AM Press: Sega's private show, May 2005

June 15, 2005 issue
Last updated on June 8, 2005

Special news

Taito and Sega unveiled a number of TV games at a new product exhibition in mid-May.

Seizo Umehara, former president and director of AOU, has passed away.

Overseas

Next-generation home consoles were introduced at E3 in the United States.

Namco America has released a limited edition “Pac-Man 25th Anniversary”.

Domestic

Sega's financial results showed increased sales and decreased profits, while Capcom's increased sales and resulted in a significant surplus.

Namco held a 50th anniversary event in Yokohama.

News digest of June 15, 2005 issue

The photo is from Namco's 50th anniversary event. Above is (from left) developer Toru Iwatani, Guinness' David Hawksett, Chairman Masaya Nakamura, and President Shigekazu Ishimura at the Guinness Book of Records certification ceremony. Below is the presentation of commemorative gifts by (from left) President Shigekazu Ishimura, Chairman Masaya Nakamura, and Vice Chairman Kushiro Yoshiki.

Main news from 10 years ago

Time Warner Inc. sold most of its stake in Six Flags. Sales for overseas home use declined significantly, and profits of Sega, Taito, and Namco all declined significantly. Marks for Class B electrical appliances will be abolished starting from July. JAMMA's Managing Director Kazuharu Hinami retired and was succeeded by Kazuharu Takahashi. Asahi Seiko has established a European subsidiary in the UK. (June 15, 1995 issue)

Main news from 20 years ago

Taito introduced “Wyvern F-0,” which uses two monitors, and Milestar's LD game “Mach Three” at the exhibition of new products. AAMA in the US has launched a campaign to make the use of copied boards a crime. The 6th AOE according to Playmeter was poor. Konami Industries' "Gradius" has been shipped. Mr. Hiroshi Yagi of Koyo Sangyo has passed away. (June 15, 1985 issue)

Copyright ©Amusement Press Inc. 2005 · Game Machine, Amusement Press, and Amusement Communication are registered trademarks. It is illegal to reprint articles in this newspaper without permission or otherwise infringe on Amusement News Agency's intellectual property rights.

[News Digest]

1. On June 1st, Namco gathered over 2,500 employees from Japan and abroad at the Yokohama Arena to hold an event to commemorate its 50th anniversary, as well as a Guinness Book of Records certification ceremony. In his opening address, President Shigekazu Ishimura stated that he would continue to inherit Namco-ism while also changing it. The Guinness Book of World Records recently recognized Pac-Man as the most successful arcade game machine, and a ceremony was held to award the certificate. The game was submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for having sold 293,822 units (including 287,668 licensed units) since July 1980. Chairman Masaya Nakamura drew attention when he mentioned that Namco has promised that the next president after Bandai Namco Holdings President Takasu will be appointed by Namco, and that in the future he would like to make the board composition 50% young people in their 30s, 30% foreigners, and 20% women.

2. Taito held an exhibition of new products in Tokyo on May 19th, introducing products such as "Battle Gear 4" (Type X Plus) and "Zoids Infinity EX" (246), which will be released in June. Among the Type On the 20th, Sega held an exhibition of new works in Tokyo, including “Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 Card Builder” (Chihiro, published by Banpresto, developed and sold by SEGA), “SEGA Golf Club 2005” (Chihiro), We introduced SNK Playmore's “Samurai Spirits Tenka'ichi Kenkaden” and “Neo Geo Battle Coliseum” for Tomis Wave, but the main focus was the medal game machine “Star Force 2” scheduled to ship in July. Both companies also held events in Osaka, and Sega also held events in Fukuoka.

3. SEGA SAMMY Holdings, which was established in October last year, had consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2005 (rounded down to the nearest billion) with sales of 515.6 billion yen, ordinary income of 104.4 billion yen, and final profit of 50.5 billion yen. Of this, sales of gaming machines were 280.1 billion yen and operating profit was 103.9 billion yen, commercial AM machines had sales of 63.3 billion yen and operating profit was 7.4 billion yen, game hall management had sales of 83.1 billion yen and operating profit of 5.4 billion yen, and sales of home games were 65.3 billion yen, resulting in an operating deficit of 8.8 billion yen. The gaming machine-related business has been reorganized into Sammy, and the AM machine-related business has been reorganized into Sega, and it appears that the losses caused by the integration have ended.

