We’ve got some bad news and some good news so like the cliche goes, the bad news first. If you’re near Southampton UK then an arcade has closed its doors there as of yesterday. The Sega Park was a part of the Bargate Shopping Centre, where they were not the only ones forced to close their doors. According to RJAY who sent in the tip : “The big factor in this closure was the ongoing situation surrounding the mall/shopping centre the arcade was in (Bargate Shopping Centre). The owners of the mall went bust and were liquidated in late 2011 so in order to try and make a sale of the complex, all the tenants of the mall have been ordered out. This was also the last arcade named “Sega Park” in the UK; Sega themselves stopped running UK arcades in 2000 and sold them to another company who were given rights to the Sega name for a few years. However it seems a ‘blind eye’ was turned and the Sega Park name stuck.” Here is a link to the story about the closure of the centre. Here is a picture of Sega Park circa 2005, and hopefully a way will be found for some arcade goodness to return to the area in the near future.
I hate to leave it on a sour note like that so here’s some more positive news that happened to come along today and be Sega/arcade related. First off, Sega has announced that the 42″ version of their GRID arcade racing title is now available. We saw this at IAAPA 2012 and EAG 2013;the 42″ monitor certainly made the game seem more “in your face” than the 32″ version. Here’s a picture of the cabinet provided with the press release you can find below.
Before that press release though, Sega UK also released a video of their EAG 2013 booth from last week showing what it might have been like to wander around it, checking out the games they had there.
Now for the press release:
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Press Release
For Immediate Release
42 Barwell Business Park│Leatherhead Road│Chessington, Surrey│KT9 2NY│United Kingdom
P (847) 364-9787 │F (630) 860-7775
www.SegaArcade.com
THE BEST DRIVING GAME AVAILABLE JUST ADDED A NEW MEMBER TO THE FAMILY
what a driving game should be…
what a driving game can be…
what a driving game is.
Introducing GRID 42” Dlx
London, United Kingdom 31 January 2013 – SEGA, announces the addition of GRID 42” Dlx to the GRID family of driving games.
About GRID 42” Dlx
GRID 42” Dlx is the latest addition to SEGA’s family of GRID Driving Games which includes GRID 32” Std and GRID 55” Dlx.
How do you improve the best driving game in the market? You make it bigger without increasing the price. “GRID is hands down the best coin-op racing simulator available today,” said Sega Sales Manager, Tom Keil. “GRID delivers a level of realism that gives players an extremely good idea of what it would be like to race some of world’s most amazing super cars. There are subtle differences from one car to the other that include engine sound, braking and acceleration capabilities, and top-end speed. The end result is a driving experience you’d have to layout half a million dollars to realize outside of an entertainment center.” The new GRID 42” Dlx bridges the gap between GRID 55” Dlx and GRID 32” Std. “Monitor size makes a big difference in both presentation and game play,” continued Keil. “Players have become so accustomed to large-format displays that it’s expected in most commercial applications. GRID 42” Dlx meets these expectations delivering an enhanced and exciting game play experience.”
GRID 42” Dlx creates an immersive racing simulation with more tools than just a bigger monitor. GRID 42” Dlx’s list of impressive features includes:
- Tri-color LED lighting throughout. LED’s changes color to match the action.
- Full Feedback Steering
- 2.1 Sound System with seat-mounted sub-woofer that raises the immersive experience by delivering road feedback as subtle as paint stripes to the player
- Linkable to 6 cabinets for out-of-this-world multiplayer competition
- True Damage Modeling – if you hit the wall, you see the results including broken glass, flapping hoods, swinging doors, and dragging bumpers.
- 12 meticulously rendered high-performance super cars from top manufacturers including: Aston Martin, Bugatti, Dodge, Ford, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Mercedes Benz, McLaren, Pagani, Saleen, and Toyota
- 8 challenging road racing circuits from around the world including: Detroit, Donington Park, Long Beach, Milan, Nurburgring, Okutama, San Francisco, Spa & Washington
Player selectable options include:
o Quick Race or Three Tier Championship
o Automatic/Manual transmission
o 3 views – bumper cam, cockpit & birds eye
Operator selectable options include:
o Race lengths of 2, 3 or 4 laps
o Game Difficulty Settings – easy, medium, or hard.
o 5 languages – English, Spanish, French, German and Italian
o Speed readout – MPH/KMH
o Continue – on/off
o Default View – Bumper, Cockpit, or Birdseye
Click here to see exciting video of GRID.
Assembled Dimensions
71”D X 51”W X 81”H
1800mm D x 1300mm W x H2050 H
About GRID 42” Dlx Availability
GRID 42” Dlx is available for immediate delivery. Contact your Local Authorized SEGA Distributor or Sega Sales representative for more information about GRID 42” Dlx or any other SEGA Amusement Game:
Tom Keil: (704) 817-7294 or Tom.Keil AT SAU.Sega.com
Vince Moreno: (224) 265-4271 or Vince.Moreno AT SAU.Sega.com
Pete Gustafson: (224) 265-4281 or Peter.Gustafson AT SAU.Sega.com
About SEGA Amusements
Serving markets across the globe, SEGA Amusements is a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA Corporation, Japan. SEGA Amusements is an industry leader in creating state-of-the-art interactive video, photo-tainment, self-contained merchandisers, kiddie rides and redemption games. Products range from single-player upright video games, to self-contained merchandising games, to multiplayer attendant operated simulators.
Thanks for posting Arcadehero! Here’s a link to a newspaper report backing up my story if required.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10162001.City_shopping_centre_facing_closure/
Such as shame, I know how they feel whoever loved going to that arcade. But at least it wasn’t shut because of lose of money like many game journalist believe to think so saying “arcades are dead” catchphrase. It’s situations like this that all comes down to whatever effect the mall/centre has on the tenants. Take namco wonder park for example that was shut not because they were loosing money but because meadowhall shopping centre wanted them out so they could turn the building with the arcade in it into more restaurants so they can’t charge triple rent despite namco offering more money. Then there was that issue over rent at Funland trocadero arcade when the owners chained the fire exits to force them out (evil bastards) and not only lose of the best arcade in the UK but so many jobs were lost. If game experts are going to say arcades are dead then they’ll have to prove they are with evidence and real reasons and not speculations since they’ve been saying arcades are dead for at least 20 years now OHH but they’re still being made even in the west, Rawthrills, sega amusements europe etc
Sadly money was a factor; they were just breaking even in their final years and that was down to the very low rent inside the complex. Relocating anywhere else in the city would not have been viable so I guess they took the chance to call it a day. Shame as a few good ideas could have made a difference giving them a reason to open elsewhere.