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186-692: Uemura's former employer Sharp Corporation , which previously collaborated with Nintendo on the Game & Watch , released three officially licensed Famicom variants in Japan: a CRT television with a built-in Famicom, a console that combined the Famicom and Famicom Disk System hardware in one package, and a console dedicated to video production. Only the television variant was given a release in North America. Meanwhile, Nintendo produced two arcade variants of

372-697: A Super Famicom and could use the cables intended for that system instead. An earlier redesign prototype, named the Famicom Adapter , was shown alongside the Super Famicom when the latter was unveiled to the Japanese press on November 21, 1988; like the New Famicom, it functioned similarly to an original Famicom but included AV output instead of RF modulation. The Super Famicom was not backward compatible with Famicom games; Nintendo promoted

558-496: A battery save to remember a player's initials for high scores. There are 53 games that are confirmed to have released on the PlayChoice-10. Nintendo ultimately announced on July 31, 1992, that it would discontinue all of its arcade machines due to lack of profitability. The Nintendo Test Station is a diagnostic device developed by Nintendo to test NES accessories. Intended for use in authorized service centers as part of

744-527: A computer keyboard , a musical keyboard , a tape drive , infrared wireless controllers , and a folding light gun . The console itself featured a Famicom-like top-loading system and cartridges, whereas the controller's D-pad had a square shape similar to that of Sega 's Master System . The AVS was shown off at the Winter CES in January 1985, planned for a June release, to middling fanfare. Chief among

930-705: A contract manufacturer . In September 2016 Sharp unveiled the Sharp INTELLOS Automated Unmanned Ground Vehicle (A-UGV) at the ASIS International 62nd Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2016) in Orlando, Florida . In March 2017, demolition of Sharp's former headquarters began. On 28 April 2017, Sharp turned its first operating profit in three years, citing the restructuring efforts by Foxconn. In June 2017, Sharp sued its Chinese licensee Hisense for damaging

1116-415: A set-top TV antenna from a company called DX Antenna. Other design considerations took into account the lifestyles and attitudes of Japanese consumers at the time. Uemura had considered PC-like styling for the console, but elected to use a horizontally-oriented design suited for placement on the floor; he felt Japanese consumers would prefer the latter as more relaxing. The controllers were designed to make

1302-714: A toy robot that acted as a second player in two games; the presence of the robot, which was eventually named the Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) by advertising manager Gail Tilden , helped convince reluctant toy shops to place orders for the NES before it launched in New York City on October 18, 1985. Nintendo also marketed the NES in PAL regions through local distributors, though the console did not find as much success as it did in North America. In Europe, it

1488-609: A $ 1 billion stock swap whereby Sega would wholly acquire Bandai, was set to form a company known as Sega Bandai, Ltd. Though it was to be finalized in October of that year, it was called off in May after growing opposition from Bandai's mid-level executives. Bandai instead agreed to a business alliance with Sega. As a result of Sega's deteriorating financial situation, Nakayama resigned as Sega president in January 1998 in favor of Irimajiri. Nakayama's resignation may have in part been due to

1674-505: A 15-inch one instead of two 25-inch screens, was available in markets outside the United States. Conversion kits were also available for both dual-screen and single-screen formats, with the former intended for converting Punch-Out!! cabinets and the latter intended for converting standard Nintendo cabinets; the company later offered conversion kits for VS. UniSystem cabinets, with a five-game PlayChoice-5 kit made available alongside

1860-463: A 92% replay rate. While the eight-player Japanese version of the game was released in 1999, the game was reduced to a smaller four-player version due to size issues and released in North America in 2003. The cabinet was too expensive and the game did not entice casual users which are essential to the western arcade market. While the Japanese market retained core players, western arcades had become more focused on casual players, and Sega Amusements Europe,

2046-669: A Dreamcast launch game . It was promoted with a large-scale public demonstration at the Tokyo Kokusai Forum Hall . Due to a high failure rate in the manufacturing process, Sega could not ship enough consoles for the Dreamcast's Japanese launch. As more than half of its limited stock had been pre-ordered, Sega stopped pre-orders in Japan. Before the launch, Sega announced the release of its New Arcade Operation Machine Idea (NAOMI) arcade system board , which served as

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2232-472: A better picture quality than a Famicom or NES paired with a separate television due to its direct internal display connection. In Japan, the TV was sold in two sizes; initially released as a 14-inch model for ¥93,000 MSRP on October 4, 1983, a 19-inch model was subsequently released on October 25 for ¥145,000 MSRP. The TV was also available in two colors: a black and red model, and a light silver and red model. When

2418-465: A cheaper alternative to the Sega Model 3 . NAOMI shared technology with the Dreamcast, allowing nearly identical ports of arcade games. The Dreamcast launched in Japan on November 27, 1998. The entire stock of 150,000 consoles sold out by the end of the day. Irimajiri estimated that another 200,000 to 300,000 Dreamcast units could have been sold with sufficient supply. He hoped to sell more than

2604-622: A computer, the SC-3000. Learning that Nintendo was developing a games-only console , the Famicom , Sega developed its first home video game system, the SG-1000 , alongside the SC-3000. Rebranded versions of the SG-1000 were released in several other markets worldwide. The SG-1000 sold 160,000 units in 1983, which far exceeded Sega's projection of 50,000 in the first year but was outpaced by

2790-663: A controlling stake in Pioneer Corporation in 2007. At CES 2007, Sharp introduced a prototype largest LCD TV, with a screen size of 108 inches. In July 2008 Sharp announced that the model will go into production for the Japanese market. In 2008, Sharp collaborated with Emblaze Mobile on the Monolith , "…an ambitious project to design the ultimate holistic mobile device". The project was never brought to market. Key software developers were later picked up by other companies. On 25 June 2009, Sharp and Pioneer agreed to form

2976-492: A decrease in profitability due to the investments required to launch the Dreamcast in Western markets and poor software sales in Japan. At the same time, worsening conditions reduced the profitability of Sega's Japanese arcade business, prompting the closure of 246 locations. Moore became the president and chief operating officer of Sega of America on 8 May 2000. He said the Dreamcast would need to sell 5 million units in

3162-679: A downturn in the arcade business in the early 1980s, Sega began to develop video game consoles, starting with the SG-1000 and Master System , but struggled against competitors such as the Nintendo Entertainment System . In 1984, Sega executives David Rosen and Hayao Nakayama led a management buyout , with backing from CSK Corporation . In 1988, Sega released the Mega Drive , or the Genesis in North America. The Mega Drive struggled against competition in Japan, but

3348-645: A feature shared only with the Nintendo VS. System and PlayChoice-10 arcade systems; the Famicom Titler is recognized by collectors as a practical way to obtain such a system appropriate for modern television sets. The console is also popular within the modding community due to its ease of modification in outputting a true RGB signal. The Nintendo VS. System is an arcade system developed and marketed by Nintendo. The system, introduced in March 1984 across

3534-512: A former executive at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, became Sega of America's executive vice president in charge of product development and third-party relations. Stolar was not supportive of the Saturn, believing its hardware was poorly designed. While Stolar had said "the Saturn is not our future" at E3 1997, he continued to emphasize the quality of its games, and later reflected that "we tried to wind it down as cleanly as we could for

3720-612: A four-point plan: cut the price of the Genesis, create a US team to develop games targeted at the American market, expand the aggressive advertising campaigns, and replace the bundled game Altered Beast with Sonic the Hedgehog . The Japanese board of directors disapproved, but it was approved by Nakayama, who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas, so go ahead and do it." In large part due to

3906-465: A joint venture comprising their optical businesses, called "Pioneer Digital Design and Manufacturing Corporation". In 2010, Sharp stopped developing PCs to focus on tablets. In 2012 Sharp unveiled the largest production TV at the time, with a screen size of 80 inches. It is part of the Aquos range and went on sale in Japan at around JP¥950,000. 2012 was the 100th anniversary for Sharp but it announced

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4092-420: A million Dreamcast units in Japan by February 1999, but less than 900,000 were sold. The low sales undermined Sega's attempts to build up a sufficient installed base to ensure the Dreamcast's survival after the arrival of competition from other manufacturers. Sega suffered a further ¥42.881 billion consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 1999, and announced plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs, nearly

4278-530: A modern type), and due to this big success the Sharp Corporation derived its name from it. After the pencil business was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake , the company relocated to Osaka and began designing the first generation of Japanese radio sets. These went on sale in 1925. The company was established as "Hayakawa Metal Works" in 1924, in Tanabe-cho, Osaka . In 1942, the name

4464-700: A partnership with Stoke City F.C. for 2 years as an Official Platinum Partner. Sega Sega Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Shinagawa , Tokyo . It produces several multi-million-selling game franchises for arcades and consoles , including Sonic the Hedgehog , Angry Birds , Phantasy Star , Puyo Puyo , Super Monkey Ball , Total War , Virtua Fighter , Megami Tensei , Sakura Wars , Persona , and Yakuza . From 1983 until 2001, Sega also developed its own consoles . Having American origins, Sega

