Sega World Bournemouth
From Sega Retro
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| Sega World Bournemouth |
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| Location: Bournemouth, United Kingdom |
| Opened: 1993-07-24 |
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The Sega World (Family Centre) in Bournemouth, United Kingdom was an indoor Sega World video arcade which opened in July 1993. It was the first dedicated Sega-branded arcade to open in Europe and is thought to have been the largest of its type for its time.
Unlike SegaWorld London which would become the the Sega World showpiece in the UK, the Bournemouth arcade was merely a place to play arcade games and browse a Sega-branded store (or visit the Burger King next door), however Sega used this location to demonstrate and test-run many of its new arcade machines.
Following the opening of the London branch, this Sega World eventually became known as a Sega Park around 1998. On the 31st of March 2000, Sega sold the arcade to Leisure Exchange, being renamed "Leisure Exchange and Quasar Elite" in 2006, "Prize Central" and later "Fun Central", which is its current operating name.
While the arcade still exists, far fewer cabinets are in operation and greater emphasis was put into fruit machines. Reportedly Sega attempted to move its operations to a smaller premises but was unable to due to fears of criminal activity.