Nihon Bussan

Last updated
Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.
日本物産株式会社
Native name
日本物産株式会社
Romanized name
Nihon Bussan Kabushiki gaisha
Company type Public
Industry Video game industry
FoundedOctober 1970;53 years ago (October 1970)
FounderSueharu Torii
DefunctDecember 15, 2015;8 years ago (2015-12-15)
FateClosed, properties sold to Hamster Corporation
Headquarters
Kita, Osaka
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Sueharu Torii
  • (president and CEO)
  • Kazuo Torii
  • (executive director)
Products
  • Video games
  • Arcade cabinets
  • Slot machines
  • Yachts
Number of employees
30

Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd. [lower-alpha 1] was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Kita, Osaka. [1] In the past they had also manufactured and sold yachts. [2]

Contents

The main video game brand of the company was Nichibutsu (日物、ニチブツ), with adult video games (mainly strip mahjong arcade games) coming under the Sphinx (スフィンクス) brand. [3] The company used a horned owl for its official logo. [4]

In March 2014, Nihon Bussan sold its video game library to Hamster Corporation due to the decision of original founder Sueharu Torii to retire. The company was disbanded on December 15, 2015. [5]

History

Nichibutsu sponsored the Lotus F1 team from 1991 to 1993; pictured is the Lotus 102D bearing their logo. Lotus102d.jpg
Nichibutsu sponsored the Lotus F1 team from 1991 to 1993; pictured is the Lotus 102D bearing their logo.

The company's founder Sueharu Torii established Nihon Bussan in October 1970 in Kita-ku, Osaka. They begin their activities by mainly selling arcade machines. In 1972, the company was incorporated as Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd with a capital of 3 million yen. [6]

In 1976, Nihon Bussan made its debut as a manufacturer to the Amusement Machine Show and opened a Tokyo office in 1978. [6] 1978 also saw Nihon Bussan entering the arcade game market, when they debuted with a clone of the game Breakout called Table Attacker. [7] The same year, Nihon Bussan settled with Taito by paying a license fee to launch a clone of Space Invaders titled Moon Base. [8] Also in 1979, a business alliance was formed with Namco for a clone of Galaxian called Moon Alien. Originally intended as a limited release, Nihon Bussan violated the manufacturing agreement by producing the title in more units than the agreement called for and ended up paying Namco the excess of the license fee. [9] Nihon Bussan continued to release successful titles such as Moon Cresta and Crazy Climber . [10]

In 1983, the company developed Jangou Night which features the industry's first undressing elements and established the genre of strip mahjong games. [11] In 1984, Nihon Bussan developed Tube Panic, the industry's first board game equipped with a rotation feature. [12] From the mid-1980s, Nihon Bussan released Terra Cresta and Cosmo Police Galivan that made use of Yamaha YM3812 FM sound. [13]

Nihon Bussan entered the home video game market in 1983 by developing a console of their own, the My Vision, and in 1986 released their first NES title, MagMax , followed by the MSX in 1989; the same year also saw the release of the company's last mainstream arcade game, Sky Robo (Tatakae! Big Fighter in Japan) before switching to exclusively produce strip mahjong titles for that market; in 1992, the company left JAMMA after the arcade industry began showing concerns about increasingly risque material in their strip mahjong games. [14] In 1990, Nihon Bussan released console-first titles for the PC Engine such as F1 Circus which became a major hit. During the height of the F1 Circus series, Nihon Bussan sponsored Team Lotus from 1991 to 1993; the sponsorship agreement allowed Lotus to appear as the only licensed team in the F1 Circus titles until Nichibutsu obtained a complete license from Formula One Constructors Association.

Nihon Bussan began releasing games for the Mega Drive in 1991, SNES in 1992, Sony PlayStation in 1995 and for the Sega Saturn in 1996. Some of the titles were mahjong titles, with their PC Engine game Sexy Idol Mahjong featuring strip elements from their arcade titles.

In March 2009, the company partnered with D4 Enterprise to reprint and distribute Nihon Bussan retro games for its Project EGG service. [15]

In March 2014, Nihon Bussan sold the rights of all video games to Hamster Corporation. [16] Hamster had approached founder Sueharu Torii for a licensing agreement of Nihon Bussan's games. Torii opted instead to sell outright the company's video game library and to retire.

Timeline

List of Nihon Bussan games

Paddle games

Breakout clones

  • 1978 Table Attacker
  • 1978 Table Attacker Guard
  • 1978 Table Attacker Special
  • 1978 Table Attacker Black
  • 1979 Attacker Ace

Circus clones

  • 1978 Table Bonpa
  • 1979 Bonpa

Shooters

Moon Base series

Originally clones of Space Invaders .

  • 1978 Moon Base
  • 1978 Moon Base Spector
  • 1978 Moon Base Zeta
  • 1979 Super Moon Base

Terra Cresta series

This series was followed by Sol Cresta in 2022, developed by another company.