4. SEGA's consolidated financial results showed a 1.9% increase in sales to 194,947 million yen, a 50.5% decrease in ordinary income to 6,244 million yen, and a 79.8% decrease in final profit to 1,767 million yen, showing an increase in sales but a significant decrease in profits. There was an extraordinary profit of 3,073 million yen, but there was an extraordinary loss of 6,159 million yen, including a settlement of 1.4 billion yen. By division, sales for commercial use decreased by 4.0% to 57,947 million yen, operating income decreased by 14.1% to 10,327 million yen, and sales for game arcade operations increased by 13.0% to 78,97 million yen. 5 million yen, operating income decreased 8.1% to 5,644 million yen, home sales decreased 4.9% to 58,023 million yen, and operating loss was 8,265 million yen (previous year: 2,824 million yen). There were 24 new game halls opened and 42 closed, resulting in a total of 477 game halls at the end of the period.

5. On May 23, Capcom announced its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2005, with sales increasing 25.1% from the previous year to 65,895 million yen, ordinary income increasing 835.4% to 7,399 million yen, and final profit 3,622 million yen (compared to a deficit of 9,158 million yen the previous year), showing a significant recovery in business performance. In addition to the recovery in home game software and the new LCD for pachislot machines, sales for arcade games also increased. For commercial use, sales increased by 65.2% to 7,450 million yen, and operating income increased by 36.5% to 1,944 million yen.In the business of operating 30 game halls, sales increased by 11.2% to 10,934 million yen, and operating income decreased by 1.3% to 2,296 million yen. Sales of "others" such as LCDs for pachislot machines increased by 70.1% to 7,563 million yen, and operating income increased by 110.4% to 1,977 million yen.

6. Yasuzo Umehara, a former AOU chairman and board member and director of Shinkyo Building Maintenance, passed away at his home due to lung cancer just after 11pm on June 2nd. 77 years old. Born in Kyoto Prefecture. After graduating from Kyoto University in economics in 1950, he joined OS Movie Theater (now OS) and became a director in 1981. He has been the representative of Kansai Cactus since 1983. In the AM industry group, he was the president of the Osaka Prefectural Association from 1984 to 1995. At AOU, he was chairman from 1987 to 1994, honorary advisor from 1994 to 1998, and director again from 1998. The funeral and farewell ceremony was held from 1:30 p.m. on the 4th at Kita-Osaka Festival in Yodogawa Ward, Osaka. The chief mourner was Yasuyuki Ogata.

7. The “E3” 05 US home video game exhibition was held in Los Angeles from May 18th to 20th, with approximately 400 exhibitors and more than 70,000 vendors from 79 countries in attendance. There are many new releases for the year-end season, but the biggest topic this time was the announcement of a next-generation console by a console manufacturer. SCE announced that it will release the “PlayStation 3” in the spring of 2006, which will be equipped with a “Cell” processor to maximize hardware capabilities and maintain backward compatibility with the PS series. MS will also release the “Xbox 360” at the end of 2005, which has further improved hardware performance and maintains backward compatibility with the X-Box, and will focus on supplying game software to Japan. Although Nintendo will not participate in the performance competition, it plans to release an improved version of “Revolution” (tentative name) in 2006, which will not only be backward compatible with the GameCube, but will also be able to download and enjoy game software for the first time since the Famicom.

8. Capcom's PS2 game “Grand Theft Auto V” has been designated as “Harmful Documents” under the Kanagawa Prefecture Youth Protection and Development Ordinance, making it the first game software to have its sale regulated in Japan. The game was manufactured by Capcom under license from Take-Two/Rockstar, Inc., and was released in September 2003 for people 18 years and older after being reviewed by the rating organization CERO. Kanagawa Prefecture consulted the Child Welfare Council on the grounds that the documents were particularly cruel and violent, and on May 30, the council announced that the documents should be designated as “harmful materials,” and the designation was announced on May 7. If you sell to a minor, you will be subject to a fine of up to 300,000 yen. On June 6, Capcom called on Kanagawa Prefecture to "reconsider" the move, saying it "involves serious issues such as restrictions on freedom of expression," and on the 7th explained that it would also consider "legal responses."

9. Namco America, Inc., Namco's American commercial subsidiary, has decided to release a limited edition “Pac-Man 25th Anniversary Model” in June, as “Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga” released in September 2000 continues to be well-received. This device commemorates 25 years since “Pac-Man” was released in Japan by Namco in July 1980, and released in November 1980 by Midway, which was licensed in the United States.It has “Pac-Man”, “Ms. Pac-Man”, and “Galaga” built in, and the game can be selected before the game starts. There are two types of cabinets: upright standard and mini-up cabaret types (one with a coin slot and one without).

◎ Since 1974, the industry magazine "Game Machine" has been reporting industry news on commercial amusement machines, including TV game machines, amusement facilities, etc. twice a month, but the print publication was discontinued at the end of June 2002.