Taito

Last updated

Taito Corporation
Native name
株式会社タイトー
Romanized name
Kabushikigaisha Taitō
FormerlyTaito Trading Company
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Arcades
Toys
FoundedAugust 24, 1953;70 years ago (August 24, 1953) [lower-alpha 1]
Founder Michael Kogan
Headquarters
Shinjuku, Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
  • Katsuhiko Iwaki
  • (President)
  • Tetsu Yamada
  • (Chairman)
  • Yukio Lizawa
  • (Honorary chairman)
Products
Total equity Increase2.svg¥45.70 billion
Number of employees
752 (March 2020)
Parent Square Enix (2005–present)
Subsidiaries
  • Taito Game Rental
  • Taitotech
Website www.taito.com
Footnotes /references
"Taito Corporation Company Profile 2019" (PDF) (in Japanese). Taito. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.

Taito Corporation [lower-alpha 2] is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the Taito Trading Company, [lower-alpha 3] importing vodka, vending machines, and jukeboxes into Japan. It began production of video games in 1973. In 2005, Taito was purchased by Square Enix, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary by 2006. [1]

Contents

Taito is recognized as an important industry influencer in the early days of video games, producing a number of hit arcade games such as Speed Race (1974), Western Gun (1975), Space Invaders (1978), Bubble Bobble (1986), and Arkanoid (1986). Alongside Capcom, Konami, Namco, and Sega, it is one of the most prominent video game companies from Japan and the first that exported its games into other countries. [2] Several of its games have since been recognized as important and revolutionary for the industry – Space Invaders in particular was a major contributor to the growth of video games in the late 1970s, and the aliens featured in the games are seen as iconic emblems within the video game industry.

The company maintains a chain of arcade centers, known as "Taito Game Stations", across Japan, alongside being a manufacturer of toys, plush dolls and UFO-catcher prizes.

History

In 1944, a Jewish-Ukrainian businessman named Michael Kogan founded Taitung in Shanghai. [3] A refugee of the Soviet Union, Kogan previously worked in a factory in Japan during the country's involvement in World War II, before moving to Shanghai to join his father. [3] [4] Taitung, which translated to "Taito" in Japanese, dealt in floor coverings, natural hair wigs, and hog bristles. [3]

1950s–1960s

The Communist takeover of China prompted Kogan to liquidate the business in 1950 and move operations to Japan, which after the war was suffering a significant economic decline. [3] The second business, a clothing distributor named Taito Yoko, struggled financially as a result of employee carelessness and constant loss of products. [4] On August 24, 1953, Taito Yoko was abolished and replaced with the Taito Trading Company, where Kogan was joined by lawyer and retired newspaperman Akio Nakatani. [3] [5] Taito Trading Company began as a vodka distillery—the first company to produce vodka in Japan—and an importer of peanut vending machines and perfume machines. [6] [7]

Increasing competition led to Taito abandoning the vodka business in 1955 and focusing on its successful vending machines, in addition to importing jukeboxes. [3] [4] [7] As Taito lacked a proper license to import jukeboxes into Japan, it purchased broken-down machines from United States military bases and refurbished them with working parts from defective units. [3] The recovering Japanese economy allowed Taito to become the official distributor of AMI jukeboxes in the country. Though the deal had little impact at first, over 1,500 machines were sold by 1960 when the company began mixing Japanese records with American folk songs. [3] A partnership with the Seeburg Corporation made Taito its exclusive agent in Japan and one of the nation's leading jukebox companies. [3]

Taito began manufacturing electro-mechanical games (EM games) in the 1960s. In 1967, they released Crown Soccer Special (1967), a two-player sports game that simulated association football using electronic components such as pinball flippers. [8] In 1968, Crown Basketball debuted in the US as the highest-earning arcade game at the 1968 Tampa Fair. [9]

1970s–1980s

Taito changed its name from Taito Trading Company to Taito Corporation in August 1972. It established its American subsidiary in 1973 in downtown Chicago, Taito America. [3]

First video game

Taito's first video game was called Elepong. It is a ping-pong arcade cabinet released in 1973 in Japan.