Other shooter games

  • 1980 Moon Alien (clone of Galaxian )
  • 1980 Moon Alien 2
  • 1980 Moon Alpha
  • 1980 Moon Raker
  • 1980 Moon Quasar
  • 1981 Moon Shuttle
  • 1984 Seicross
  • 1984 Tube Panic
  • 1985 MagMax
  • 1986 Soldier Girl Amazon (a.k.a. Sei Senshi Amatelass)
  • 1986 Ninja Emaki (a.k.a. Youma Ninpou Cho)
  • 1987 Sky Fox (a.k.a. Exerizer)
  • 1987 Terra Force
  • 1987 Legion
  • 1988 Formation Armed F
  • 1989 Sky Robo (a.k.a. Tatakae! Big Fighter)

Action games

Quiz games

Puzzle games

Mahjong games

Other games

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: 日本物産株式会社, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha

Related Research Articles

<i>Crazy Climber</i> 1980 video game

Crazy Climber is a vertically scrolling video game produced by Nichibutsu and released for arcades in 1980. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. Ports for the Arcadia 2001 and Atari 2600 were published in 1982, followed by the Famicom in 1986 and X68000 in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Corporation</span> Developer and retailer of pachinko machines

Sammy Corporation is a Japanese developer and retailer of pachinko and pachislot machines, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its South Korean office, Sammy Amusement Service, is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Sammy is a subsidiary of the entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings.

David M. Rosen is an American businessman and the co-founder of the Japanese video game company Sega. He retired from the company as Chairman in 1996.

Centuri, formerly known as Allied Leisure, was an American arcade game manufacturer. They were based in Hialeah, Florida, and were one of the top six suppliers of coin-operated arcade video game machinery in the United States during the early 1980s. Centuri in its modern inception was formed when former Taito America president Ed Miller and his partner Bill Olliges took over Allied Leisure, Inc. They renamed it "Centuri" in 1980.

Gremlin Industries was an American arcade game manufacturer active from 1970 to 1983, based in San Diego, California. It was acquired by Sega in 1978, and afterwards was known as Gremlin/Sega or Sega/Gremlin. Among Sega/Gremlin's most notable games are Blockade and Head On, as well as being the North American distributors for Frogger and Zaxxon. The company's name was subsequently changed to Sega Electronics in 1982, before its operations were closed in 1983.

<i>Exerion</i> 1983 video game

Exerion is a fixed shooter video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades in September 1983, and licensed to Taito for manufacture and distribution of the game in North America. The player controls a starship and must fire at enemies on the screen while avoiding projectiles. The game uses a pseudo-3D scrolling background, giving a sense of depth, and the player's ship has a sense of inertia while it is being controlled with the joystick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Vision</span>

The My Vision is a home video game console developed by Nichibutsu and released in Japan in 1983. The system was dedicated solely to playing video versions of popular board games. The console had no controllers; instead, players used a keyboard on the front of the console to input their actions.

<i>Moon Cresta</i> 1980 video game

Moon Cresta is a fixed shooter video game released by Nichibutsu for arcades in 1980. In North America, it was licensed to Sega/Gremlin and Centuri, the latter releasing it in arcades as Eagle. Incentive Software published ports of Moon Cresta for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Dragon 32 and ZX Spectrum home computers. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.

<i>Terra Cresta</i> 1985 video game

Terra Cresta is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nihon Bussan in 1985. The player controls a flying craft to destroy the Mandler army before they destroy all of humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting different ship parts that each provide their own unique weapon, such as a wave gun or a double shot. It is the sequel to the 1980 fixed shooter Moon Cresta, Nihon Bussan's first big hit in arcades and the second installment of the Cresta Series.

UFO Robo Dangar is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nichibutsu in 1986. It is a spinoff of the Cresta Series, which includes Moon Cresta, Terra Cresta and Terra Force. The game is inspired by the anime series UFO Robo Grendizer and Danguard Ace.

<i>MagMax</i> 1985 video game

MagMax is an arcade video game which was developed by Nihon Bussan and released in 1985 under its brand Nichibutsu. A horizontal scrolling shooter, players control the title hover ship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to destroy any enemies attempting to stop it.

UPL Co., Ltd (株式会社ユーピーエル), formally known as Universal Playland (ユニバーサルプレイランド), was a video game production company headquartered in Oyama, Tochigi, Japan. It was founded in 1972 as a subsidiary of Universal Entertainment. On November 1, 1983, the company was renamed to "UPL Co. Ltd". UPL filed for bankruptcy in March 4, 1992.

Allumer, Ltd. (アルュメ株式会社), was a video game production company, established in February 1978 and headquartered in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. The company suspended business in October 5, 1999. In February 2023, Japanese video game publisher Hamster Corporation acquired the rights to Allumer's catalog of titles. After the acquisition, the games from the company began to appear on their Arcade Archives series of re-releases, beginning with Magical Speed. Other titles from the company, such as Blandia, Rezon, Mad Shark, Zing Zing Zip, and War of Aero started appearing afterwards.

<i>Oretachi Gēsen Zoku</i> Video game series

Oretachi Gēsen Zoku (オレたちゲーセン族) is a series of 19 emulated arcade machine game titles from the 80s and 90s for PlayStation 2 published by Hamster and only available in Japan. Of the 19 games, the last two – Thunder Cross (1988) and Trio the Punch (1990) – were previously never released on home platforms.

