Sega to build arcade in 'world's biggest' shopping centre

via ABC News

Japanese game company Sega says it will help build a massive game arcade in Dubai, in an under-construction shopping centre which purports to be the largest in the world once it opens.

Sega, a unit of the Sega Sammy group, said it had signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates' Emaar Malls Group to build the two-floor arcade inside the Dubai Mall later this year.

Under the license agreement, Sega will offer development and management know-how to Emaar Malls Group, which will build and operate the facility.

Sega says the arcade will occupy some 7,000 square meters of the shopping centre.

Sega became a household name with popular arcade games such as the 'UFO Catchers' claw vending machine, and in 1998 won a fan base with its Dreamcast machine.

It stopped producing the Dreamcast in 2001 under fierce competition from Sony and Nintendo.

The company has since focused on arcade machines, software and theme parks.

It saw a new lease on life after merging in 2004 with Sammy Corp, Japan's top maker of pinball slot machines.

Sega in a statement said it hoped the Dubai deal would open up new opportunities as Emaar Malls plans eventually to build more shopping malls in the Middle East, India and other emerging markets.