Sega¡¯s roots stretch back to 1940 and a Honolulu-based company called Standard Games, formed by Martin Bromely, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert. In 1951, Bromely inspired the company¡¯s move to Tokyo, and Service Games of Japan (also known as Sega) was officially registered in May of 1952. Initially, Sega provided coin-op machines to U.S. military units stationed in Japan. The business branched out from there, supplying the domestic Japanese market as well as parts of Asia and Europe.

In 1965, Sega merged with another coin-op company, Rosen Enterprises, Inc. Formed by American entrepreneur David Rosen in 1954, Rosen Enterprises dealt in everything from instant photo booths to mechanical arcade games. A year after the merger, Sega released Periscope, a submarine simulator that became a worldwide hit.

In 1969, Rosen and the other shareholders decided to sell Sega to Gulf & Western Industries, with Rosen continuing on as CEO. Gulf & Western continued to build on the company?s original product and marketing strategy, with revenues hitting ?214 million in 1982. By 1983, several "firsts" were introduced, including the first laser disc game, Sega Astron Belt, the first 3D video game, SubRoc-3D, and Sega?s first consumer video game console, SG-1000, all marketed in Japan.

The arcades and the U.S. home market crashed shortly after. Gulf & Western, which had spun off 20 percent of Sega, bought back the public shares and sold the U.S. assets to Bally Manufacturing Corp.

However, in Japan, Sega survived. Back in 1979, Rosen had acquired a distribution company founded by a Japanese entrepreneur, Hayao Nakayama. Following the crash, Rosen joined Nakayama and other Japanese investors to buy the Japanese assets of Sega for ?38 million. Nakayama became chief executive and Rosen headed the U.S. subsidiary. From that point forward, the company vowed not to stick with one concept too long, since each generation of technology has a life and death.

In 1984, Sega Enterprises was bought by a partnership between Sega Enterprises Japanese management and CSK, forming Sega Enterprises Ltd., a Japan-based company.

In 1986, Sega Enterprises Ltd.?s stock was listed over the counter on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In addition, Sega of America was established to adapt and market video game products to a rapidly expanding American market. It was subsequently given the charter to develop software products specifically for the American market.

In the late 1980s, Sega Enterprises introduced a line of extremely successful video game systems and software titles that propelled the company into international prominence, making it the world?s second largest vendor of consumer video game products. In 1990, Sega Enterprises Ltd.?s stock was listed on the first tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In 1993, the stock was listed on the pink sheets of NASDAQ and was available in ADR in the U.S.

Sega has always been a pioneer and will continue to provide the most advanced and compelling products to consumers. No other company has had more "firsts" in the ?8 billion video game market than Sega. Sega created some of the first-ever arcade simulator games including Hang On™ in 1985.

In 1990, Sega unveiled R-360, the first arcade game to be able to rotate 360 degrees. In 1991, Sonic The Hedgehog™ was born. Sonic is the only non-Disney character featured at Disney World today.

In 1993, Yu Suzuki pioneered the 3D fighting game genre with Virtua Fighter™. Virtua Fighter was added to the Smithsonian Institution?s Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology Innovation and is currently kept at the Smithsonian?s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

The year 2000 brought other industry firsts including ChuChu Rocket™, the first-ever online console video game, Seaman™, the first voice recognition videogame in the U.S., Sega Sports NFL 2K1™ the first online console sports title, and Phantasy Star Online™, the first ever online console RPG.

On January 30, 2001, Sega announced it would create the world?s best games for all gamers by publishing content on multiple platforms, as well as for wireless, handheld and other consumer electronic devices. This new strategy combined with a rich arcade heritage and the world?s best developers puts Sega in the unique position to be the world?s leading software publisher. Sega?s first Game Boy Advance title, which was also Sega?s pioneer online game, ChuChu Rocket™ released in May 2001. By constantly striving to set the standard for interactive entertainment in and out of the home, Sega will continue to give consumers more ways to play the Sega games they have grown to love.

In June 2003, Hisao Oguchi was appointed President of Sega Corporation. Mr. Oguchi has been with the company for nearly 20 years working in various capacities, most notably as the former President of the development team, Hitmaker. The aptly-titled team is responsible for the popular Crazy Taxi series and Virtua Tennis, among others. Oguchi maintained his responsibilities with Hitmaker while moving up in the executive ranks when he was appointed Officer in 2000. Two years later he became the Executive Officer and later that same year, the Chief of Hensei-kyoku.

In August 2003, Nokia acquired the assets of Sega.com, Inc. to apply Sega?s expertise in online gaming and services toward their Nokia N-Gage™ game deck. Included in the acquisition was the Sega Network Application Package (SNAP), which enables high-performance networked multi-player games.

Sega of America is currently headed up by President and COO, Simon Jeffery and CEO, Naoya Tsurumi