Sega Arcade Restructure – Sammy Execs to Take Charge, Named Exclusively Here
Focus now blatantly changing at Sega of Japan, as coin-op reshuffle jangles nerves.
Sega, on the day that saw acclaimed producer Rikiya Nakagawa resign as head of Sega Wow Entertainment, has announced that it is planning to make considerable changes to its arcade business.
According to a Sega Japan spokesmen this morning, the firm is poised to install a new management team, due to commence duties as soon as April of next year.
And today, we can exclusively reveal that heading up the reshuffled division will be Yoshiharu Suzuki. And guess where Suzuki-san is currently working…
Yes, you guessed it folks! Yoshiharu Suzuki is currently working at Sammy. He has the intriguing (and lengthy) job title of Managing Amusement Sales & Marketing Division/Senior Division Manager, AM/N.E.W.S. Business Division.
But to cut to the chase, Suzuki-san is the man that pioneered the AtomisWave arcade platform and, in conjunction with Kenkichi Yoshida - another Sammy executive - hammered out the deal with Sega to use cannibalised Dreamcast overstock to create the budget platform.
So what’s the upshot? Sega’s arcade division will be headed up by the man responsible for AtomisWave, under the indirect control of Sammy President Hajime Satomi, a man who’s new-found dream is to have the super-budget AtomisWave cabinet across the third world, running at 10 yen per play.
We are loath to predict that Sega’s arcade output is going to focus upon the dreams of the outspoken Sammy president. However, to develop new arcade platforms - and remember that Naomi 3 is in R&D stage at Sega - is expensive and highly risky. To develop games for the current generation of top-tier coin-op platform is again expensive and risky, with much of the predicted return coming from easy home console conversion routines.
Stay tuned for constant updates on Sega’s plight, right here, as it breaks.
According to a Sega Japan spokesmen this morning, the firm is poised to install a new management team, due to commence duties as soon as April of next year.
And today, we can exclusively reveal that heading up the reshuffled division will be Yoshiharu Suzuki. And guess where Suzuki-san is currently working…
Yes, you guessed it folks! Yoshiharu Suzuki is currently working at Sammy. He has the intriguing (and lengthy) job title of Managing Amusement Sales & Marketing Division/Senior Division Manager, AM/N.E.W.S. Business Division.
But to cut to the chase, Suzuki-san is the man that pioneered the AtomisWave arcade platform and, in conjunction with Kenkichi Yoshida - another Sammy executive - hammered out the deal with Sega to use cannibalised Dreamcast overstock to create the budget platform.
So what’s the upshot? Sega’s arcade division will be headed up by the man responsible for AtomisWave, under the indirect control of Sammy President Hajime Satomi, a man who’s new-found dream is to have the super-budget AtomisWave cabinet across the third world, running at 10 yen per play.
We are loath to predict that Sega’s arcade output is going to focus upon the dreams of the outspoken Sammy president. However, to develop new arcade platforms - and remember that Naomi 3 is in R&D stage at Sega - is expensive and highly risky. To develop games for the current generation of top-tier coin-op platform is again expensive and risky, with much of the predicted return coming from easy home console conversion routines.
Stay tuned for constant updates on Sega’s plight, right here, as it breaks.
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