tokyo’s Osaki district.
Summary
The Grand HarborA living spaceA museumA place of creation
The Grand Harbor
SEGA Sammy’s headquarters in Tokyo are based on a simple concept, but which perfectly reflects the strategic vision of the Japanese publisher, that of the Grand Harbor which can literally be translated as “Grand Port”. The offices and other subsidiaries of the Japanese firm located in the four corners of the globe, in particular SEGA America, are thus perceived as so many destinations for the “blue ship”. The reception features a huge wall planisphere where various clocks are placed representing the time zones crossed by the SEGA Sammy group during its video game “travels”.
A model presents the plans of Paradise City, a hotel complex located in South Korea and built in collaboration with the SEGA group. However, what immediately speaks to our gaming hearts are the various arcade terminals, but also the “antiques” which retrace in their own way the history of SEGA, a history that spans more than half a century. This is the perfect opportunity to discover the manufacturer’s pre-video game with the SEGA 1000 jukebox released in 1960 or some of its first creations including Out Run from the Master System II – Mega Drive era.
A living space
Beyond the areas dedicated to productivity, SEGA offers its employees several relaxation areas. It goes without saying that the cafeteria is a must for all companies, but it is different from the libraryan ideal place to leaf through books and magazines, and “Tunnel Tokyo”. This Open Space in the colors of the Mega Drive is generally used to organize work meetings between interns or with externals, make presentations or simply move forward on these projects in a less formal setting. Finally, the offices of SEGA Sammy have a small 100% Japanese particularity. In effect, un Konbini (a kind of typical Japanese grocery store) proudly takes up a floor of the Garden Tower.
A museum
It is now time to leave the lobby of the flagship SEGA Sammy and say goodbye to the life-size mascots of the Japanese firm in order to reach the area reserved for meeting spaces. Although these rooms and corridors ultimately interest us only marginally, they conceal a small museum erected to the glory of the Japanese manufacturer. It is thus possible to admire all the home consoles made available to the general public by SEGA over the generations, and in particular une SG-1000 or SEGA Game 1000 (see below). It is neither more nor less than the very first console marketed in 1983 by SEGA. It marked the entry of the Japanese company into the home video game market, and formed the foundations on which rests the emblematic Master System released 2 years later in Japan.
A place of creation
We end this little tour of SEGA owner Sammy with two rooms dedicated respectively to voice recording and face capture in order to approach the production of video games strictly speaking. If the first is finally quite agreed and necessarily soundproofed, the second is surprising in more ways than one. Within this so-called “Face Capture” room are arranged several dozen cameras which, on command, take a face from all angles in order to reproduce it as faithfully as possible in 3D. This technology, reminiscent of the first Matrix movie during the famous Bullet Time sequence with Neo, is used mainly on la franchise Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza in the West) and whose Ishin! is the next installment to be released by February 21, 2023 on PC and home consoles.
About Yakuza: Like a Dragon