Tomohiro Nishikado in 2011 Tomohiro-nishikado.jpg
Tomohiro Nishikado in 2011

Tomohiro Nishikado, a Tokyo Denki University engineering graduate who joined the company in 1968, was instrumental in the company's transition to video games. After developing the hit electro-mechanical target shooting games Sky Fighter (1971) and Sky Fighter II, his bosses at Taito believed transistor-transistor logic (TTL) technology would play a significant role in the arcade industry, so they tasked Nishikado with investigating TTL technology as he was the company's only employee who knew how to work with integrated circuit (IC) technology, and one of the few engineers at any Japanese coin-op company with significant expertise in solid-state electronics. [10]

Nishikado spent six months dissecting Atari's Pong arcade unit and learning how the game's IC chips worked, and began modifying the game. [10] This led to his development of the Pong-style sports video games Soccer and Davis Cup for Taito, [11] with Soccer developed first [10] but both released in November 1973. [12] He then developed several original arcade video game hits for Taito, notably the sports game TV Basketball (1974), the racing game Speed Race (1974), and the shooter game Western Gun (1975); these three titles were localized by Midway Manufacturing in North America as TV Basketball, Wheels, and Gun Fight, respectively.

In 1978, Nishikado created Space Invaders , which became the company's most popular title and one of the most popular games in arcade history, partially responsible for beginning the golden age of arcade video games. [13] [14] After Michael Kogan died in February 1984, his son, Abraham "Abba" Kogan, became Taito's chairman and Akio Nakanishi became its president. [15]

Taito's former logo Taito logo (old).svg
Taito's former logo

In April 1986 and barely a month after becoming part of the Kyocera group, Taito merged with two of its subsidiaries, Pacific Industrial Co., Ltd. and the Japan Vending Machine Co., Ltd, and absorbed them both. Japan Vending Machine was once an independent company but was purchased by Taito in July 1971 to strengthen its presence in the operation of amusement facilities. [16] Pacific Industrial was created by Taito itself in 1963 to develop products for the company. [16]

1990s–2000s

In 1992, Taito announced a CD-ROM-based video game console named WOWOW, that would have allowed people to play near-exact ports of Taito's arcades (similar to the Neo Geo), as well as download games from a satellite transmission (as the Satellaview would do later). It was named after the Japanese television station WOWOW and would have utilized its stations to download games. The WOWOW was never released. [17]

Taito America ceased operations in July 1996 after more than 20 years of existence. Taito had already sold exclusive rights for publishing its games in America to Acclaim Entertainment the previous year. [18] [19] Similarly, a division existed in London, England, United Kingdom to distribute Taito games in Europe. Taito (Europe) Corporation Limited was created in 1988 and liquidated in February 1998.

When Taito was owned by Kyocera, its headquarters were in Hirakawachō, Chiyoda. [20] In October 2000, Taito merged with Kyocera Multimedia Corporation to enter the market of mobile phones for the first time. [21]

Taito Ebina Development Center in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture. Opened in 1979, it closed in 2014. TAITO Ebina Development Center.jpg
Taito Ebina Development Center in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture. Opened in 1979, it closed in 2014.

In August 2005, it was announced that the gaming conglomerate Square Enix would purchase 247,900 Taito shares worth ¥45.16 billion (US$409.1 million), to make Taito Corporation a subsidiary of Square Enix. [23] The purpose of the takeover by Square Enix was to both increase Taito's profit margin exponentially as well as begin its company's expansion into new forms of gaming, most notably, the arcade scene, and various other entertainment venues. The takeover bid from Square Enix was accepted by previous stockholder Kyocera, making Taito a Square Enix subsidiary. [24]

On September 22, 2005, Square Enix announced successfully acquiring 93.7% of all shares of Taito, effectively owning the company by September 28, 2005. [25] [26] In March 2006, Square Enix wanted to make Taito a wholly owned subsidiary. [27] [28] To accomplish this goal, Square Enix merged Taito into SQEX Corporation. [27] [28] Although the combined company took on the name "Taito Corporation", it was actually Taito that was dissolved and SQEX that was the surviving entity. [28] Taito became a subsidiary wholly owned by Square Enix and was delisted from the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. [28]

In July 2008, Square Enix announced that it would liquidate two subsidiaries of Taito, Taito Art Corporation (an insurance and travel agent subsidiary) and Taito Tech Co., Ltd. (an amusement and maintenance subsidiary) on the grounds that both had fulfilled their business purpose. The process ended in October 2008. [29]

2010s–present

In February 2010, Taito's unit for home video games split into a separate company called Taito Soft Corporation (not to be confused with Taito Software, the North American division of the late 1980s). [28] On March 11, 2010, Taito Soft was folded into Square Enix. [30] All of Taito's franchises for video game consoles in Japan are since published by Square Enix.

