Sega Sports R&D

Sega Sports Research and Development (セガスポーツの研究開発, Segasupōtsu no kenkyū kaihatsu) or Sega Sports R&D is a defunct development division of the Japanese video game company Sega. It was previously known as Smilebit, one of nine semi-autonomous studios which Sega established in 2000. Smilebit was previously known as R&D6 or AM6 which itself was mainly based on Sega PC. Smilebit was known for its sports simulation titles, as well as Jet Set Radio.[1] When Sega started releasing games for other platforms, Smilebit began developing games for the Xbox, with Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta and GunValkyrie.[2] Smilebit was led by Shun Arai as president and Takayuki Kawagoe as director. Kawagoe became president of Smilebit in 2003.[3]

Sega Sports R&D
Native name
セガスポーツ研究開発
Segasupōtsu kenkyū kaihatsu
TypeDivision
IndustryVideo games
FounderShun Arai
FateMerged with Sega Research and Development
Headquarters
Japan
Key people
Shun Arai
Takayuki Kawagoe
ParentSega

During a re-organization, Sega's nine studios were consolidated into "four of five core operations", and the non-sports staff of Smilebit was merged into Amusement Vision. Smilebit became exclusively dedicated to sports titles, with the Virtua Striker series from Amusement Vision becoming attributed to Smilebit.[4] When Sega and Sammy were merged into Sega Sammy Holdings, all of the studios merged back into Sega. Smilebit became Sega Sports R&D and developed more sport simulation games,[5] as well as the first entry of the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.[6] Later, these games were later given to CS1 and CS2 designations,[7][8] and Sega Sports R&D ceased to exist.

History
See also: Sega development studios
Smilebit logo

Smilebit had about 105 employees and six lines of development, with a third of the staff coming from Sega PC.[9] Other staff also joined from another Sega studio, Team Andromeda, which developed the Panzer Dragoon games for Saturn and disbanded after the third game, Panzer Dragoon Saga (1998).[10]

Smilebit was known as the premier studio for sports games.[9] It developed the successful sports simulator series Derby Tsuku, Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! and Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou!. Non-sports titles were developed as well. Jet Set Radio was developed by former developers of Panzer Dragoon Saga, who hoped to develop something completely new and unlike the Panzer Dragoon series. A sequel was developed for Xbox, called Jet Set Radio Future, or JSRF.[11] The team got many commendations when they went overseas to events such E3; however, they realized that this did not necessarily mean more sales.[12] Panzer Dragoon was also revived with Panzer Dragoon Orta, which unlike the previous game, Panzer Dragoon Saga, became a regular rail shooter once again.[13] The team hoped that by the time Orta was released, the Xbox market would mature and be more successful than the previous two Xbox titles, JSRF and GunValkyrie;[14] however, sales in the US were dissatisfying. Toshihiro Nagoshi, who later lead several team members of Smilebit, commented on the studio, stating that while they did not have high sales, their technical capabilities were very high.[15]

Smilebit was also interested in arcade development. The Typing of the Dead was initially presented to AM1, and Ollie King was originally developed under the Smilebit banner before it was released under Amusement Vision.[16][17]

In 2003, Sega restructured its development studios and Amusement Vision and Smilebit merged, with the surviving Smilebit becoming solely focused on sports, adding the Virtua Striker games. At the same time Shun Arai left Smilebit to lead the Sega Creative Center. Takayuki Kawagoe took his place instead.

Sega and Sammy merged in 2004 to form Sega Sammy Holdings and all the studios merged back into Sega. Smilebit was named Sega Sports R&D, and continued to develop more sports games, including the first Mario & Sonic at the Olympic games. Takayuki Kawagoe continued to oversee sports games but eventually oversaw the whole output of Sega of Japan as creative officer and then senior executive officer. The Mario & Sonic games and sports simulator series of games became assigned to the CS1 and CS2 designations, and a dedicated sports division ceased to exist.

See also

References
  1. "Edge" (PDF). Edge. No. 89. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. SEGA Unleashed Interviews – IGN, 8 June 2001, retrieved 24 June 2021
  3. "川越 隆幸". ja-jp.facebook.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  4. "セガの開発会社が10月1日付けで再編。役割を明確にし、商品力の強化を狙う - 電撃オンライン". dengekionline.com. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  5. "4Gamer.net 「プロ野球チームをつくろう！ONLINE」「スプラッシュ！ゴルフ」などが発表された，新作発表会詳細レポート". www.4gamer.net. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  6. "Panzer Dragoon Retropspective". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  7. "サカつく6｜株式会社セガ". www.sakatsuku.com. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  8. "すべては、面白いゲームをつくるため。大・小２つのチームワークが、クオリティを上げる。｜ニュース＆リポート｜専門学校 HAL". www.hal.ac.jp (in Japanese). 15 December 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  9. Horowitz, Ken (2018). The Sega Arcade Revolution: A History in 62 Games. McFarland & Company. pp. 187–190. ISBN 9781476631967.
  10. Torres, Ricardo (1 July 2005). "GameSpot Presents: The History of Panzer Dragoon". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 22 September 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  11. "Behind The Scenes: Jet Set Radio". GamesTM. 7 January 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  12. Lehecka, Eddie (23 June 2020). "SEGA 60th Anniversary Special Interview with Masayoshi Kikuchi". OTAQUEST. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  13. "The Next Level – Features". www.the-nextlevel.com. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  14. "Panzer creators Takayuki Kawagoe and Akihiko Mukaiyama tell XBN what it takes to make the game, and who's left from the original team". XBN. p. 40. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  15. "セガ・名越稔洋が語るクリエイター活動30年史。200億稼いだ『デイトナUSA』開発秘話と、初めて明かす師・鈴木裕への想い【特別企画 前編】 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com". ファミ通.com (in Japanese). 11 May 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  16. JAMMA 2003: Ollie King – IGN, 11 September 2003, retrieved 24 June 2021
  17. "AMUSEMENT VISION". backup.segakore.fr. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
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