SEGA is a Japanese entertainment company that has had a huge impact on popular culture, with vibrant and punchy video games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Outrun successfully embracing the youthful counter culture of the 1980s and 1990s. Starting in the 1940s as a manufacturer of one-armed bandits, jukeboxes and pinball machines for the entertainment of US Army troops, the company then known as Service Games - the name SEGA would be founded in the 1960s - quickly embraced video games when the medium first emerged in the 1970s. Over the years, SEGA would grow into the world’s most prolific arcade game producer, with 530 games across 73 franchises on 23 different arcade system boards since 1981, while also enjoying success through its now-legendary home consoles like the 16-bit Mega Drive system, aka the Genesis in North America. Best known for its multi-million selling game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA’s immense portfolio also boosts classic titles like Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Golden Axe, Shinobi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Yakuza and Total War amongst many, many others.