Square Enix Holdings wanted all of its arcade operations to be regrouped into one subsidiary. The third and present Taito Corporation came to being on February 1, 2010, by merging the second company (formerly SQEX/Game Designers Studio) with ES1 Corporation. [31] In an "absorption-type company split" move, the second company was split and renamed Taito Soft Corporation, while ES1 Corporation became the third Taito Corporation. [31]

During its merger with the second company to become itself the new Taito Corporation, ES1 inherited all of Taito's arcade and mobile businesses, and nearly the totality of its employees. [31] On the other hand, Taito Soft Corporation (formerly SQEX) was left with 10 employees to concentrate exclusively on the development and publishing of video games for home consoles. [31] Taito Soft Corporation was eventually merged into Square Enix in March 2010 and dissolved. ES1 Corporation was established on June 1, 2009, as an operator of arcade facilities. [31] ES1 Corporation was owned by the shell company SPC1, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings. [31] SCP1 dissolved when ES1 became Taito Corporation in February 2010. [31] As such, the current Taito Corporation is technically the company formerly called ES1 Corporation. [31] [32]

On November 30, 2016, Taito announced that it will distribute Space Invaders and Arkanoid for Facebook with Instant Games on Facebook Messenger and Facebook News Feed. [33]

On July 3, 2018, Taito announced in Famitsu that it will return to the software publishing business for the eighth generation of video game consoles. The intention to return to the home console market came about because the company decided that it would be necessary to release Taito's intellectual properties on current platforms in order to increase profit. The company has various properties planned in its software pipeline, from re-releases to new titles for various platforms; however, Taito highlighted that the console software market is a challenging business for the company. Taito intends to develop original games for consoles in the future. [34]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Current company established on June 2009.
  2. ↑ Japanese: 株式会社タイトー, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Taitō
  3. ↑ Japanese: 太東貿易株式会社, Hepburn: Taitō Bōeki Kabushiki gaisha

Related Research Articles

<i>Space Invaders</i> 1978 video game

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade video game, developed and released by Taito in Japan and licensed to Midway Manufacturing for overseas distribution. Commonly considered to be one of the most influential video games of all time, Space Invaders was the first fixed shooter and the first video game with endless gameplay and set the template for the genre. The goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser cannon to earn as many points as possible.

<i>Arkanoid</i> 1986 video game

Arkanoid is a 1986 block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blocks by deflecting a ball towards it without letting the ball leave the bottom edge of the playfield. Some blocks contain power-ups that have various effects, such as increasing the length of the Vaus, creating several additional balls, or equipping the Vaus with cannons. Other blocks may be indestructible or require multiple hits to break.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Square Enix</span> Japanese entertainment company

Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing game franchises, such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, among numerous others. Outside of video game publishing and development, it is also in the business of merchandise, arcade facilities, and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand.

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

Irem Software Engineering is a Japanese video game developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo.

Zuntata is the "house band" of Japanese video game developer and publisher Taito. The band consists of sound director Katsuhisa Ishikawa, bassists Yu Shimoda and Shohei Tsuchiya, and drummer Masaki Mori. Zuntata is Taito's core sound department, and has become the collective name for the company's other sound production teams. The band has contributed to many of the company's franchises, including Darius, Groove Coaster, Arkanoid, and Space Invaders.

<i>Breakout</i> (video game) 1976 video game

Breakout is an arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and released on May 13, 1976. It was designed by Steve Wozniak, based on conceptualization from Nolan Bushnell and Steve Bristow, who were influenced by the seminal 1972 Atari arcade game Pong. In Breakout, a layer of bricks lines the top third of the screen and the goal is to destroy them all by repeatedly bouncing a ball off a paddle into them. The arcade game was released in Japan by Namco. Breakout was a worldwide commercial success, among the top five highest-grossing arcade video games of 1976 in both the United States and Japan and then among the top three highest-grossing arcade video games of 1977 in the US and Japan. The 1978 Atari VCS port uses color graphics instead of a monochrome screen with colored overlay.