4650-435: A popular form of entertainment among youths across East Asia , laying the foundations for modern selfie culture. By 1997, about 47,000 Purikura machines had been sold, earning Sega an estimated ¥25 billion ( £173 million ) or $ 283,000,000 (equivalent to $ 537,000,000 in 2023) from Purikura sales that year. Various other similar Purikura machines appeared from other manufacturers, with Sega controlling about half of

4836-527: A press release confirming it was considering producing software for the PlayStation   2 and Game Boy Advance as part of its "new management policy". On January 31, 2001, Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast after March 31 and the restructuring of the company as a "platform-agnostic" third-party developer. Sega also announced a Dreamcast price reduction to eliminate its unsold inventory, estimated at 930,000 units as of April 2001. This

5022-557: A quarter of its workforce. Before the Western launch, Sega reduced the price of the Dreamcast in Japan by JP¥9,100, effectively making it unprofitable but increasing sales. On August 11, 1999, Sega of America confirmed that Stolar had been fired. Peter Moore , whom Stolar had hired as a Sega of America executive only six months before, was placed in charge of the North American launch. The Dreamcast launched in North America on September 9, 1999, with 18 games. Sega set

5208-456: A record by selling more than 225,132 Dreamcast units in 24 hours, earning $ 98.4 million in what Moore called "the biggest 24 hours in entertainment retail history". Within two weeks, US Dreamcast sales exceeded 500,000. By Christmas, Sega held 31 percent of the US video game market by revenue. On November 4, Sega announced it had sold more than a million Dreamcast units. Nevertheless, the launch

5394-406: A retail price of ¥43,000, was the most technologically ambitious project that Sharp had attempted with the Famicom system, with Sharp identifying a need for capturing direct game footage from a Famicom at a time when doing so for any video game required specialized equipment. It is the only Famicom that was commercially available to internally generate RGB video, done via usage of a unique variant of

5580-619: A second, faster processor, vastly expanded system memory, a graphics chip that performed scaling and rotation similar to the company's arcade games, and another sound chip. In North America, it was renamed the Sega CD and launched on October 15, 1992, with a retail price of US$ 299. It was released in Europe as the Mega-CD in 1993. The Mega-CD sold only 100,000 units during its first year in Japan, falling well below expectations. Throughout

5766-548: A slight increase from the previous year's figure of 2.5 trillion yen. In 1912, Tokuji Hayakawa founded a metal workshop in Honjo, Tokyo . The first of his many inventions was a snap buckle named 'Tokubijo'. Another of his inventions was the Ever-Ready Sharp mechanical pencil in 1915. The product became one of the first internationally available mechanical pencils (while concurrent US design replaced it soon and became

Nintendo Entertainment System models - Misplaced Pages Continue

5952-481: A slight increase in the fiscal year ended March 1997, partly driven by increasing arcade revenue, while outperforming Nintendo during the mid-term period. However, in the fiscal year ending March 1998, Sega suffered its first financial loss since its 1988 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as both a parent company and a corporation as a whole. In the company's 1998 year end report, Irimajiri placed

6138-403: A time. The first games offered were Baseball , Tennis , Golf , Excitebike , Wild Gunman , Mario Bros. , Super Mario Bros. , Duck Hunt , Hogan's Alley , and Balloon Fight . Two upright cabinet variants of the PlayChoice-10 were offered: a stacked dual-screen one and a single-screen one. A "cabaret" variant of the dual-screen cabinet, featuring a 9-inch screen on top of

6324-764: A turntable between 1964 and 1966. The company was renamed Sharp Corporation in 1970. Sharp produced the first LCD calculator in 1973. Sharp had a working relationship with Nintendo during the 1980s, and was granted licensing rights for the manufacture and development of the C1 NES TV (1983, later released in North America as the Sharp Nintendo Television), the Twin Famicom (1986), the Sharp Famicom Titler (1989), and

6510-478: A variety of monitoring and detection capabilities to extend the impact of a traditional security force. Sharp Solar is a supplier of silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, and offers a solar TV. In Q1 2010, the company made the highest revenues from production of solar PV systems. For the corporate meeting room market, Sharp was the first company to bring the Windows collaboration display to market, which

6696-433: A wholly owned subsidiary of Sharp. Sharp had first purchased Dynabook from Toshiba in 2018. Core technologies and products include LCD panels , solar panels , mobile phones , audio-visual entertainment equipment, video projectors , Multi-Function Printing Devices , microwave ovens , air conditioners , air purifiers , cash registers , CMOS and CCD sensors, and flash memory . The first commercial camera phone

6882-761: Is a 70inch interactive display with built-in unified communication equipment and an IoT sensor hub for measuring environmental room conditions. The Windows collaboration display is conceived to be seamlessly compatible with Microsoft's Office productivity products, as well as make use of the Microsoft Azure cloud services with the IoT sensor hub generated data. Net sales for the year 2003 were $ 16.8 billion. The corporation employs 46,600 staff, of which around half live outside Japan. It operates from 64 bases in 30 countries and its products are distributed in 164 countries worldwide. Many of its regional subsidiaries trade under

7068-687: Is a licensed Nintendo product that combines the Famicom and the Famicom Disk System into a single piece of hardware. Whereas the standard Famicom only has one color combination, the Twin Famicom was initially sold in two colors: red with black highlights (AN-500R), and black with red highlights (AN-500B). A second version of the system was released in 1987 with a slightly different case design, turbo controllers, and two different color schemes; black with green highlights (AN-505-BK) and red with beige highlights (AN-505-RD). The basic parts of

7254-1208: Is headquartered in Sakai , Osaka, and was founded by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1912 in Honjo, Tokyo , and established as the Hayakawa Metal Works Institute in Abeno-ku, Osaka , in 1924. Since 2016, it is majority owned by the Taiwan-based manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., better known as Foxconn . Sharp makes and has made throughout its history various different consumer electronic products, including kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens , cookers, washing machines and refrigerators ; home appliances such as solar cells , vacuum cleaners , air purifiers and lighting; home and office devices such as printers , computer displays , TV sets , camcorders , VCRs , as well as calculators and various audio products such as radios , audio systems and wireless speakers . Sharp's net sales reached 2.55 trillion yen in fiscal year 2022 (ending 29 February 2024), according to Statista . This represents

7440-472: Is one of the world's most prolific arcade game producers and its mascot, Sonic , is internationally recognized. Its name and branding are used for owned or affiliated companies that operate amusement arcades and produce other entertainment products, including Sega Fave; however, these are largely separate ventures. Sega is recognized for its video game consoles, creativity and innovations. In more recent years, it has been criticized for its business decisions and

7626-593: The 10NES lockout chip, allowing it to play unlicensed games. The console also removed composite video output, leaving only RF output available on it; Nintendo later produced a rare version of the console that replaced RF with the AV "multi-out" port used on the SNES. Although a game was not bundled with the New-Style NES, it came packaged with a redesigned controller modeled after the SNES controller; colloquially called

Nintendo Entertainment System models - Misplaced Pages Continue

7812-465: The Famicom and lagged behind Nintendo's Super Famicom and the TurboGrafx-16 , made by NEC , in Japanese sales throughout the 16-bit era . For the North American launch, where the console was renamed Genesis, Sega had no sales and marketing organization. After Atari declined an offer to market the console in the region, Sega launched it through its own Sega of America subsidiary. The Genesis

7998-709: The My Computer TV ; it was also distributed in Taiwan via Sampo as the Sampo C1 starting in 1984. The unit was showcased at the Summer CES in 1987 with a release in the United States intended for later that year, but it was not released there until 1989 as the Game Television . The C1 is notable for having provided the high-quality screenshots displayed in video game magazines of the period, as it had

8184-684: The Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sonic Team brands for several core franchise entries), Sega Sapporo Studio which mainly provides support for the Tokyo-based development teams as well as handling partial game development, and Atlus (including their R&D divisions, such as P-Studio and Studio Zero respectively) and five development studios in the UK and Europe: Creative Assembly , Sports Interactive , Sega Hardlight , Two Point Studios , and Rovio Entertainment (including Ruby Games). Sega

8370-500: The SF-1 SNES TV (1990). All of these units are considered collectors items on the secondary market. One of the company's main inventors of LCD calculators was Tadashi Sasaki . In the 1970s and 1980s Sharp produced 8-bit home computers known as Sharp MZ and Sharp X1 based on Zilog Z80 , and even a 16/32-bit gaming computer X68000 based on Motorola 68000 . The PC (Pocket Computer) series of calculators produced by Sharp in

8556-620: The " dog bone " controller due to its resemblance in shape to one, it also retailed separately for $ 15 ($ 32 in 2023 dollars) each. The New Famicom is similar in appearance to the New-Style NES, though the former lacks the "bump" on the latter's cartridge slot to accommodate the shorter Famicom cartridges as well as the RAM Adapter for the Famicom Disk System. It was bundled with two "dog bone" controllers; while this allowed for easy replacement of defective controllers compared to