Hamster Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taito of Brazil</span> Defunct Brazilian subsidiary

Taito of Brazil was a pinball and arcade manufacturer located in São Paulo, Brazil.

<i>Cosmo Police Galivan</i> 1985 video game

Cosmo Police Galivan is a single-player, shoot-em-up arcade video game developed and released worldwide by Nichibutsu. The game is a homage to the Japanese tokusatsu shows Space Sheriff Gavan and Space Sheriff Sharivan. It was later ported to Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Famicom. The game is included in the Arcade Archives series for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The game has a sequel on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, called Cosmo Police Galivan II: Arrow of Justice.

Nihon Maicom Kaihatsu, better known as NMK, was a Japanese video game developer that created various arcade games and shoot 'em ups. Founded in May 1985, the company is best known for its Neo Geo title, Zed Blade, which the Japanese publisher Hamster Corporation owned the rights to when they released it on their ACA Neo Geo lineup in 2017. In March 2021, several other NMK games began appearing on their Arcade Archives series of re-releases, beginning with Thunder Dragon. Other titles from the company, such as Saboten Bombers, Hacha Mecha Fighter, Gunnail and Thunder Dragon 2 started appearing afterwards.

<i>Terra Cresta 3D</i> 1997 video game

Terra Cresta 3D is a 1997 vertical-scrolling shooter video game developed by Nihon Bussan and published by its main publishing label Nichibutsu for the Sega Saturn in Japan. It is the fourth game in the Cresta series, following the 1992 game Terra Cresta II: Mandler's Counterattack for the PC-Engine. The player assumes control of three starships as they must complete six stages while destroying enemies and avoiding collision with them and their projectiles. By collecting small "F" icons the player can merge the three ships into one and gain access to new, more destructive weapons.

<i>Sol Cresta</i> 2022 video game

Sol Cresta is a vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by PlatinumGames. It is the fifth and final entry in the Cresta series, following the Japan-exclusive 1997 game Terra Cresta 3D for the Sega Saturn and the first game in the series to not be developed by Japan-based studio Nichibutsu. The title was released as the first under PlatinumGames' label of "Neo-Classic Arcade" range, a label that refers to the modernization of classic arcade games. It was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows in February 2022.

References

  1. ↑ "Nichibutsu Fact Book Archived 2010-02-21 at the Wayback Machine ." Nihon Bussan. Retrieved on February 19, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Yacht impressions page". Archived from the original on 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  3. ↑ Sphinx also released the game in the name of Nihon Bussan and it is listed on the home page. Mahjong Hanafuda product list Archived 2013-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ At Famitsu released in 1990, Nichibutsu mark is described as designed the owl, which is called the God of happiness motif.
  5. ↑ "Notice Regarding Company Dissolution" (in Japanese). Civil Legal Association. December 2015. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game Flyers: Frontier Spirit of Amusement, Nichibutsu".
  7. ↑ Shooting Game Side Volume 11, page 31 (February 7, 2015; Japanese)
  8. ↑ Game Machine March 1, 2001 issue (Japanese)
  9. ↑ Game Machine June 15, 2001 issue (Japanese)
  10. ↑ Business Japan – Volume 29, Page 125 Nihon Kōgyō Shinbunsha – 1984 "The wider this trend expands, the deeper these game machines lead the people into the world of dreams and fantasy. Nichibutsu, Japan's unique game machine manufacturer which started earlier than other similar makers the full utilization of the most advanced technology, is determined to come out with products which the people want to play with."
  11. ↑ "Goodbye to Nichibutsu" interview with company president Sueharu Torii (November 6, 1992 issue of Famitsu)
  12. ↑ Shooting Game Side Volume 10 (September 26, 2014, Japanese) Archived 2014-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "Project EGG – participating companies list". Amusement-Center.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  14. 1 2 [麻雀ゲームの審査に不満を示した日本物産の退会で議論」, Game Machine issue 420 (1992), p. 3 (Japanese)]
  15. ↑ D4 enterprise Project EGG/Value-Press press release
  16. ↑ NEWS RELEASE.
  17. ↑ Game Machine No. 15 (April 2014, Japanese)
  18. ↑ Moon Cresta, Crazy Climber, the last update of the trademark rights of the family Mahjong has become in 2007. Industrial Property Digital Library – trademark search
  19. 1 2 Lewin, Gene (January 15, 1984). "Gene's Judgements: Critiquing AMOA Show Conversions, Dedicated Games". Play Meter . Vol. 10, no. 2. pp. 60–2, 78.
  20. ↑ Sharpe, Roger C. (July 15, 1985). "Critic's Corner" (PDF). Play Meter . Vol. 11, no. 13. pp. 25–31.
  21. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 246. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 October 1984. p. 31.
  22. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 247. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 November 1984. p. 31.
  23. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 250. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 December 1984. p. 29.
  24. ↑ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 251. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 January 1985. p. 37.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.