<i>Elevator Action</i> 1983 video game

Elevator Action is a platform shooter game released in arcades by Taito in 1983. The player assumes the role of Agent 17, a spy infiltrating a 30-story building filled with elevators and enemy agents who emerge from closed doors. The goal is to collect secret documents from specially marked rooms, then escape the building. It runs on the Taito SJ System arcade system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomohiro Nishikado</span> Japanese video game developer

Tomohiro Nishikado is a Japanese video game developer and engineer. He is the creator of the arcade shoot 'em up game Space Invaders, released to the public in 1978 by the Taito Corporation of Japan, often credited as the first shoot 'em up and for beginning the golden age of arcade video games. Prior to Space Invaders, he also designed other earlier Taito arcade games, including the shooting electro-mechanical games Sky Fighter (1971) and Sky Fighter II, the sports video game TV Basketball in 1974, the vertical scrolling racing video game Speed Race in 1974, the multi-directional shooter Western Gun in 1975, and the first-person combat flight simulator Interceptor (1975).

<i>Gun Fight</i> 1975 video game

Gun Fight, known as Western Gun in Japan and Europe, is a 1975 multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Midway in North America. Based around two Old West cowboys armed with revolvers and squaring off in a duel, it was the first video game to depict human-to-human combat. The Midway version was also the first video game to use a microprocessor instead of TTL. The game's concept was adapted from Sega's 1969 arcade electro-mechanical game Gun Fight.

1975 had new titles such as Western Gun, Dungeon and dnd. The year's best-selling arcade game was Taito's Speed Race, released as Wheels and Wheels II in North America.

Michael "Misha" Kogan was a Ukrainian entrepreneur who founded the Japanese video game company Taito.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoichi Wada</span> Japanese businessman

Yoichi Wada is a former president and representative director of the Japanese video game and publishing company Square Enix as well as its subsidiary Taito. He is also the former chairman of the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), the former chairman of the Digital Content Use Promotion Conference, former president of Shinra Technologies and a former member of the Japanese Brand and Contents Council. He is a current outside director of Metaps.

<i>Arkanoid DS</i> 2008 video game

Arkanoid DS is a breakout video game developed by Taito and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. It was released on December 6, 2007.

<i>Space Invaders DX</i> 1993 fixed shooter arcade game

Space Invaders DX is a 1993 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Taito. It has been re-released for several consoles since, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine Super CD, and Sega Saturn — several of these conversions use the name Space Invaders: The Original Game. The player assumes control of a laser base that must fend off waves of incoming enemies, who march down in formation towards the bottom of the screen. It is the fifth entry in the long-running Space Invaders series. DX contains four variations of the original Space Invaders, in addition to a multiplayer mode and a "Parody Mode" that replaces the characters with those from other Taito franchises. Home ports of DX received mixed reviews for their high price point and general lack of content.

<i>Speed Race</i> 1974 video game

Speed Race is a 1974 arcade racing video game developed and manufactured by Taito and released under the titles Racer and Wheels in North America by distributor Midway Manufacturing in 1975. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the gameplay involves the player using the attached steering wheel to maneuver a car alongside a fast vertical scrolling road. The objective is to score points by driving past other cars without colliding with them; more points are awarded for driving faster. Players must do this under a 90-second time limit, which ends the game when it runs out. The gameplay concepts were adapted from two earlier driving electro-mechanical games: Kasco's Mini Drive (1958) and Taito's Super Road 7 (1970).

<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>Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders</i> 2017 mobile game

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders is a paid mobile game developed by Taito and published by Taito in Japan and Square Enix worldwide. As the name suggests, it is a crossover between Arkanoid and Space Invaders and has gameplay elements adapted from both games. The game was released without any prior announcement by Square Enix internationally on May 17, 2017. It was re-released on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 as part of Space Invaders Invincible Collection and Space Invaders Forever.