8742-604: The "Sega!" scream, and holding press events for the education industry. Sega partnered with GE to develop the Sega Model 2 arcade system board, building on 3D technology in the arcade industry at the time. This led to several successful arcade games, including Daytona USA , launched in a limited capacity in late 1993 and worldwide in 1994. Other popular games included Virtua Cop , Sega Rally Championship , and Virtua Fighter 2 . Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 2 became Sega's best-selling arcade games of all time, surpassing their previous record holder Out Run . There

8928-411: The "lunch box", the design—credited to engineer Masayuki Yukawa—included a front-loading cartridge mechanism that was modeled after a videocassette recorder , mainly intended to further remove the console from the stigma of its contemporaries. Uemura later revealed in 2020 that the redesign was also intended to prevent a short circuit via direct contact with the hardware during cartridge insertion, which

9114-459: The "red tent"), placed screens on opposite ends; both cabinets ran on two motherboards (one for each screen) and could support up to four players. Complaints about the upright VS. DualSystem's size from operators led Nintendo to later introduce the VS. UniSystem in 1985, which used a more traditional upright cabinet and only one motherboard while including two control sets to support two-player games. While

9300-432: The 1980s had BASIC programmability. Sharp introduced low-cost microwave ovens affordable for residential use in the late 1970s. Sharp was known as a mass marketed electronics manufacturer, known for quality, durability and affordability, however Sharp ventured into the high end stereo market in 1976 with the introduction of high end receivers, amplifiers, speakers, turntables and cassette recorders. The Optonica line as it

9486-445: The 1980s. Former Sega director Akira Nagai said Hang-On and Out Run helped to pull the arcade game market out of the 1982 downturn and created new genres of video games. With the arcade game market once again growing, Sega was one of the most recognized game brands at the end of the 1980s. In the arcades, the company focused on releasing games to appeal to diverse tastes, including racing games and side-scrollers . Sega released

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9672-468: The 1994 release of the Atari Jaguar , and that the Saturn would not be available until the next year. As a result, Nakayama decided to have a second console release to market by the end of 1994. Sega began to develop the 32X , a Genesis add-on which would serve as a less expensive entry into the 32-bit era . The 32X would not be compatible with the Saturn, but would play Genesis games. Sega released

9858-564: The 2008 financial crisis and strong Yen (especially against Won) significantly lowered world demand for Japanese LCD panels. Furthermore, the switch to digital TV broadcasting was virtually completed in Japan by the middle of 2011. Via Japanese government issued coupons for digital TV sets, consumers were encouraged to purchase digital TV sets until March 2011. This hit the Japanese LCD TV market, reducing it almost by half from 2010. All of those events strongly hit Sharp's LCD business. As

10044-466: The 32X on November 21, 1994, in North America, December 3, 1994, in Japan, and January 1995 in PAL territories, and was sold at less than half of the Saturn's launch price. After the holiday season, interest in the 32X rapidly declined. Sega released the Saturn in Japan on November 22, 1994. Virtua Fighter , a port of the popular arcade game, sold at a nearly one-to-one ratio with the Saturn at launch and

10230-613: The 3rd , Case Closed , and Anpanman & Marza Animation Planet , which specializes in CG animation. In May 1940, American businessmen Martin Bromley, Irving Bromberg and James Humpert formed Standard Games in Honolulu , Hawaii. Their aim was to provide coin-operated amusement machines , including slot machines , to military bases as the increase in personnel with the onset of World War II would create demand for entertainment. After

10416-626: The CEO and managing director, while Stewart was named president and LeMaire was the director of planning. Shortly afterward, Sega stopped leasing to military bases and moved its focus from slot machines to coin-operated amusement machines. Its imports included Rock-Ola jukeboxes, pinball games by Williams , and gun games by Midway Manufacturing . Because Sega imported second-hand machines, which required frequent maintenance, it began constructing replacement guns and flippers for its imported games. According to former Sega director Akira Nagai, this led to

10602-449: The Dreamcast as much as expected, as many disappointed consumers continued to wait or purchased a PSone . Eventually, Sony and Nintendo held 50 and 35 percent of the US video game market, while Sega held only 15 percent. CSK chairman Isao Okawa replaced Irimajiri as president of Sega on May 22, 2000. Okawa had long advocated that Sega abandon the console business. Others shared this view; Sega co-founder David Rosen had "always felt it

10788-545: The Famicom Adapter as an alternative method, but the Super Famicom acted more as an AV passthrough device rather than an emulator , with a switch included on it to shift between the Famicom and Super Famicom outputs. Despite the hardware incompatibility, the prototype Super Famicom controllers were compatible between the two consoles. The Famicom Adapter ultimately never went into production as conceived, with

10974-417: The Famicom. This was in part because Nintendo expanded its game library by courting third-party developers , whereas Sega was hesitant to collaborate with companies with which it was competing in the arcades. In November 1983, Rosen announced his intention to step down as president of Sega Enterprises, Inc. on January 1, 1984. Jeffrey Rochlis was announced as the new president and CEO of Sega. Shortly after

11160-533: The Famicom/NES released by Nintendo in 1993. In Japan, it is officially called the New Famicom , though it retains the "Family Computer" branding to maintain consistency with the original Famicom. Unveiled in North America via press release on October 11 and released later that month with a retail price of US$ 49.95 ($ 105 in 2023 dollars), the new design was marketed virtually the same as the original model;

11346-522: The Genesis found success overseas after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 and briefly outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , in the US. In 2001, after several commercial failures such as the 32X , Saturn , and Dreamcast , Sega stopped manufacturing consoles to become a third-party developer and publisher, and was acquired by Sammy Corporation in 2004. Sega Holdings Co. Ltd.

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11532-538: The LCD displays produced at Sharp's plant in Sakai, Japan . In June 2012, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou paid money for Sakai plant and got 50% ownership of the plant. However, since the announcement in March, Sharp's share price continued declining and reached JP¥192 on 3 August. Sharp deal's price was originally JP¥550 per share. Both companies agreed to renegotiate the share price, but they never came to an agreement. Sharp led

11718-430: The Master System and featured a full-color screen, in contrast to the monochrome Game Boy screen. Due to its short battery life, lack of original games, and weak support from Sega, the Game Gear did not surpass the Game Boy, having sold approximately 11 million units. Sega launched the Mega-CD in Japan on December 1, 1991, initially retailing at JP¥ 49,800. The add-on uses CD-ROM technology. Further features include

11904-430: The Master System's successor, the Mega Drive , in Japan on October 29, 1988. The launch was overshadowed by Nintendo's release of Super Mario Bros. 3 a week earlier. Positive coverage from magazines Famitsu and Beep! helped establish a following, with the latter launching a new publication dedicated to the console, but Sega shipped only 400,000 units in the first year. The Mega Drive struggled to compete against

12090-405: The Nihon Goraku Bussan name. Around the same time, David Rosen , an American officer in the United States Air Force stationed in Japan, launched a photo booth business in Tokyo in 1954. This company became Rosen Enterprises, and in 1957 began importing coin-operated games into Japan. In 1965, Nihon Goraku Bussan acquired Rosen Enterprises to form Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Rosen was installed as

12276-428: The Nintendo World Class Service program (introduced in the May–June 1990 issue of Nintendo Power ), the device can detect problems with AV cables, power supplies, and game controllers. A version of the device for the Super NES was initially produced as an extension to the NES version. Sharp Corporation Sharp Corporation ( シャープ株式会社 , Shāpu Kabushiki-gaisha ) is a Japanese electronics company. It

12462-411: The North American home console market without Sega games for over a year, with most of its activity in the country coming from arcade divisions. The Saturn lasted longer in some Europe territories and particularly Japan, with it notably outperforming the Nintendo 64 in the latter. Nonetheless, Irimajiri confirmed in an interview with Japanese newspaper Daily Yomiuri that Saturn development would stop at

12648-413: The PPU chip capable of doing so, and this has been identified as responsible for markedly improved clarity of image over other Famicom models. It is also the only Famicom console to employ S-Video output, though composite video output is another option available on the system. The system additionally features a keyboard and pressure-sensitive touchpad , enabling users to produce subtitles directly on

12834-411: The SNES at release. Nintendo's dollar share of the US 16-bit market dropped from 60% at the end of 1992 to 37% at the end of 1993, Sega claimed 55% of all 16-bit hardware sales during 1994, and the SNES outsold the Genesis from 1995 through 1997. In 1990, Sega launched the Game Gear , a handheld console , to compete against Nintendo's Game Boy . The Game Gear was designed as a portable version of

13020-533: The Saturn an advantage over the PlayStation. At the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles on May 11, 1995, Kalinske revealed the release price and that Sega had shipped 30,000 Saturns to Toys "R" Us , Babbage's , Electronics Boutique , and Software Etc. for immediate release. A by-product of the surprise launch was the provocation of retailers not included in Sega's rollout; KB Toys in particular decided to no longer stock its products in response. The Saturn's release in Europe also came before

13206-411: The Sega Enterprises name used in Japan as well as transitioning to the Sega name used globally. Sega stated in a release that this was to display its commitment to its "network entertainment business". On January 23, 2001, Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shinbun reported that Sega would cease production of the Dreamcast and develop software for other platforms. After an initial denial, Sega released

13392-573: The Sharp brand name and all its channel resources in North and South America, except Brazil. This meant that Sharp has exited the TV market in the Americas (except Brazil ). It was a sign showing Sharp's rapid decline in that market, where it once was one of the leading manufacturers for LCD TVs a decade earlier. Sharp's television market share in North America was 4.6% in 2015. However Sharp remains

13578-482: The Sharp licensed brands." In February 2018, Sharp dropped the lawsuit against Hisense. In 2019 Sharp re-acquired its own brand for use on TV's in the US market. In March 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic , Sharp announced it would use a TV factory with high-end clean rooms to manufacture surgical masks. Sharp acquired the remaining shares of Dynabook from Toshiba in August 2020, making Dynabook Inc.

