Saturday, January 24, 2009

New Sega Themepark under Construction ...in Dubai

We all know about Segas theme park ventures over the years, including the still running Joypolis in Japan, Gameworks in America and the no longer existing Sega World parks in London and Australia. Well it looks like Sega hasn't given up on building brand new parks as they are now construing one called "Sega Republic" in a huge Mall in Dubai, of all places. Sonic Retro has the info:

"SEGA Republic, is a two-level, 76,000 square feet indoor theme park, featuring a diverse line-up of rides and amusements. It will be the first of its kind in the region, and will serve as a benchmark for future SEGA indoor theme park developments across the Middle East and North Africa region and the Indian Subcontinent. With zones themed to reflect the experiences on offer, from the thrill of the ‘Speed Zone’, the active ‘Sports Zone’, the major rides and simulators, and huge redemption zone."
Concept art of the 'Sonic Hopper'

"SEGA Republic offers visitors of all ages the opportunity to discover the worlds they wish to explore through a variety of themed zones: Wild Adventure Zone, Speed Zone, Cyberpop Zone, Sports Zone and the Redemption Zone. Near the entry, is ‘Sonic Hopper’ (pictured) a drop tower offering thrills for all age groups in a family-free-fall experience. The ‘Wild Adventure’ zone includes motion simulated rides with an extreme adventure theme such as ‘Wild Wing’ that allows visitors to experience a dramatic aerial tour of the countryside or also explore nature up-close on ‘Wild Jungle’. SEGA Republic® also features ‘Spin Gear’, a full-scale indoor horizontal spinning-coaster offering several surprise twists and turns. In the Sports Zone, visitors can enjoy games and rides based on real-world sports, such as the signature attraction, ‘Halfpipe Canyon’."

"Another large attraction at the SEGA Republic is the ‘Redemption Zone’, a themed arcade and gaming zone, where tickets can be won and redeemed for a large range of merchandise. SEGA Republic at The Dubai Mall is a fully-themed indoor environment and will be one of the largest of its kind in the region. From the roller coaster, to the ride simulators, and arcade games, from its redemption activities to the physical sports games, SEGA Republic will thrill all its visitors."

Along with this info, photos of the park currently in construction can be seen over at this thread on Theme Park Review. One photo shows a Robotnik styled coaster cart. All this park needs now is some bottomless pits and they could call it "Eggman land".