References

  1. ↑ "Revitalizing The Legacy: An Interview With Taito's Keiji Fujita". Gamasutra.
  2. ↑ Kent, Steven L. (2002). The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World. New York: Random House International. ISBN   978-0-7615-3643-7. OCLC   59416169. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Smith, Alexander (November 19, 2019). They Create Worlds. CRC Press. ISBN   9780429752612.
  4. 1 2 3 Akagi, Masumi (September 21, 2005). それは「ポン」から始まった-アーケードTVゲームの成り立ち[It Started From Pong] (in Japanese). Amusement News Agency. ISBN   978-4990251208.
  5. ↑ "Taito Corporation Company Profile 2019" (PDF) (in Japanese). Taito. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ "History" (in Japanese). Taito. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Ashcraft, Brian (May 2, 2018). "Before Space Invaders, Taito Made Vodka". Kotaku . G/O Media. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ Crown Soccer Special at the Killer List of Videogames
  9. ↑ "Munves' Southern Tour Reveals High Earnings For Several Games At Tampa Fair". Cash Box . Cash Box Pub. Co. March 9, 1968. p. 61.
  10. 1 2 3 Smith, Alexander (November 19, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982. CRC Press. pp. 192–5. ISBN   978-0-429-75261-2.
  11. ↑ Chris Kohler (2005), Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, BradyGames, pp. 16–19, ISBN   0-7440-0424-1
  12. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 40–1, 124. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  13. ↑ "Photos: The golden age of video arcades". December 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ Smith, Dean (June 20, 2016). "The role of Space Invaders as the archetypal action videogame, and why its theme of 'One Versus Many' is so successful".
  15. ↑ "Nakanishi Appointed As New President Of Taito Corp" (PDF). Game Machine. Amusement Press, Inc. April 1, 1984. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Taito Corporate History". Taito Corporation. January 18, 2024.
  17. ↑ "The Tragic Tale Of Taito's WOWOW, The Console Which Promised Download Gaming In 1992". Nintendo Life. August 11, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Game Industry Rebounds". GamePro . No. 88. IDG. January 1996. pp. 22–23.
  19. ↑ "Jupiter Strike". Next Generation . No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 81.
  20. ↑ "Company Outline." Taito Corporation. January 11, 1998. Retrieved on January 30, 2011 "Head Office 2-5-3 Hirakawa-cho,Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 102,JAPAN." Address in Japanese: "東京都千代田区平河町二丁目５番３号"
  21. ↑ "Taito Corporate History". Taito. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  22. ↑ "The demolition of Japan's videogame history". Kill Screen. March 24, 2016.
  23. ↑ Jenkins, David (August 22, 2005). "Square Enix Makes Bid For Taito" . Retrieved August 26, 2007.
  24. ↑ "Square Enix ready to acquire Taito". The Japan Times . August 23, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  25. ↑ Carless, Simon (September 22, 2005). "Square Enix Nears Takeover Of Taito" . Retrieved August 26, 2007.
  26. ↑ Klepek, Patrick (September 28, 2005). "Square Enix Swallows Taito". Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
  27. 1 2 Jenkins, David. "Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games". www.gamasutra.com.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 "Square Enix To Make Taito A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary" (PDF). Square Enix Co., Ltd. December 12, 2005. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Notice regarding Dissolution and Liquidation of Subsidiaries" (PDF). Square Enix Co., Ltd. September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  30. ↑ "Taito Corporation - Notice of Inquiry Change". Taito Corporation. 2006. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Notice of an Absorption-type Company Split Between Taito Corporation and ES1 Corporation" (PDF). Square Enix Holdings. November 27, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Square Enix 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Square Enix. 2019. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Timeless Classics "Space Invaders" and "Arkanoid" Heading "Instant Games" on Messenger and Facebook News Feed" (PDF). Taito. November 30, 2016. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Ninja Warriors Again announced for Switch". Gematsu. July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.

The Taito Corporation Re-Board The Conzeldemonjo ProjectExovoidus Saga continues for Big Final Boss Fight Battle Richard Gutierrez Gabriel Byrne Andrew E. Richard Gomez Demon's Eve Fighting The Taito Corporation's Anniversary Special furaffinity.net/user/denzilsmurf Terrence Scammell (Canadian actor) André Rieu

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.