Sega To Unveil "Sega Rally 3"

Sega are to unveil their Autumn line-up of new games at a private show in Osaka on July 8. "Sega Rally 3", developed by Sega Racing Studio in Europe, will be of interest to overseas visitors to the show. The game was already shown to European tradespeople at a private show at Sega Amusements Europe at the end of May.

Sega To Release "RAMBO" Gun Game in September

Sega are to release a 2-player gun game with a "Rambo" theme in September this year. The release is timed to coincide with the release of the latest (and final?) Rambo movie in cinemas. The player uses a machine-gun with the same kind of continuous rapid fire as in "House of the Dead 4". The game includes various gimmicks such as actual footage from the various "Rambo" movies, stages where the player uses a crossbow, and an "Anger" guage. When the "Anger" guage reaches the top, Rambo blows a casket and becames temporarily invincible.

Deadline for ordering is June 12 in Japan. Click here for photo of cabinet.

Taito To Unify Arcade Brand, Expand Thru Franchising

Taito has announced plans to introduce a common brand for its 180 directly-operated game arcades. The brand is "Taito Station" and all arcades will have the same logo, staff uniforms etc. Taito also intends to extend the brand through franchising, particularly in urban areas.

Atlus Coin-Op Sales Fall

On March 14, Atlus announced its mid-term results for the 6-month period ending January 2008. Sales were JPY10,042 million and income JPY693 million. Sales of home games were JPY3,066 million with income of JPY775 million. Coin-op sales amounted to JPY1,965 million but posted a loss of JPY138 million. Game centre revenue was JPY5,112 million with income of JPY325 million. Atlus' coin-op figures were hit by falling sales of consumables for its print-photo machines and its game arcade business did not escape the slowdown affecting all operators, particularly since November last year.

Japan Operator "Playland" Goes Bankrupt

The operator company Playland Co., Ltd. based in Tokyo closed its doors on February 4, 2008. On February 12, Playland applied for bankruptcy to the Tokyo District Court. The company, which operated 16 arcades next to restaurants of the popular Don Quixote chain, was formed only four years ago. Its sales in the year to March 2007 were JPY1,452 million.

Sega Inks Licence Agreement with Emaar Malls Group, Dubai

Emaar Malls Group, the shopping mall subsidiary of Emaar Properties, announced on January 17, 2008, that it signed a licence agreement with Sega Dorporation to develop and operate "Tokyo Joypolis" -style indoor theme parks in its malls planned across the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent and North Africa. The first theme park under the agreement will be a 76,000 sq. ft. entertainment complex in The Dubai Mall, Emaar's flagship mall development with the Burj Dubai. The Burj Dubai is the world's tallest building. The facility at the Dubai Mall will be based on Sega's "Tokyo Joypolis" and will feature an indoor roller coaster, motion ride simulators, as well a wide variety of amusement machines. The Dubai Mall is due to open in late 2008.

Emaar Properties is a major property developer based in Dubai. The company has announced investments in shopping malls of over US$4 billion with 12 million sq ft of retail property in operation or under development in the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and South Asia.

New Games Unveiled at AOU Show 2008

Capcom: Street Fighter 4 (fighting), Fate/unlimited Codes (fighting), Sengoku Basara (fighting)

Sega: Virtua Fighter 5R (fighting), Ascot Garden (horse racing)

Konami: jubeat (music), Action Deka (cop) (punching mocap game), Pop N Music 16, Guitar Freaks V5, Drum Mania V5

Bandai Namco: Taiko No Tatsujin 11 (music), Ace Driver 3 Final Turn (car), Gundam Vs. Gundam (fighting), Wacky Races (car)

SNK Playmore: King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, The King of Fighters XII, Samurai Spirits Sen

Sega Red Ink, Plans Arcade Closures, Redundancies

On February 9, 2008, Sega Sammy Holdings announced their financial results for the 9-month period ending December 2007. They did not make pretty reading with sales down 15% to JPY342,092 million and an operating loss of JPY1,528 million. In the same period a year ago, the company made a profit of JPY75,188 million.

Sales of pachinko/pachislot machines were down 30.7% to JPY124,316 million and operating profit was down a whopping 82.6% to JPY12,117 million. In the amusement machine sales section, sales were up a fraction to JPY55,598 million but operating profit was down 41.4% to JPY5,471 million. The red ink was flowing the amusement centre operations division with a loss of JPY4,948 million on sales of JPY69,278 million (down 11.6% from the same period a year ago). The same division made a profit of JPY2,488 million in the same period last year. At the end of December 2007, Sega operated a total of 430 amusement centres in Japan.

Sales in the consumer division were up 7.7% to JPY88,727 million but at a cost. The division's operating loss of JPY703 million last year swelled to a loss of JPY9,621 million this year.

In response to these poor results, Sega plans to close unprofitable arcades and lay off 400 of its 3,600 workforce through voluntary redundancies.

Namco Profits Fall, Plan Arcade Closures

Namco released figures on February 6, 2008, for the period April - December 2007. While total sales were up 1.5% to JPY335,602 million, operating income fell 18.1% to JPY28,241 million.

Sales in the Amusement Facility division were up 3.4% to JPY67,246 million but at a cost. Operating profit fell 56.7% to JPY1,004 million in the 9-month period. The Game Contents division (both consumer and coin-op) increased sales by 4.3% to JPY104,509 million and operating profits also by 4.3% to JPY9,992 million in the period. The Toys & Hobby division fared poorly with sales down 2.6% to JPY131,854 million and operating profit down 21.8% to JPY11,536 million. Namco blame the lack of big hit product for the poor performance in this division.

In response to the poor figures from the Amusement Facility division, Namco plan to close around 50-60 arcades during the coming year. At the end of December, 2007, Namco directly operated 308 amusement centres in Japan.

Capcom Sales Up, Profits Down

On February 6, 2008, Capcom announced its results for the period April - December 2007. While sales were up 4.8% to JPY51,655 million, operating profit fell 8.2% to JPY6,101 million. While the consumer side was strong with sales up 23% to JPY30,800 million and profit up 38% to JPY6,000 million, the coin-op side of the business struggled. While the number of arcades during the period increased by six to 41, arcade operation revenue fell 0.5% to JPY9,577 million and operating income fell 62.2% to JPY573 million. Coin-op machine sales fell 68% to JPY2,198 million leading to a loss of JPY692 million in the period.

Konami Sales & Profits Rise

On February 5, 2008, Konami released its figures for the period April - December 2007. Sales were up 8.1% to JPY229,730 million and operating income was up a strong 20.4% to JPY26,698 million. By division, Digital Entertainment increased sales 9% to JPY141,140 million and operating profit 13% to JPY33,135 million. In this section, sales of coin-operated machines rose 27% to JPY40,300 million and consumer game software sales rose 4% to JPY69,700 million. The Gaming machine division also did well with sales up 6.7% to JPY21,645 million and operating income up 25.6% to JPY1,912 million. The only blemish on the scorecard was the fall in sales and profit in the health and fitness club section.