13764-509: The Summer CES in June 1983 due to a series of events that culminated in Atari collapsing amid the video game crash that year. Despite the pessimism of North American retailers, Yamauchi was still convinced that a launch there was feasible, so he ordered the introduction of a Famicom-based arcade system called the Nintendo VS. System the following year to gauge interest in the console's games there;

13950-415: The TV was released in the U.S., only a black 19-inch model was made available at a retail price of $ 799; it was later sold for $ 437 at Kmart . The Japanese systems feature two built-in programs, JR GRAPHIC and TV NOTE , and they were additionally shipped with a multicart containing trial versions of Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong Jr. no Sansuu Asobi . At the time of its release, this cartridge

14136-514: The Twin Famicom include a slot for Famicom cartridges, a slot for the Disk System's floppy disks (called "Disk Cards"), a switch located right below the cartridge slot to switch between the two formats, a power button, a reset button, and an eject button, while the back of the console has slots for controller storage. The Twin Famicom has the expansion port present in other Famicom variations that allows additional peripherals to be connected to

14322-420: The US by the end of 2000 to remain viable, but Sega fell short of this goal with some 3 million units sold. Moreover, Sega's attempts to spur Dreamcast sales through lower prices and cash rebates caused escalating financial losses. In March 2001, Sega posted a consolidated net loss of ¥51.7 billion ($ 417.5 million). While the PlayStation 2's October 26 US launch was marred by shortages, this did not benefit

14508-482: The US. Sega was surprised by the success, and for the next two years, the company produced and exported between eight and ten games per year. The worldwide success of Periscope led to a "technological renaissance" in the arcade industry, which was reinvigorated by a wave of "audio-visual" EM novelty games that followed in the wake of Periscope during the late 1960s to early 1970s. However, rampant piracy led Sega to cease exporting its games around 1970. In 1969, Sega

14694-561: The UniSystem cabinet retailed at under $ 2,000, with each game (called "VS.-Pak") sold for under $ 300. A UniKit conversion kit for older Nintendo arcade cabinets was released shortly after launch, with each kit sold for less than $ 1,000; Nintendo later demonstrated a similar kit for Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man cabinets in 1985. Despite misgivings between some industry insiders towards the VS. System's lackluster graphical power compared to its contemporaries, Nintendo achieved major success with

14880-533: The United Kingdom and Italy were designated as PAL-A, while the rest of Europe was designated as PAL-B. Consoles from one zone are not compatible with games from the other zone. Also, unique to the French NES consoles is the inclusion of an AV port that outputs RGB video via a SCART connector instead of composite ; however, since the NES is not capable of RGB output (in its original form), it converts

15066-478: The United States, Europe, and Japan with the release of Vs. Tennis , was intended as a successor to the Nintendo-Pak conversion kits used for games such as Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong 3 ; based on Famicom hardware, it was also designed as a way to introduce Famicom games to the general public in the United States without committing to a general release, which retailers were hesitant in doing so due to

15252-539: The United States, as company revenues rose to $ 214 million. 1979 saw the release of Head On , which introduced the "eat-the-dots" gameplay Namco later used in Pac-Man . In 1981, Sega licensed Frogger , its most successful game until then. In 1982, Sega introduced the first game with isometric graphics , Zaxxon . Following a downturn in the arcade business starting in 1982, Gulf and Western sold its North American arcade game manufacturing organization and

15438-585: The VS. System's hardware was virtually similar to that of the Famicom, it included more random-access memory (RAM); utilizing the bank switching technique, games for the system could support more levels and features than their console counterparts. Swapping games was accomplished by replacing the existing game's read-only memory (ROM) chip with the one for the desired game. All cabinets could offer either two games, one for each screen, or one game programmed to handle multiplayer functionality across both screens. The dual-motherboard cabinets retailed at $ 2,400, while

15624-651: The Xbox. As part of the restructuring, nearly one third of Sega's Tokyo workforce was laid off in 2001. 2002 was Sega's fifth consecutive fiscal year of net losses. After Okawa's death, Hideki Sato, a 30-year Sega veteran who had worked on Sega's consoles, became the company president. Following poor sales in 2002, Sega cut its profit forecast for 2003 by 90 percent, and explored opportunities for mergers. In 2003, Sega began talks with Sammy Corporation –a pachinko and pachislot manufacturing company–and Namco. The president of Sammy, Hajime Satomi , had been mentored by Okawa and

15810-496: The added time. Players are able to freely switch between games by pressing a button that invoked a game selection menu; they are also able to pause and reset the current game. Dual-screen cabinets displayed the selection menu and game instructions on the top screen and the gameplay on the bottom screen. The games themselves have minor differences compared to their console counterparts, with all of them including game instructions; some games had other differences, with Punch-Out!! using

15996-606: The ban stayed in effect until 2004. In India, a license-built version of the PAL-region NES was sold as the Samurai Electronic TV Game System. However, due to the prohibitively expensive price of the console, it sold poorly in the country; the Samurai brand was later reused on a series of unauthorised Famiclone consoles. The New-Style NES is a compact, cost-reduced, redesigned version of

16182-514: The biggest television brand in the Japanese market. In October 2015 Sharp announced a smartphone that also works as a robot, called RoboHon. It would be sold in 2016 in Japan . Sharp began selling the world's first commercially available TV with a 8K resolution in October 2015. The 85-inch LV-85001 model costs JP¥16 million (US$ 133,000). Japanese public broadcaster NHK will have test broadcasts at 8K starting 2016, with regular services expected by

16368-480: The blame for these losses on the failure to transition from the Genesis to the Saturn in North America and Sega Enterprises covering the debts of Sega of America. Shortly before the announcement of the losses, Sega discontinued the Saturn in North America to prepare for the launch of its successor, the Dreamcast , releasing remaining games in low quantities. The decision to discontinue the Saturn effectively left

16554-436: The business market, Sharp also produces projectors and monitors and a variety of photocopiers and Laser Printers , in addition to electronic cash registers and Point of sale technologies . For the private security industry, Sharp produces an Automated Unmanned Ground Vehicle (A-UGV) named INTELLOS , which utilizes a navigation surveillance platform also developed by Sharp. The system combines automation, mobility, and

16740-626: The business-to-business sector including multi-function printers and energy solutions. In 2017 Sharp acquired a majority (56.7%) shareholding in Skytec UMC, which included the UMC Poland factory. On 8 November 2008, the United States Department of Justice announced that Sharp had agreed to pay $ 120 million (United States Dollar) as a criminal fine. According to the announcement, Sharp participated in conspiracies to fix

16926-496: The climate, produce greener products, and make their operations more sustainable. Greenpeace summarizes the corporation's environmental record thus: "Sharp supports a new renewable energy law in Japan but scores poor on all sustainable operations criteria". Sharp scored 3/10 and received most of its points on the Products criteria where the company was praised for the energy efficiency of its products with all of its TVs meeting

17112-430: The company developing its own games. The first arcade electro-mechanical game (EM game) Sega manufactured was the submarine simulator Periscope , released worldwide in the late 1960s. It featured light and sound effects considered innovative and was successful in Japan. It was then exported to malls and department stores in Europe and the United States and helped standardize the 25-cent-per-play cost for arcade games in

17298-429: The company survive the third-party transition. He held failed talks with Microsoft about a sale or merger with their Xbox division. According to former Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin , Microsoft founder, Bill Gates , decided against acquiring Sega because "he didn't think that Sega had enough muscle to eventually stop Sony". A business alliance with Microsoft was announced whereby Sega would develop 11 games for

17484-466: The company withdrawing from the Japanese arcade market altogether in late 1985. The PlayChoice-10 is an arcade system developed and marketed by Nintendo. Released in August 1986 as the successor to the Nintendo VS. System, the PlayChoice-10 was developed as a means to showcase NES games while maintaining revenue from the arcade business; it did so by allowing players to test up to ten games, one at

