List of Sega arcade system boards#Sega Model 2
{{Short description|Arcade system boards produced by Sega}}
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File:Sega_ST-V_Dynamite_Deka_PCB_20100324.jpg hardware and featuring interchangeable games]]
Sega is a video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. The company's involvement in the arcade game industry began as a Japan-based distributor of coin-operated machines, including pinball games and jukeboxes.{{Cite book|title=The Sega Arcade Revolution, A History in 62 Games|last=Horowitz|first=Ken|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2018|isbn=9781476631967|pages=3–6|ref=refHorowitz2018}}{{Cite magazine|date=September 5, 1960|title=Sega and Utamatic Purchase Assets of Service Games|magazine=Billboard|page=71|issn=0006-2510}}{{Cite magazine|date=September 3, 1960|title=Service Games Inc. Bought By Sega and Uta Matic|magazine=Cashbox|volume=21|issue=51|page=52|issn=0008-7289}} Sega imported second-hand machines that required frequent maintenance. This necessitated the construction of replacement guns, flippers, and other parts for the machines. According to former Sega director Akira Nagai, this is what led to the company into developing their own games.{{cite book|author=Famitsu DC|author-link=Famitsu DC|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:Sega_Arcade_History_JP_EnterBrain_Book.pdf&page=14|title=Interview: Akira Nagai — SEGA REPRESENTATIVE|work=セガ・アーケード・ヒストリー (Sega Arcade History)|series=Famitsu Books|publisher=Enterbrain|date=15 February 2002|pages=20–23|language=ja|isbn=9784757707900}} ([http://shmuplations.com/akiranagai/ Translation] by Shmuplations. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807024817/http://shmuplations.com/akiranagai/|date=2020-08-07}}).
Sega released Pong-Tron, its first video-based game, in 1973.Horowitz 2018, pp. 14-16 The company prospered from the arcade game boom of the late 1970s, with revenues climbing to over {{US$|100|link=yes}} million by 1979.Horowitz 2018, pp. 21-23 Nagai has stated that Hang-On and Out Run helped to pull the arcade game market out of the 1983 downturn and created new genres of video games.
In terms of arcades, Sega is the world's most prolific arcade game producer, having developed more than 500 games, 70 franchises, and 20 arcade system boards since 1981. It has been recognized by Guinness World Records for this achievement.{{cite web |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-prolific-producer-of-arcade-machines |title=Most prolific producer of arcade machines |website=Guinness World Records |publisher=Jim Pattison Group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225224058/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-prolific-producer-of-arcade-machines |url-status=live |archive-date=December 25, 2014}} The following list comprises the various arcade system boards developed and used by Sega in their arcade games.
Arcade system boards
Additional arcade hardware
Sega has developed and released additional arcade games that use technology other than their dedicated arcade system boards. The first arcade game manufactured by Sega was Periscope, an electromechanical game. This was followed by Missile in 1969.Horowitz 2018, pp. 8-13 Subsequent video-based games such as Pong-Tron (1973), Fonz (1976), and Monaco GP (1979) used discrete logic boards without a CPU microprocessor.Horowitz 2018, pp. 16, 28, 56 Frogger (1981) used a system powered by two Z80 CPU microprocessors.Horowitz 2018, pp. 36-39 Some titles, such as Zaxxon (1982) were developed externally from Sega, a practice that was not uncommon at the time.Horowitz 2018, pp. 48-50