A new book hopes to revive some classic Sega arcade cabinets of yesteryear as pop-up paper sculptures. The project, titled Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History will feature some of the early 80s classics of game designer Yu Suzuki during his time at Sega's legendary AM2 division, specifically Hang-On, Space Harrier, Out Run, Thunder Blade and After Burner. The book is currently a quarter of the way towards its £40,000 (US$53,000) Kickstarter goal.
The project is the work of videogame history publisher Read-Only Memory, in collaboration with games writer Keith Stuart, paper engineer Helen Friel and illustrator Kam Tang. Read-Only Memory's Darren Wall says the project has been developed in full collaboration with Sega, so there shouldn't be any legal unpleasantness ahead of delivery, estimated for April 2019.
![The project, titled Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History will feature some of the early 80s classics of game designer Yu Suzuki during his time at Sega's legendary AM2 division](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/073db19/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x453+0+0/resize/680x453!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-2.jpg)
Alongside the sculptures, the book will feature schematics, game artwork and written histories. Pledges on Kickstarter start at £35 ($46) for a limited-edition version with a silver foil case and embossed cover (which, it has to be said, looks beautiful).
The games
![Motorbike racer Hang-On, from 1985, was one of the first 16-bit arcades](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/3dd1c89/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x383+0+0/resize/680x383!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-5.jpg)
Motorbike racer Hang-On, from 1985, was one of the first 16-bit arcades, and saw the player literally mount the motorcycle-shaped cabinet which had a screen built into the dashboard. The player had to lean into turns, hence the games title.
![Space Harrier, from 1985, was a pioneer of the on-rails shooter genre](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/541b072/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x383+0+0/resize/680x383!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-8.jpg)
Space Harrier, also from 1985, was a pioneer of the on-rails shooter genre, featuring a jet-propelled man fighting off hordes of mythical and prehistoric beasties and bosses. Despite this, the game featured a sit-in cabinet, perhaps betraying its roots as a jet fighter game.
![Out Run, from 1986, is perhaps the most famous game in the book](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/3f88adb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x383+0+0/resize/680x383!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-6.jpg)
Out Run, from 1986, is perhaps the most famous game in the book. It was a driving game complete with race-car cabinet in which the player races a Ferrari Testarossa Spider through a branching network of European roads.
![Suzuki turned to helicopters for 1987's Thunder Blade](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/14543b2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x383+0+0/resize/680x383!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-3.jpg)
Suzuki turned to helicopters for 1987's Thunder Blade. Its cabinet featured force-feedback, with the helicopter's flight stick vibrating in sync with the in-game action.
![The After Burner cabinet featured a rotating seat as well as ear-level stereo speakers](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/43ed3c6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/680x383+0+0/resize/680x383!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fpop-up-sega-arcade-7.jpg)
After Burner, also from 1987, completes the lineup. This jet combat sim's enclosed cabinet variant is the one featured in the book. This featured a rotating seat and cabinet as well as ear-level stereo speakers.
This is the publisher's first pop-up effort. If successful, the book is surely ripe for a sequel featuring some games from AM2's early 3D era in the 1990s, such as Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop and Daytona USA.
The project video's below.
Source: Kickstarter