17670-601: The company's console, mobile and PC games on a year-to-year basis until the fiscal year of 2014. In order to drive growth in western markets, Sega announced new leadership for Sega of America and Sega Europe in 2005. Simon Jeffery became president and COO of Sega of America, and Mike Hayes president and COO for Sega Europe. In 2009, Hayes became president of the combined outfit of both Sega of America and Sega Europe, due to Jeffery leaving. Sega sold Visual Concepts to Take-Two Interactive , and purchased UK-based developer Creative Assembly , known for its Total War series . In

17856-547: The concept superseded by the New Famicom. The New-Style NES was produced until it was discontinued in August 1995. The New Famicom was discontinued in September 2003 along with the Super Famicom Jr. due to part scarcity, marking the official end of Famicom/NES production; the disk rewriting service for the Famicom Disk System was also terminated at the same time. The last Famicom was kept by Nintendo and loaned to

18042-457: The concerns identified by Nintendo was the lingering stigma from the 1983 crash and the high price point the console was likely to command. After a cost-reduced revision of the AVS by Barr was showcased at the Summer CES that June as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Nintendo subsequently conceived a new design for the NES with colorations from Barr and James. Known among Nintendo employees as

18228-502: The console (and the TV by extension), ideal for Japanese houses due to their smaller layout compared to their American counterparts. Seeking to market the Famicom worldwide after its 1983 release in Japan, Nintendo forged a tentative distribution and rights agreement with Atari to market it outside the country as the Nintendo Enhanced Video System ; however, both sides never consummated the deal as planned at

18414-422: The console's adoption among Japanese consumers easier; despite arriving on the market later than its competitors, the Game & Watch -inspired design provided a familiar control scheme for those who had already played one of its handheld electronic games , especially with the inclusion of a D-pad for versatility across game genres. They were also intentionally hardwired with short cables to keep players close to

18600-538: The console: the Nintendo VS. System , released in 1984 to gauge consumer interest in the United States for then-unreleased Famicom games; and the PlayChoice-10 , released in 1986 as a demonstration unit for NES games. After the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)/Super Famicom, Nintendo released a compact, redesigned version of the NES/Famicom in 1993. The company elected to revert to

18786-667: The console; it is located on the right side of the console and labeled "Expansion Terminal A" ( 拡張端子A , Kakuchō Tanshi A ) . The console also features three additional expansion ports; port "B" is located to the right of port "A", while ports "C" and "D" are located on the bottom rear, hidden by a removable cover. However, unlike port "A", no known existing peripherals use them. The Twin Famicom generates an NTSC signal, but outputs composite video and monophonic audio via RCA connectors instead of using an RF modulator , allowing for greater audiovisual quality on TVs and monitors with such inputs; such connections were rare in Japan when it

18972-554: The consumer." At Sony, Stolar had opposed the localization of certain Japanese PlayStation games that he felt would not represent the system well in North America. He advocated a similar policy for the Saturn, generally blocking 2D arcade games and role-playing games from release, although he later sought to distance himself from this stance. Other changes included a softer image in Sega's advertising, including removing

19158-794: The continued popularity of the Genesis; 16-bit sales accounted for 64 percent of the market in 1995. Despite capturing 43 percent of the US market dollar share and selling more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, Kalinske estimated that, if prepared for demand, another 300,000 could have been sold. Sega announced that Shoichiro Irimajiri had been appointed chairman and CEO of Sega of America in July 1996, while Kalinske left Sega after September 30 of that year. A former Honda executive, Irimajiri had been involved with Sega of America since joining Sega in 1993. The company also announced that Rosen and Nakayama had resigned from their positions at Sega of America, though both remained with Sega. Bernie Stolar ,

19344-408: The decline of the global arcade industry in the late 1990s, Sega created several novel concepts tailored to the Japanese market. Derby Owners Club was an arcade machine with memory cards for data storage, designed to take over half an hour to complete and costing JP¥500 to play. Testing of Derby Owners Club in a Chicago arcade showed that it had become the most popular machine at the location, with

19530-421: The distribution rights for Australia and New Zealand, with both receiving the NES in mid-1987. While the console fared better in those countries compared to Europe, it did not gain significant traction until c. 1993. The same year, Nintendo established a regional subsidiary—Nintendo Australia—and subsequently reclaimed the distribution rights the following year. Europe was split into two zones for distribution;

19716-403: The early 1990s, Sega largely continued its success in arcades around the world. In 1992 and 1993, the new Sega Model 1 arcade system board showcased in-house development studio Sega AM2 's Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter (the first 3D fighting game ), which, though expensive, played a crucial role in popularizing 3D polygonal graphics. In addition, complex simulator equipment like

19902-668: The end of 1998 and games would continue to be produced until mid-1999. With lifetime sales of 9.26 million units, the Saturn is retrospectively considered a commercial failure in much of the world. While Sega had success with the Model 3 arcade board and titles like Virtua Fighter 3 , Sega's arcade divisions struggled in the West during the late 1990s. On the other hand, Sega's arcade divisions were more successful in Asia, with Sega's overall arcade revenues increasing year-on-year throughout

20088-479: The end of 1999 —began to decline as early as January 2000. Poor Japanese sales contributed to Sega's ¥42.88 billion ($ 404 million) consolidated net loss in the fiscal year ending March 2000. This followed a similar loss of ¥42.881 billion the previous year and marked Sega's third consecutive annual loss. Sega's overall sales for the term increased 27.4 percent, and Dreamcast sales in North America and Europe greatly exceeded its expectations. However, this coincided with

20274-587: The entities of Service Games worldwide. The company expanded over the next seven years to include distribution in South Korea , the Philippines , and South Vietnam . The name Sega, an abbreviation of Service Games, was first used in 1954 on a slot machine, the Diamond Star. Due to notoriety arising from investigations by the US government into criminal business practices, Service Games of Japan

20460-733: The entity created to officially distribute and manufacture Sega's machines on the continent after the consolidation of its regional divisions, subsequently decided to develop more games locally that were better suited to western tastes. In 2005, the GameWorks chain of arcades came under the sole ownership of Sega, which previously was shared with Vivendi Universal , and remained under their ownership until 2011. In 2009, Sega Republic , an indoor theme park, opened in Dubai . Sega gradually reduced its arcade centers from 450 in 2005 to around 200 in 2015. Arcade machine sales incurred higher profits than

20646-672: The face of strong competition from the home computer market led Nintendo to give the British distribution rights to NESI the following year. NESI handed over its distribution rights to Bandai in 1992 before Nintendo reclaimed them in 1995. Countries in Eastern Europe did not receive as much attention as their western counterparts, with the NES making its debut in Hungary in 1991 via the Austrian distributor. In Oceania, Mattel gained

20832-604: The failure of the merger, as well as Sega's 1997 performance. Stolar became CEO and president of Sega of America. After the launch of the Nintendo 64 in the US during 1996, sales of the Saturn and its games fell sharply in much of the west. The PlayStation outsold the Saturn three-to-one in the US in 1997, and the latter failed to gain a foothold in Europe and Australia, where the Nintendo 64 would not release until March 1997. After several years of declining profits, Sega had

21018-544: The family-friendly GA rating to the more mature rating of MA-13, and the adults-only rating of MA-17. Executive vice president of Nintendo of America Howard Lincoln was quick to point out in the United States congressional hearings in 1993 that Night Trap was not rated at all. Senator Joe Lieberman called for another hearing in February 1994 to check progress toward a rating system for video game violence. After

21204-495: The fewest points in the guide in the Sustainable Operations category, scoring no points for chemical management due to not communicating commitments made on phasing out hazardous substances in its supply chain. The guide also notes that Sharp had lacked any initiative to address the issue of conflict minerals and the exclusion of paper sourced from suppliers involved in illegal logging or deforestation. Sharp

21390-575: The game. UFO Catcher was introduced in 1985 and as of 2005 was Japan's most commonly installed claw crane game. In 1986, Sega of America was established to manage the company's consumer products in North America, beginning with marketing the Master System. During Sega's partnership with Tonka, Sega of America relinquished marketing and distribution of the console and focused on customer support and some localization of games. Out Run , released in 1986, became Sega's best selling arcade cabinet of

21576-527: The hardwired ones in the original Famicom, games that utilized the microphone in the original Famicom's second controller are incompatible with the New Famicom due to the lack of one in the new controller. Although the New Famicom included composite video output, an improvement over the RF-only Famicom, it did not come bundled with an AV cable or an AC adapter (they were sold separately) as Nintendo assumed that prospective customers were in possession of

21762-671: The hearings, Sega proposed the universal adoption of the VRC; after objections by Nintendo and others, Sega took a role in forming the Entertainment Software Rating Board . Sega began work on the Genesis' successor, the Sega Saturn , more than two years before showcasing it at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994. According to former Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Nakayama became concerned about

