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
Type Public
Industry Video game industry
FoundedOctober 1970;53 years ago (October 1970)
FounderSueharu Torii
DefunctDecember 15, 2015;8 years ago (December 15, 2015)
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 copy of the game Breakout called Table Attacker. [7] The same year, Nihon Bussan settled with Taito by paying a license fee to launch a copy 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 game

Shooter

Action

Quiz

Puzzle

Sports

Action role-playing

Casino

Mahjong

Notes

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capcom</span> Japanese video game company

Capcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising, Ace Attorney, and Marvel vs. Capcom. Mega Man himself serves as the official mascot of the company. Established in 1979, it has become an international enterprise with subsidiaries in East Asia, Europe, and North America.

<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.

Jaleco Ltd. was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed to simply Jaleco in the early 1980s. This company was later acquired in 2000 by PCCW, who rebranded it as their Japanese game division, PCCW Japan, before reverting it to Jaleco in 2002. In 2006, Jaleco became independent from PCCW and renamed to Jaleco Holding, having their video game operations spun off into a new company, also called Jaleco. This new spin-off company was sold to mobile developer Game Yarou in 2009, with Jaleco Holding renaming itself to Encom Holdings shortly after.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Entertainment</span> Japanese video game company

Universal Entertainment Corporation, formerly known as Aruze Corporation and Universal, is a Japanese manufacturer of pachinko, slot machines, arcade games and other gaming products, and a publisher of video games. Aruze possesses licenses to both manufacture and distribute casino machines in the American states of Nevada, Mississippi and New Jersey. The company's corporate headquarters are in Tokyo. Aruze is also the licence holder of the video game franchise Shadow Hearts. Up until February 18, 2012, the company owned approximately 21% of Wynn Resorts. On November 1, 2009, Aruze Corporation changed its name to Universal Entertainment Corporation due to financial difficulties.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassette Vision</span> Home video game console

The Cassette Vision is a second generation home video game console made by Epoch Co. and released in Japan on July 30, 1981. A redesigned model called the Cassette Vision Jr. was released afterwards.

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 of 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. Following its acquisition by Sega in 1978, the company 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.

<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 Nichibutsu 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, Nichibutsu's first big hit in arcades and the second installment of the Cresta Series.

<i>Circus</i> (video game) 1977 arcade game

Circus is a block breaker arcade game released by Exidy in 1977, and distributed by Taito in Japan. The game is a re-themed variant of Atari's Breakout, where the player controls a seesaw and clown in order to pop all the balloons in the level. The game has been copied and released under different names by numerous other companies in both the United States and Japan.

<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.

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. The company originally started out as Clover Electronic Amusement in 1968, then became Taito of Brazil in 1972 by Abraham "Abba" Kogan, the son of the founder of the parent company Taito located in Japan. This subsidiary was originally an importer of existing U.S. and Japanese machine components to be assembled within the country. However, the taxation on imports had been growing steadily, and the government's belief that pinball is a game of chance and considered a gambling machine, led to strict import rules. By 1976, within rules created by the Electronic Processing Activities Coordinating Committee (CAPRE), it became illegal to import pinball machines. This created a problem, since the popularity of arcade games in Brazil had been growing exponentially for many years.

<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 inspired by the Japanese tokusatsu shows Space Sheriff Gavan and Space Sheriff Sharivan. It was later ported to Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Nintendo Entertainment System. 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.