Ever since my father bought me my first video game system, the Sega Master System, I have been a fan of Sega. As a child, I would write letters to Sega telling them how much I loved them, and they would actually respond and send me the latest catalog.
When we moved overseas, my PAL SMS wouldn’t work, so I traded it in (yes, the guy at the electronics store actually wanted my PAL system) for an NTSC model. I continued to contact the company. I would call 1-800-USA-SEGA and request Helpful Hints sheets (basically what the reps read off of when gamers called in for game help), and a few days later I would get them in the mail. I still have them all, and perhaps will scan and post them someday (did it).
Then, Sega Genesis came out, and of course I had to have it. Later, it was the Sega CD. Those days of the early 1990s definitely have a soft spot in my heart.
Today, Sega no longer makes consoles, but I am still a fan. I get excited when I see the Sega logo, still the same as the one on my very first video game system. Imagine how excited I was when I saw my first Sega amusement center in Akihabara. It seems Sega today makes a lot of amusement machines, just as they always have, but in a different form. They are less video game, and more skill-game such as those cranes that pick up stuffed animals or other prizes. I was perfectly happy pumping 100-yen coins into those machines.
At the 2012 Tokyo Game Show, Sega had one of the largest booths, showing off their latest games such as Yakuza 5. If only I spoke Japanese!
I should find my old catalogs and post them here (found some). For now, enjoy these photos of Sega centers in Tokyo. Long live Sega!