21948-466: The high-profile urban areas of Roppongi and Ikebukuro . In 1993, this success was mirrored in overseas territories with the openings of several large branded entertainment centers, such as Sega VirtuaLand in Luxor Las Vegas . In 1994, Sega generated a revenue of ¥354.032 billion or $ 3,464,000,000 (equivalent to $ 7,121,000,000 in 2023). In 1993, the American media began to focus on

22134-487: The late 1970s, with revenues climbing to over US$ 100  million by 1979. During this period, Sega acquired Gremlin Industries , which manufactured microprocessor -based arcade games, and Esco Boueki, a coin-op distributor founded and owned by Hayao Nakayama . Nakayama was placed in a management role of Sega's Japanese operations. In the early 1980s, Sega was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers active in

22320-427: The late 1990s, but it was not enough to offset the significant declining revenues of Sega's home consumer divisions. Despite a 75 percent drop in half-year profits just before the Japanese launch of the Dreamcast, Sega felt confident about its new system. The Dreamcast attracted significant interest and drew many pre-orders. Sega announced that Sonic Adventure , the first major 3D Sonic the Hedgehog game, would be

22506-496: The latest Energy Star standard. It also gained some points for having a relative long term target to reduce CO 2 emissions by two percent (per production unit) compared to the previous year, yet sets out no clear target for absolute reductions. The company was also praised for its public support for a clean energy policy, after advocating the Japanese Government to increase the use of renewable energy. Sharp scored

22692-518: The launch of the Genesis, Sega sought a new flagship line of releases to compete with Nintendo's Mario series. Its new character, Sonic the Hedgehog , went on to feature in one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. Sonic the Hedgehog began with a tech demo created by Yuji Naka involving a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a winding tube; this was fleshed out with Naoto Ohshima 's character design and levels conceived by designer Hirokazu Yasuhara . Sonic's color

22878-478: The launch of the SG-1000, and the death of company founder Charles Bluhdorn , Gulf and Western began to sell off its secondary businesses. Nakayama and Rosen arranged a management buyout of the Japanese subsidiary in 1984 with financial backing from CSK Corporation , a prominent Japanese software company. Sega's Japanese assets were purchased for $ 38 million by a group of investors led by Rosen and Nakayama. Isao Okawa , head of CSK, became chairman, while Nakayama

23064-426: The licensing rights for its arcade games to Bally Manufacturing in September 1983. Gulf and Western retained Sega's North American R&D operation and its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. With its arcade business in decline, Sega Enterprises, Ltd. president Nakayama advocated for the company to use its hardware expertise to move into the home consumer market in Japan. This led to Sega's development of

23250-404: The lingering fallout from the video game crash the year before. Two cabinet versions of the system were initially produced; collectively called the VS. DualSystem, both had dual-screen setups, with distinctions made between an upright and a sit-down version. The upright cabinet integrated two cabinets at an angle, whereas the sit-down cabinet, later called the VS. Table (and colloquially known as

23436-485: The market in 1997. Sega also made forays in the PC market with the 1995 establishment of SegaSoft , which was tasked with creating original Saturn and PC games. From 1994 to 1999, Sega also participated in the arcade pinball market when it took over Data East 's pinball division, renaming it Sega Pinball. In January 1997, Sega announced its intentions to merge with the Japanese toy maker Bandai . The merger, planned as

23622-672: The market share of mobile phones in the Japanese market in April 2012. Sharp announced it accepted a US$ 100 million investment from Samsung in March 2013. In 2013 Sharp developed the most efficient solar cell, converting a record 44.4% of sunlight into electricity. In 2013, Sharp Corporation was the tenth-largest, by market share, television manufacturer in the world. In Japan it has been a long-time leader. After years of huge losses in its overseas TV business, Sharp sold its Mexico TV factory to Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense for $ 23.7 million in July 2015. The sale includes rights to use

23808-508: The mature content of certain video games, such as Night Trap for the Sega CD and the Genesis version of Midway's Mortal Kombat . This came at a time when Sega was capitalizing on its image as an "edgy" company with "attitude", and this reinforced that image. To handle this, Sega instituted the United States' first video game ratings system, the Videogame Rating Council (VRC), for all its systems. Ratings ranged from

23994-453: The merger went ahead as both companies were facing difficulties. Satomi said Sega had been operating at a loss for nearly ten years, while Sammy feared stagnation and over-reliance of its highly profitable pachislot and pachinko machine business and wanted to diversify. Sammy acquired the remaining percentages of Sega, completing a takeover . The stock swap deal valued Sega between $ 1.45 billion and $ 1.8 billion. Sega Sammy Holdings

24180-543: The more arcade-like experience available on the Genesis, with slogans including "Genesis does what Nintendon't". Since Nintendo owned the console rights to most arcade games of the time, the second part involved creating a library of games which used the names and likenesses of celebrities, such as Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and Joe Montana Football . Nonetheless, Sega had difficulty overcoming Nintendo's ubiquity in homes. Sega of America sold only 500,000 Genesis units in its first year, half of Nakayama's goal. After

24366-777: The name Sharp Electronics. Sharp was among the Top 100 R&D Spenders in a list published by the IEEE Spectrum magazine in 2002. Sharp's headquarters are at 1 Takumi-chō, Sakai-ku, Sakai, Japan. Until the relocation to Sakai in 2016, the headquarters were in Abeno-ku, Osaka where Hayakawa restarted the business in the 1920s. In 2007 Sharp opened a LCD manufacturing plant in Poland. The plant initially manufactured LCD modules using LCD panels imported from Sharp Japan. In September 2014, Sharp announced that Slovakian electronics company UMC ( Universal Media Corporation /Slovakia/ s.r.o. )

24552-487: The native composite signal to RGB. The NES was also released in other regions of Asia outside Japan (except for mainland China). In particular, South Korea received the NES via distributor Hyundai Electronics as the Hyundai Comboy in October 1989. Nintendo could not sell the NES directly in the country as Japanese cultural imports were banned by the government at the time, dating back to the end of World War II ;

24738-425: The only difference was the presence of a "new design" mark on the packaging. It was sold in Japan starting on December 1 (delayed from the original release date of October 21) for ¥6,800. The redesign did not receive a release in Europe. Redesigned by Lance Barr, the New-Style NES has a vertical cartridge slot to prevent reliability issues common with the spring-loaded mechanism in the original NES. The console removed

24924-526: The organizers of Level X, a game exhibition held from December 2003 to February 2004 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography , for a Famicom retrospective in commemoration of the console's 20th anniversary. The Sharp Nintendo Television , often described as the C1 NES TV , is a CRT television with a built-in Famicom/NES that was produced by Sharp under license from Nintendo. It was originally released in Japan in October 1983 as

25110-590: The overall market share in North America at the end of 1999. On March 2, 1999, in what one report called a "highly publicized, vaporware -like announcement", Sony revealed the first details of the PlayStation 2 . The same year, Nintendo announced that its next console would meet or exceed anything on the market, and Microsoft began development of its own console, the Xbox . Sega's initial momentum proved fleeting as US Dreamcast sales—which exceeded 1.5 million by

25296-419: The popularity of Sonic the Hedgehog , the Genesis outsold its main competitor, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), in the United States nearly two to one during the 1991 holiday season. By January 1992, Sega controlled 65 percent of the 16-bit console market. Sega outsold Nintendo for four consecutive Christmas seasons due to the Genesis' head start, lower price, and a larger library compared to

25482-441: The previously announced North American date, on July 8, 1995. Within two days of the PlayStation's American launch on September 9, 1995, the PlayStation sold more units than the Saturn. Within its first year, the PlayStation secured over twenty percent of the US video game market. The console's high price point, surprise launch, and difficulty handling polygonal graphics were factors in its lack of success. Sega also underestimated

25668-464: The price of TFT LCD panel for Dell's computer monitors and laptops (2001–2005), Motorola 's Razr phones (2005–2006) and Apple's iPod (2005–2006). On 18 December 2008, Japan Fair Trade Commission ordered Sharp to pay JP¥261 million (US$ 3 million) as criminal fine. According to the order, Sharp and Hitachi Display participated in the conspiracies to keep the price for TFT LCD panels for Nintendo DS and DS-Lite. The fine for Hitachi Displays

25854-491: The quality of its creative output. Being the entertainment contents division of Sega Sammy Holdings, forming one half of the Sega Sammy Group, Sega also owns a toy and amusement machine company, Sega Fave , which comprises their arcade development and manufacturing divisions that were previously under Sega and two animation studios: TMS Entertainment , which animates, produces, and distributes anime such as Lupin

26040-501: The region, Tectoy . By 2016, the Master System had sold 8 million units in Brazil. During 1984, Sega opened its European division of arcade distribution, Sega Europe. It re-entered the North American arcade market in 1985 with the establishment of Sega Enterprises USA at the end of a deal with Bally. The release of Hang-On in 1985 would prove successful in the region, becoming so popular that Sega struggled to keep up with demand for

