Sega AM3

Hitmaker
Division (Defunct)
Industry Video games industry
Fate Merged with Sega's Research and Development
Founded February 2000 (2000-02)
Defunct 2004 (2004)
Headquarters Japan
Owner Sega
Website web.archive.org/web/20050101031830/http://www.hitmaker.co.jp Edit this on Wikidata

Hitmaker is a defunct division of Sega, a Japanese video game company.

History

Logo for Sega Rosso before being merged into Hitmaker

In 2000, all of Sega's in-house Consumer (CS) and Amusement Machine (AM) R&D departments were separated from the main company and established on 9 semi-autonomous subsidiaries, with each subsidiary getting an elected president as a studio head.[1] However, for more financial stability, Sega began consolidating its studios into five main ones in 2003 (Sega Wow, Sega AM2, Hitmaker, Amusement Vision, Smilebit, Sonic Team), and merged them back into a uniform R&D structure in 2004.

Hitmaker was established from the AM3 department which has created popular arcade favourites in past, such as Virtual-On, Derby Owners Club, Crazy Taxi and Virtua Tennis. It was headed by Hisao Oguchi, Mie Kumagai and Kenji Kanno.

Sega Rosso was headed by Kenji Sasaki, the company was short-lived before being absorbed by Hitmaker. It contributed to Sega's arcade line-up with Cosmic Smash and Initial D Arcade Stage,[2] with the latter becoming a major franchise.

In 2003, Mie Kumagai replaced Hisao Oguchi as the company president,[3] when Hisao Oguchi was promoted to President of the entire Sega company. Also in 2003, the studio absorbed Sega Rosso, making Initial D Arcade Stage part of its line-up.[4] By 2004, Hitmaker had 193 employees which focused on arcade development after the integration into Sega.[5]

List of games

Hitmaker

Year Title Platform(s)
1991 Dynamic Country Club Arcade
1991 D. D. Crew Arcade
1991 Rail Chase Arcade
1993 Dark Edge Arcade
1993 Title Fight Arcade
1993 SegaSonic The Hedgehog Arcade
1994 Jurassic Park Arcade
1995 Cyber Troopers Virtual On Arcade, Sega Saturn
1995 Decathlete Arcade
1995 Sega Rally Championship Sega Saturn
1995 Rail Chase 2 Arcade
1995 Baku Baku Animal Arcade, Game Gear, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn
1995 Manx TT SuperBike Arcade, Sega Saturn
1996 Last Bronx Arcade, Sega Saturn
1996 Daytona USA Deluxe Microsoft Windows
1996 Gunblade NY: Special Air Assault Force Arcade
1996 Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition Sega Saturn
1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Arcade
1997 Winter Heat Arcade, Sega Saturn
1998 Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Arcade
1998 Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram Arcade, Dreamcast
1999 Virtua Tennis Arcade, Dreamcast, N-Gage
1999 Crazy Taxi Arcade, Dreamcast
1999 Toy Fighter Arcade
2000 Confidential Mission Arcade, Dreamcast
2000 Virtua Athlete 2000 Dreamcast
2001 Virtua Tennis 2 Arcade, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
2001 Crazy Taxi 2 Dreamcast
2001 Segagaga Dreamcast
2002 The Maze of the Kings Arcade
2002 Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller Arcade, Xbox
2003 Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Marz PlayStation 2
2003 Astro Boy: Omega Factor Game Boy Advance

Sega Rosso

Year Title Platform(s)
1995 Sega Rally Championship Arcade
1996 Sega Touring Car Championship Arcade
1998 Sega Rally 2 Championship Arcade
2000 Star Wars Racer Arcade Arcade
2000 NASCAR Arcade Arcade
2001 Cosmic Smash Arcade, Dreamcast
2003 Sega Rally Championship Game Boy Advance
2003 Initial D: Special Stage PlayStation 2

References

  1. ↑ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2000" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  2. ↑ "Sega Corporation Annual Report 2002" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
  3. ↑ "Mie Kumagai will take over the head position at Hitmaker". www.games-zone.8m.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  4. ↑ "Video Games Daily | News: Sega Studio Mergers: Full Details". archive.videogamesdaily.com. 2003-07-25. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  5. ↑ "Notice on Reorganization of the Company's R&D Subsidiaries" (PDF). www.segasammy.co.jp. 2004-05-18. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
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