Joypolis

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Joypolis Tokyo

Joypolis is an amusement park that was first opened on July 20, 1994 in Yokohama, Japan. Joypolis centres have since opened in Tokyo, Umeda and Okayama, with all four parks featuring arcade games and amusement rides based on SEGA IP. Only the latter three appear to be actively run by SEGA to date. [1]

1 Yokohama's 1994 Opening
2 Middle East
3 Accident history
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Yokohama's 1994 Opening

The 11,946 sq metre complex opened with over 8,250 sq/m of that dedicated to the theme park's 7 major attractions. These included a revamped Virtua Racing (renamed Virtua Formula) and 217 coin operated arcade machines. Many of the rides also appeared inside Sega World Sydney when the parks launched in Australia. [2]

Virtua Formula - The opening attraction of Joypolis, an enhanced version of Virtua Racing with up to 8 players each. It features a full-sized Formula 1 cockpit and 80-inch playback screens. This game has a dedicated room with 32 machines running.
Rail Chase: the Ride - Based upon the SEGA arcade game Rail Chase. This is an interactive rollercoaster ride in which players must shoot targets as they travel.
Ghost Hunters - A ride which places the players in a pitch black arena, using mirrors to display holographic ghost targets.
Mad Bazooka - An indoor bumper car ride in which two teams of 6 players fire rubber balls at each other. Balls fire at the rate of 8 shots per second through a tank cannon, while the bumper cars have the ability to pick up the balls off the floor.
Astronomicon - An astrology-based interactive theatre that tells fortunes and reads horoscopes to an audience of up to 50 people.
AS-1 - A 360-degree motion simulator.
VR-1 Space Mission - A virtual reality space mission accommodating 8 people per machine which allows players to pilot their own space ship with twin yokes.

[edit] Middle East

SEGA announced in January 2008 [3] that there were to be releasing a series of new Theme Park Arcades in Emaar shopping malls across the Middle East.

The first Arcade is set for opening in the Dubai Mall, featuring such attractions as roller-coasters, simulators and arcade machines.

SEGAs CEO Hajime Satomi said, "Entertainment is about living dreams, it is about experiencing joy and culture. In joining with a company of Emaar's stature and power, we hope to convey the pleasure and excitement inspired by great entertainment to people all over the world."

The Theme Park Arcade is set for release in 2008, and there has currently been no mention of Sega opening more parks in other locations.

[edit] Accident history

On April 20, 2005, Sega Corp. closed its Tokyo Joypolis theme park indefinitely, pending a police investigation and an internal investigation into park safety procedures. The action comes in the wake of an accident on the previous Monday in which a 30-year-old man died after he fell out of a ride. The ride, called "Viva! Skydiving," is a simulator ride that is designed to give passengers an experience of virtual skydiving. Apparently, the ride's operators allowed the man to board the ride, even though the safety belt was not long enough to fit around his body. The man was secured only by an over-the-shoulder restraint, but Sega president Hisao Oguchi says that the restraint was locked in a "more loose position," causing the man to fall out.

"It was our mistake." said Oguchi.

Reports indicate that, while Sega's official park operations manual forbids riders from riding without seat belts, Tokyo Joypolis had given its employees an unofficial manual that allowed ride operators to use their own discretion as to whether a person could board a ride. Sega says it was unaware that the park had its own manual.^[1]