26226-460: The region. This was less market share in North America than both Nintendo and Atari , which controlled 80 percent and 12 percent of the market. The Master System was eventually a success in Europe, where its sales were comparable to the NES. As late as 1993, the Master System's active installed user base in Europe was 6.25 million units. The Master System has had continued success in Brazil. New versions continue to be released by Sega's partner in

26412-514: The reputation of its brand, seeking an exit from its licensing agreement. Sharp accused the company of producing "shoddily manufactured" televisions under the Sharp name, including products they believed were in violation of U.S. safety standards for electromagnetic radiation , and the subject of deceptive advertising over their quality. Hisense denied that it engaged in these practices, and stated that it planned to defend itself in court and "will continue to manufacture and sell quality televisions under

26598-488: The result, the Sakai LCD plant suffered a reduced operating rate until Q3 2012. In June 2005 Sharp produced the largest LCD television at the time, with a display of 65 inches. It went on sale in August 2005 in Japan. From 2005 to 2010 Sharp was the biggest mobile phone brand in Japan. Since then it has been constantly switching places through financial quarters against rivals Fujitsu , Apple and Sony . Sharp acquired

26784-603: The rights to port games from other developers. To help market the console in North America, Sega planned to sell the Master System as a toy, similar to how Nintendo had done with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega partnered with Tonka , an American toy company, to make use of Tonka's expertise in the toy industry. Ineffective marketing by Tonka handicapped sales of the Master System. By early 1992, production had ceased in North America. The Master System sold between 1.5 million and 2 million units in

26970-453: The rotational R360 kept Sega competing with machines by rival arcade companies, including Taito . New official region-specific distributors and manufacturers, including the UK's Deith Leisure, allowed Sega to sell its machines outside of Japan with ease. Sega's domestic operations division also opened hundreds of family-oriented suburban Sega World amusement arcades in Japan during this period, as well as large over-18s "GiGO" facilities in

27156-640: The same year, Sega Racing Studio was also formed by former Codemasters employees. In 2006, Sega Europe purchased Sports Interactive , known for its Football Manager series. In the console and handheld business, Sega found success in the Japanese market with the Yakuza , Phantasy Star Portable and Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA series. Sega began providing the 3D imaging for Hatsune Miku holographic concerts in 2010. Sega also distributes games from smaller Japanese game developers and sells localizations of Western games in Japan. In 2013, Index Corporation

27342-421: The same year, Hajime Satomi said Sega's activity would focus on its profitable arcade business as opposed to loss-incurring home software development. In 2004, Sega Sammy Holdings , an entertainment conglomerate, was created; Sega and Sammy became subsidiaries of the new holding company, both companies operating independently while the executive departments merged. According to the first Sega Sammy Annual Report ,

27528-471: The screen during gameplay as well as perform other basic editing functions, while a microphone is present to enable video narration. Although relatively obscure at the time of its release, the console has recently seen increased interest from fans, hackers/modders, and collectors on the secondary market. Apart from historical interest in the system, collectors are highly interested in the improved picture quality resulting from its internal RGB video generation,

27714-651: The standard ten-game kit. Nintendo additionally offered a countertop variant of the PlayChoice-10: the PlayChoice CounterTop System, which featured two control sets side-by-side. Games were distributed on printed circuit boards (PCBs) featuring ROM chips and were connected to the motherboard with edge connectors . Gameplay is restricted to a set time limit, with two minutes available at minimum; inserting additional coins before play results in bonus session time (called "Prime Time") on top of

27900-491: The success of the system in North America encouraged Yamauchi to move forward with the launch. Under the direction of Lance Barr and Don James, the former of which then held the position of "Design & Brand Director" at Nintendo of America (NOA), the Famicom was initially redesigned to resemble a home computer ; christened the Nintendo Advanced Video System (AVS), it featured peripherals such as

28086-432: The system in the United States through aggressive marketing tactics, selling more than 10,000 units by the end of 1984 alone; over 40 games were released for the system before it was discontinued in 1990. However, Nintendo did not experience the same success in Japan; Uemura noted that Japanese players were wary about the system's emphasis on competitive gameplay. The VS. System was Nintendo's final arcade system in Japan, with

28272-514: The time of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics . On 25 February 2016, Foxconn announced its intent to acquire a 66% controlling stake in Sharp for 700 billion yen (US$ 6.24 billion). However, the deal was briefly delayed due to unforeseen financial liabilities; on 30 March 2016, Foxconn announced that it had agreed to pay US$ 3.5 billion for the stake instead, Foxconn wished to use the purchase to expand into direct-to-consumer product sales rather than serving as

28458-422: The time. Two years later, in 1966, Sharp introduced its first IC calculator using 145 Mitsubishi Electric -made bipolar ICs, priced at JP¥350,000 (about US$ 1000). Its first LSI calculator was introduced in 1969. This was the first pocketable calculator priced at less than JP¥100,000 (less than US$ 300), and turned out to be a popular item. Also in the same era the company introduced the first microwave oven with

28644-421: The time. Rather than targeting the educational market with PC -like styling, Uemura styled the Famicom like a toy as a cheaper option. While Uemura's team intended to use an inexpensive steel case, they switched to a durable plastic due to the fragility of the steel case. The red, gold, and white color scheme, chosen by Yamauchi, was inspired by two objects that used similar schemes: a scarf that he liked, and

28830-418: The top-loading cartridge slot with the NES due to reliability issues with the original front-loading slot. It was the sole design in production when the console was ultimately discontinued in 2003. According to Uemura, video games were an unfamiliar concept to Japanese toy stores when they were introduced; the stores did not consider carrying them since they required televisions, which the stores did not sell at

29016-438: The war, the founders sold Standard Games in 1945, and established Service Games the next year, named for the military focus. After the US government outlawed slot machines in its territories in 1952, Bromley sent employees Richard Stewart and Ray LeMaire to Tokyo to establish Service Games of Japan to provide coin-operated slot machines to US bases in Japan. A year later, all five men established Service Games Panama to control

29202-804: The world proposed to be opened by 2000, however only two, Sega World London and Sega World Sydney , would ultimately materialise in September 1996 and March 1997, respectively. Following on from difficulties faced in setting up theme parks in the United States, Sega established the GameWorks chain of urban entertainment centers in a joint venture with DreamWorks SKG and Universal Studios during March 1997. In 1995, Sega partnered with Atlus to launch Print Club (purikura), an arcade photo sticker machine that produces selfie photos. Atlus and Sega introduced Purikura in February 1995, initially at game arcades, before expanding to other popular culture locations such as fast food shops, train stations, karaoke establishments and bowling alleys. Purikura became

29388-441: The worst financial record in its history, with a loss of JP¥376 billion (US$ 4.7 billion) in April 2012. In September, Sharp announced job cuts. In 2014, Sharp was able to stem losses and deliver a positive net income for its first quarter results. In March 2012 the Taiwan-based electronics company Hon Hai, trading as Foxconn , agreed to acquire a 10% stake in Sharp Corporation for US$ 806 million, and to purchase up to 50 percent of

29574-549: Was a bit of a folly for them to be limiting their potential to Sega hardware", and Stolar had suggested Sega should have sold the company to Microsoft. In a September 2000 meeting with Sega's Japanese executives and heads of its first-party game studios, Moore and Sega of America executive Charles Bellfield recommended that Sega abandon its console business. In response, the studio heads walked out. Sega announced an official company name change from Sega Enterprises, Ltd. to Sega Corporation effective November 1, 2000, officially dropping

29760-747: Was acquiring an exclusive brand licence from Sharp and its European television and audio business UMC will also acquire Sharp's Polish factory. As part of the deal, Sharp will support the design and development of televisions sold by UMC under the Sharp brand. The same month, Sharp also announced a tie-up with Vestel in Europe for white goods. Vestel will sell Sharp-branded white goods (except air conditioners), such as refrigerators and microwave ovens manufactured by Sharp in Thailand and China. Sharp will also license its brand name to Vestel for volume home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and ovens. Sharp's remaining European business will then focus on

29946-546: Was again changed, in 1981, and moved mainly into digital high end, complete stereo systems with advanced technological features setting the trend towards the digital age. The line was discontinued after 1981, but the Optonica line was again re-introduced in the late 1980s for a high end line of television receivers and higher quality mass market audio products such as VCR's, surround sound receivers, CD cassette boom boxes, and portable cassette players. The first wall-mountable TV

30132-403: Was also a technological arms race between Sega and Namco during this period, driving the growth of 3D gaming. Beginning in 1994, Sega launched a series of indoor theme parks in Japan under a concept dubbed "Amusement Theme Park", including Joypolis parks sited in urban Tokyo locations such as Yokohama and Odaiba . A rapid overseas rollout was planned, with at least 100 locations across

30318-749: Was also made by Sharp for the Japanese market in November 2000. Recent products include the ViewCam, the Ultra-Lite notebook PC , the Zaurus personal digital assistant , Sidekick 3 , and the AQUOS flat-screen television. Sharp manufactures consumer electronic products, including LCD televisions , sold under the Aquos brand, mobile phones , microwave ovens , Home cinema and audio systems, air purification systems, fax machines and calculators . For

