Sega is launching a new store in Tokyo, Japan: Sega Store Tokyo.
Sega didn’t share any specifics when it announced the news on social media, but the new store is expected to open in Shibuya’s Parco department complex, near the official Capcom store, a Pokémon Center, and Nintendo Tokyo, too.
The accompanying 18-second teaser doesn’t give much away, sadly, but Sega’s transmedia boss Justin Scarpone told VGC last year that it was time to put the Sega brand – and not just Sonic – “in front of consumers”.
“Our portfolio is very broad, but the common thread is the Sega brand,” Scaprone said at the time. “Sega already has a surprising amount of fandom as a brand, and we need to look after those fans and offer new experiences to them, while putting the stamp of Sega on it more proudly.
“It’s really exciting, and we need to do a lot more of that, because Sega is a consumer brand that is surprisingly not in front of consumers enough. Sonic is, but Sega isn’t.”
A second store is also expected to open in Shanghai, but as yet there’s no news of an expansion into Europe or America.
Alex recently caught up with Takashi Iizuka, the Sonic series producer who first worked on the franchise just two years into his career and has stuck with the blue blur for all these years.