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. 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 the company into developing their own games. (Translation by Shmuplations. ).

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  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. The following list comprises the various arcade system boards developed and used by Sega in their arcade games.

Arcade system boards

Arcade board Notes Notable games and release years DualCapable of both black-and-white and color displayHorowitz 2018, p. 24-26 Capable of packaging two games in the same arcade cabinetHead On (1979) Head On 2 (1979) G80 Introduced arcade conversion kits where games could be changed in 15 minutes via a card cage housed in game cabinet with six PC boards; kits were sold as Convert-a-Game paks or ConvertaPaks Color display Capable of raster and vector graphicsHorowitz 2018, pp. 31-35 Possessed the world's first color X-Y video system Convert-a-Game released in 1981, making it the second interchangeable arcade system (after the DECO Cassette System) Inspired later interchangeable arcade systems such as the Nintendo VS. System.Space Odyssey (1981) Space Fury (1981) Eliminator (1981)Horowitz 2018, pp. 43-46 Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (1983)Horowitz 2018, pp. 65-69 VCO Object Named after the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). Also called the Sega Z80-3D System. Uses a Zilog Z80 CPU. Uses scaling to create 3D effects.Horowitz 2018, pp. 56-58Turbo (1981) Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom (1982) SUBROC-3D (1982)Horowitz 2018, pp. 52-54 LaserActive Supports laserdisc playback, using a Pioneer laserdisc player called the LaserActive. Designed for laserdisc games called Mega-LD. Capable of displaying computer graphics over video footage.Horowitz 2018, pp. 71-74 Technology licensed to Bally Midway in 1983.Astron Belt (1983)Horowitz 2018, pp. 120, 131 Star Blazer / Galaxy Ranger (1983) GP World (1984) ALBEGASll (1984) NFL Football (1984) Time Traveler (1991)Horowitz 2018, pp. 184-187 AS-1 (1991) Muggo (1992) Michael Jackson in Scramble Training (1993) System 1System 2 Released in July 1983. Not designed with console ports in mind, but some titles were ported to the Master SystemHorowitz 2018, pp. 81-84 System 2's graphics unit served as the basis for the Master System's graphics chip (Translation by Shmuplations. ).Flicky (1984)Horowitz 2018, p. 77, 91 Choplifter (1985) Sega Ninja (1985) Wonder Boy (1986)Horowitz 2018, pp. 108-109 Shooting Master (System 2, 1985)Horowitz 2018, pp. 106-108 Wonder Boy in Monster Land (System 2, 1987)Horowitz 2018, pp.124-125 Super Scaler Initially known as "Sega Hang-On hardware"; was developed for Hang-OnHorowitz 2018, pp. 92-97 Refinement of VCO Object hardware Featured two Motorola 68000 processors. 16-bit hardwareHorowitz 2018, pp. 100-102 First board in the Super Scaler seriesHang-On (1985) Space Harrier (1985) System E Stripped-down version of Master System hardwareHang-On Jr. (1986) System 16System 18 Successor to the System 1 and System 2 boards, released in 1985Horowitz 2018, pp. 102-106 Nearly 40 titles released Four different versions of System 16 were made Served as the basis for design of the Mega Drive/Genesis Uses a Motorola 68000 and a Zilog Z80 as processors Limited to 128 sprites on screen at a timeFantasy Zone (16A, 1986) Quartet (1986) Alien Syndrome (16B, 1987)Horowitz 2018, p. 114 Shinobi (1987)Horowitz 2018, pp. 126-127 Altered Beast (1988)Horowitz 2018, pp. 132-134Horowitz 2018, p. 148 Golden Axe (1989) Aurail (16B, 1990)Horowitz 2018, pp. 174-177 Shadow Dancer (18, 1989) Alien Storm (18, 1990)Horowitz 2018, p. 