30504-406: Was called, consisted of high quality and technically advanced components, that was expanded in 1979, to cover a broader selection of high end equipment. During this run, Sharp introduced digital technology to some of the Optonica products, along with the traditional analogue products, and offered a complete selection of models ranging from low power high end receivers to very powerful models. The line

30690-465: Was changed to "Hayakawa Electric Industry Company". In 1953, Hayakawa Electric started producing the first Japan-made TV sets (the "Sharp TV3-14T"). In 1964, the company developed the world's first transistor calculator (the Sharp CS-10A), which was priced at JP ¥ 535,000 (US$ 1,400). It took Sharp several years to develop the product as they had no experience in making computing devices at

30876-432: Was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo; his shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson 's boots, and his personality by Bill Clinton 's "can-do" attitude. Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske as CEO of Sega of America in mid-1990, and Katz departed soon after. Kalinske knew little about the video game market, but surrounded himself with industry-savvy advisors. A believer in the razor-and-blades business model , he developed

31062-432: Was crucial to the system's early success in Japan. Sega's initial shipment of 200,000 Saturn units sold out on the first day, and it was more popular than the PlayStation , made by Sony , in Japan. In March 1995, Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske announced that the Saturn would be released in the US on Saturday, September 2, 1995, advertised as " Saturn-day ". Sega executives in Japan mandated an early launch to give

31248-512: Was dissolved on May 31, 1960. On June 3, Bromley established two companies to take over its business activities, Nihon Goraku Bussan and Nihon Kikai Seizō. The two new companies purchased all of Service Games of Japan's assets. Kikai Seizō, doing business as Sega, Inc., focused on manufacturing slot machines. Goraku Bussan, doing business under Stewart as Utamatic, Inc. , served as a distributor and operator of coin-operated machines, particularly jukeboxes . The companies merged in 1964, retaining

31434-601: Was especially problematic in a household full of static -inducing furniture in a semi-arid climate , as was the case in much of the Great Plains . While most of the peripherals that accompanied the AVS were scrapped, the light gun was kept, albeit in a cost-reduced form as the NES Zapper . To further dissuade consumers from perceiving the NES as a console, Nintendo introduced the Nintendo Video Robot,

31620-506: Was established in 2015; Sega Corporation was renamed to Sega Games Co., Ltd., and its arcade, entertainment, and toy divisions separated into other companies. In 2020, Sega Games and Sega Interactive merged to become Sega Corporation. Sega's international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe are headquartered in Irvine, California , and London. Its development studios include their internal research and development divisions (which utilize

31806-533: Was first released in Scandinavia in late 1986. Nintendo then partnered with Mattel in 1987 to distribute the NES in the United Kingdom and Italy; the same year, the console was introduced to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg via Nintendo Entertainment Systems International (NESI), a French private company led by former NOA salesperson Ron Judy. However, Mattel's lackluster marketing effort in

31992-581: Was followed by further reductions to clear the remaining inventory. The final manufactured Dreamcast was autographed by the heads of all nine of Sega's first-party game studios, plus the heads of sports game developer Visual Concepts and audio studio Wave Master, and given away with all 55 first-party Dreamcast games through a competition organized by GamePro . Okawa, who had loaned Sega $ 500 million in 1999, died on March 16, 2001. Shortly before his death, he forgave Sega's debts to him and returned his $ 695 million worth of Sega and CSK stock, helping

32178-443: Was founded by Martin Bromley and Richard Stewart as Nihon Goraku Bussan on June 3, 1960. Shortly after, the company acquired the assets of its predecessor, Service Games of Japan . In 1965, it became known as Sega Enterprises, Ltd., after acquiring Rosen Enterprises, an importer of coin-operated games . Sega developed its first coin-operated game, Periscope , in 1966. Sega was sold to Gulf and Western Industries in 1969. Following

32364-668: Was installed as CEO of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. In 1985, Sega began working on the Mark III, a redesigned SG-1000. For North America, Sega rebranded the Mark III as the Master System , with a futuristic design intended to appeal to Western tastes. The Mark III was released in Japan in October 1985. Despite featuring more powerful hardware than the Famicom in some ways, it was unsuccessful at launch. As Nintendo required third-party developers not to publish their Famicom games on other consoles, Sega developed its own games and obtained

32550-475: Was introduced by Sharp in 1992. Sharp's Mobile Communications Division created the world's first commercial camera phone , the J-SH04 , in Japan in 2000. Since 2000, Sharp heavily invested in LCD panel manufacturing plants: Kameyama in 2004, Sakai in 2009. The Sakai plant is still the only 10th generation LCD manufacturing plant on the globe and its best fit for production of 60-inch or larger panels. However,

32736-463: Was launched in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14, 1989, and in the rest of North America later that year. The European version of the Mega Drive was released in September 1990. Former Atari executive and new Sega of America president Michael Katz developed a two-part strategy to build sales in North America. The first part involved a marketing campaign to challenge Nintendo and emphasize

32922-439: Was marred by a glitch at one of Sega's manufacturing plants, which produced defective GD-ROMs where data was not properly recorded onto the disc. Sega released the Dreamcast in Europe on October 14, 1999. While Sega sold 500,000 units in Europe by Christmas 1999, sales there slowed, and by October 2000 Sega had sold only about a million units. Though the Dreamcast was successful, Sony's PlayStation still held 60 percent of

33108-432: Was previously asked to be CEO of Sega. On February 13, Sega announced that it would merge with Sammy; however, as late as April 17, Sega was still in talks with Namco, which was attempting to overturn the merger. Sega's consideration of Namco's offer upset Sammy executives. The day after Sega announced it no longer planned to merge with Sammy, Namco withdrew its offer. In 2003, Sato and COO Tetsu Kamaya stepped down. Sato

33294-515: Was released. An external RF modulator is bundled with the unit for connection through a TV's antenna/cable input. Like the original Famicom, the Twin Famicom also features two gamepads, both of which are hardwired into the console. The Famicom Titler , also known as the Famicom Editor , is a Famicom-based home video game console produced by Sharp Corporation under license from Nintendo in 1989. The console, released exclusively in Japan at

33480-501: Was replaced by Hisao Oguchi, the head of the Sega studio Hitmaker . Moore left Sega in January 2003, feeling that the Japanese executives were refusing to adapt to industry changes, such as the demand for mature games such as Grand Theft Auto III . Hideaki Irie, who had worked at Agetec and ASCII , became the new president and COO of Sega of America in October 2003. In August 2003, Sammy bought 22.4 percent of Sega's shares from CSK, making Sammy into Sega's largest shareholder. In

33666-421: Was sold to the American conglomerate Gulf and Western Industries , although Rosen remained CEO. In 1974, Gulf and Western made Sega Enterprises, Ltd., a subsidiary of an American company renamed Sega Enterprises, Inc. Sega released Pong-Tron , its first video-based game, in 1973. Despite late competition from Taito 's hit arcade game Space Invaders in 1978, Sega prospered from the arcade video game boom of

33852-510: Was sponsor on Red Star Belgrade shirts during their campaign in UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League . From 2001 to 2003, Sharp was the main shirt sponsor of Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. in the SFL. In June 2012, Sharp became name sponsor of a UCI World Tour cycling team, which thereupon became known as Garmin–Sharp . In September 2016, Sharp (in conjunction with Altodigital) signed

34038-425: Was structured into four parts: Consumer Business (video games), Amusement Machine Business (arcade games), Amusement Center Business (Sega's theme parks and arcades) and Pachislot and Pachinko Business (Sammy's pachinko and pachislot business). According to an industry survey, as of 2005, sales of arcade machines were up for the previous four years in Japan, while down for nine straight years overseas. In response to

34224-507: Was the principal sponsor of Manchester United Football Club from 1983 until 2000, in one of the lengthiest and most lucrative sponsorship deals in English football . Sharp's logo was on the front of United's shirts over these 17 years, during which the team won seven Premier League titles, five FA Cups , one Football League Cup , one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup , and one UEFA Champions League title. During 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons, Sharp

34410-490: Was unique to the C1 and represented one of the few licensed multicarts made for the Famicom. The Japanese systems also feature detachable controllers with unique round connectors. The concept was followed up in Japan by the Super Famicom -based SF1 in 1990. The Twin Famicom is a home video game console produced by Sharp. It was exclusively released in Japan on July 1, 1986, at an introductory price of ¥32,000. The Twin Famicom

34596-442: Was waived by JFTC leniency program. However, Sharp disagreed with the JFTC order and announced it would begin an appeals procedure against it on 2 February 2009. On 31 July 2013, the JFTC dismissed Sharp's appeal. In November 2011 Sharp was ranked in 11th place by Greenpeace 's re-launched Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks 15 electronics manufacturers according to their policies and practices to reduce their impact on

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