David Rosen has died at the age of 95. Rosen was a founding father of the gaming industry, as he co-founded SEGA and was the director of the company until 1996. He passed away on Christmas Day, with his family confirming the loss in early January.
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According to his spokesman, Brad Callaway, Rosen "was surrounded by family members when he passed peacefully," RePlay reported.
Rosen, a New York native, played a key role in SEGA's expansion, most notably on the export side of the business, helping build the company into a North American powerhouse on the gaming scene.
"In 1965, he merged the company with another importer, Nihon Goraku Bussan, whose coin-op business Service Games was shortened to Sega for the new venture," The Guardian reported.
Over the next two decades, SEGA began reshaping the gaming scene. Arcades moved away from physical attractions such as Air Hockey and Pinball and toward electronic gaming systems. Games such as Periscope, Missile, and Head-On began to rapidly rise in popularity.
Then, in the 1980s, Frogger was born along with Outrun and AfterBurner, and SEGA began to move into household name territory. Suddenly, SEGA was rising above its competitors, such as Namco and Capcom.
David Rosen's SEGA Was Highly Successful With the Mega Drive
During his time leading the company, Rosen also saw SEGA move into the games console sector. The Mega Drive became a fixture in homes around the world, both for its playability and focus on a wide library of games.
The Mega Drive and Mega Drive II were both incredibly successful. Games such as Streets Of Rage, Sonic The Hedgehog, Castlevania: Bloodlines, and countless others ensured there was something for everyone. And, in turn, SEGA's stranglehold on the gaming industry continued to rise. That was, until the rise of the Sony PlayStation in the mid-90s.
Nevertheless, even with declining interest in their game consoles during the mid-to-late 90s, SEGA remained a dominant force in the arcade scene for the remainder of the decade. Even now, a significant portion of arcade games will still display the SEGA logo before you start playing.
Rosen was a pioneer for the gaming industry, bridging the gap between Japan and North America, and in turn, the rest of the West. His loss is a big blow, both to the industry and gaming fans worldwide.