171 D. D. Crew (18, 1991)The One. No. 36. emap Images. September 1991. p. 96. OutRun Based on the System 16 Second generation Super Scaler board; able to use sprite scaling to simulate 3D using Super Scaler technologyHorowitz 2018, pp. 112-114 Designed because Yu Suzuki was unable to make Out Run on existing technology at the timeOut Run (1986) Super Hang-On (1987)Horowitz 2018, pp. 118-119 Turbo Outrun (1989) X Board Capable of displaying 256 sprites on screen at the same time Capable of running at 60 frames per secondHorowitz 2018, pp. 144-145After Burner (1987) Thunder Blade (1987) Super Monaco GP (1989) A.B. Cop (1990) GP Rider (1990) System 24 Displayed in 496 × 384 resolution, larger than the 320 × 224 to which Sega designers were accustomed at the timeHorowitz 2018, pp. 141-144 Limited character RAM Early games loaded onto a floppy disk and could be switchedGain Ground (1988) Bonanza Bros. (1990)Horowitz 2018, p. 173 Y Board Fourth board in the Super Scaler series, and successor to the X Board Added an extra CPU and memory, as well as upgraded video hardware compared to the X Board Capable of performing real-time sprite rotationGalaxy Force (1988) Galaxy Force II (1988) Power Drift (1988)Horowitz 2018, pp. 137-140 Mega-TechMega Play Modified version of Mega Drive/Genesis hardware, designed to play multiple games Mega-Tech capable of playing up to eight games Mega Play capable of playing up to four games Distributed in the United States by BelamMega-Tech Arcade System (1989)Horowitz 2018, pp. 151-152 Mega Play Altered Beast Shinobi Super Hang-On System C Also known as System 14Horowitz 2018, pp. 165-168 Based on Mega Drive/Genesis hardwareBloxeed (1989) Columns (1990) System 32 Final board in the Super Scaler seriesHorowitz 2018, p. 182 Sega's first 32-bit system, and final major sprite-based board Uses NEC V60 processorHorowitz 2018, pp. 187-190 Research and development began in 1988Rad Mobile (1990) F1 Exhaust Note (1991) Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder (1992) SegaSonic the Hedgehog (1993)Horowitz 2018, pp. 190-193 Dark Edge (1993)Horowitz 2018, pp. 193-197 Burning Rival (1993) Jurassic Park (1994)Horowitz 2018, pp.229-233 Model 1 Sega's first video game system designed for 3D polygon graphics, developed internally at Sega between 1990 and 1991. Uses the same NEC V60 processor as in the System 32 Contains a custom graphics unit, the CG Board, that can display 180,000 polygons per second and 6,500 polygons per frame Capable of displaying 60 frames per second Board had a high cost during developmentHorowitz 2018, pp. 198-204 Original concept was initially conceived around 1988, and Sega began staff hiring for new system in 1989Virtua Racing (1992) Virtua Fighter (1993) Star Wars Arcade (1993) Wing War (1994)Horowitz 2018, p. 180 Model 2 Developed in collaboration with GE Aerospace. The first Sega board using Lockheed Martin technology, to produce texture-mapped 3D polygon graphics. Sega and GE Aerospace began co-development of texture-mapping 3D arcade system in September 1992, originally intended for release in 1993. Introduced the use of texture filtering and texture anti-aliasing Added Compu-Scene 3D graphics technology Utilizes the Intel i960 RISC processor for its CPU. Capable of displaying 300,000 textured polygons per second, at 60 frames per second.Horowitz 2018, pp. 203-206Horowitz 2018, pp. 206-210 Licensed to other developers Model 2 sold over 130,000 arcade systems by 1996.Daytona USA (1994) Virtua Cop (1994)Horowitz 2018, pp. 204-206 Virtua Fighter 2 (1994) Sega Rally Championship (1994)Horowitz 2018, p. 212 Virtua Cop 2 (1995)Horowitz 2018, p. 215 Fighting Vipers (1995)Horowitz 2018, pp. 217-220 