Sega Founder David Rosen, Who Brought Gaming to Japan, Dies at 95

David Rosen, the American entrepreneur who co-founded Sega and helped build Japan's video game industry, has died. He was 95. Rosen passed away on Christmas Day. He led Sega from the 1960s into the 1990s and was a key figure in arcade and home gaming history. After serving as a US Air Force pilot in the Korean War, Rosen stayed in Japan. In 1954, he started Rosen Enterprises. His first business was importing American photo booths to meet Japan's demand for new ID card photos. He soon expanded to importing pinball and other coin-operated machines. In 1965, Rosen merged his company with another importer, Nihon Goraku Bussan. They combined the name of its "Service Games" division to form Sega. Rosen oversaw Sega's rise, including the creation of Sega of America and the hugely successful Mega Drive console. He remained a company director until 1996.