Virtual-On: Cyber Troopers (1996)Horowitz 2018, p. 220 Sonic the Fighters (1996) Dead or Alive (1996) The House of the Dead (1997) Top Skater (1997) Dynamite Cop (1998)Horowitz 2018, pp. 222-226 Sega TitanVideo (STV) Based on Sega Saturn architecture Was Sega's low-end board during its lifespan, underpowered compared to the Model 2 Uses two Hitachi SH-2 CPU processors.Funky Head Boxers (1995) Virtua Fighter Remix (1995) Die Hard Arcade (1996) Model 3 Developed in collaboration with Lockheed Martin First unveiled at the 1996 AOU (Amusement Machine Operators' Union) show Utilizes a PowerPC processor for its CPU Upon release, was the most powerful arcade system board in existence Released in multiple "steps" with improving specificationsHorowitz 2018, pp. 233-237 Model 2 and 3 sold more than 200,000 arcade systems combined by 2000.Virtua Fighter 3 (1996) Scud Race (1996) Sega Rally 2 (1998) Fighting Vipers 2 (1998) Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge (1998) SpikeOut (1998)Horowitz 2018, pp. 237-240 Star Wars Trilogy Arcade (1998) NAOMI Released in 1998 at one-third the price of the Model 3 Shared architecture with Dreamcast, but with additional main, graphics and sound memory (32, 16 and 8 megabytes respectively) Uses Hitachi SH-4 CPU processor and PowerVR graphics processor Uses ROM boards, with optional GD-ROM drive.Sega Naomi service manual. SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. MANUAL NO. 420-6455-01, p. 7 If a drive is used, it will be used at bootup to copy data to a DIMM RAM board instead.Sega Naomi GD-ROM system service manual. SEGA ENTERPRISES, INC. USA. MANUAL NO. 420-6620-02, p. 12, 16, 22 Naomi in this configuration has no ROM board to run a game from NAOMI multiboard can use 3 or 4 boards at the same time depending on the gameSega Strike Fighter DX (9/1 ver) DGM-0095 schematic. Sega enterprises ltd. (Mentions Naomi slave, Naomi master and game boards)Sega Strike Fighter DX type Owner's manual, SEGA ENTERPRISES, INC. USA. MANUAL NO. 420-6589-01 mentions Naomi boards, Naomi multi master and Naomi multi slave, and a game BD on p. 128, and a photo with a 3 board design (each with two white edge connectors on the same side, not including a ROM board on top, nor a midplane) on p. 89.Airline Pilots DX Type Owner's manual. SEGA ENTERPRISES, LTD. MANUAL NO. 420-6471-01 uses the same 3 board design on p. 72. Mentions a Naomi board on p.10.Sega F355 challenge Owner's manual. SEGA ENTERPRISES, INC. USA. MANUAL NO. 4201-6507-01 shows 4 boards on p. 72, each with two white edge connectors and "Naomi board" on p. 10 and "NAOMI MULTI MASTER" and "NAOMI MULTI SLAVE" on p.137. mentions 4 Naomi systems. NAOMI is a backronym for New Arcade Operation Machine Idea. The name NAOMI was reportedly selected by Sega R&D head Hisashi Suzuki in honor of the British model Naomi Campbell.The House of the Dead 2 (1998) Crazy Taxi (1999)Horowitz 2018, pp. 240-242 Dead or Alive 2 (1999) Derby Owners Club (1999) F355 Challenge (1999) Power Stone (1999) Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000) Monkey Ball (2001) Mushiking: The King of Beetles (2003) Rhythm Tengoku (2006) Sega Networks Taisen Mahjong MJ (2002) Hikaru Custom modified version of NAOMI hardwareHorowitz 2018, pp. 242-244 Uses a custom Sega graphics chip and had more memory than the NAOMI Capable of smooth Phong shading and particle effects. Much more expensive than NAOMIAir Trix (2001) Brave Fire Fighters (1999) Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force (2001) Star Wars: Racer Arcade (2000) Planet Harriers (2000) NASCAR Arcade (2000) NAOMI 2 NAOMI 2, released in 2000, served as high-end replacement for Hikaru. Next-generation successor to NAOMI.