Pony Canyon: How PONYCA Grew from Japanese Computer Games to Ultima and AD&D
Pony Canyon is far better known for music, film, anime, and home video than for video games. Its name appears […]
Game Developers, Publishers
Publishers
Learn about the companies that brought video games to market. This category examines publishers, their catalogs, business strategies, partnerships, licensing agreements, marketing practices, regional operations, and their influence on the growth of the video game industry.
Development Studios, Publishers
Origin Systems: How Ultima, Wing Commander, and “We Create Worlds” Changed PC Gaming
In February 2004, employees at Origin Systems gathered for an all-company meeting in Austin, Texas. Packing boxes were already stacked […]
Publishers
Tactical Studies Rules: From Dungeons & Dragons to Pool of Radiance
In 1973, a small game company formed in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with little indication that its work would eventually reshape […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Seiji Toda: From Ultima and Bandit to the Beginnings of Gran Turismo
On December 16, 1994, Sony Computer Entertainment released Motor Toon Grand Prix for the original PlayStation. Its colorful cars and […]
Game Developers, Publishers
Electronic Arts: How the Software Artists Became a Video Game Empire
In the spring of 1982, Trip Hawkins walked away from one of the most promising companies in Silicon Valley because […]
Publishers
U.S. Gold: How American Games Built a British Publishing Giant
In the early 1980s, buying an American computer game in Britain could be an expensive proposition. Software that sold for […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Hudson Soft: From a Sapporo Radio Shop to Bomberman and the PC Engine
Long before Hudson Soft helped create one of Japan’s most important game consoles, turned a company employee into a national […]
Game Developers, Publishers
SEGA Enterprises: How Service Games, Arcades, Sonic, and Dreamcast Built a Video Game Giant
Long before Sonic the Hedgehog raced across television screens and long before the Sega Genesis challenged Nintendo for control of […]
Development Studios, Publishers
ICOM Simulations: From TMQ Software to Shadowgate and the CD-ROM Revolution
Long before Shadowgate placed players before the doors of a deadly castle, and before Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective put filmed […]
Publishers
NEC: How an Electronics Giant Built the PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, and PC-FX
Long before NEC became associated with the PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, and some of the most unusual hardware of the late […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Strategic Simulations, Inc.: The History of SSI from Computer Bismarck to the Gold Box and Panzer General
In the late 1970s, home computer gaming was still an industry waiting to be defined. The Apple II had only […]
Publishers
FCI: How Fujisankei Brought Ultima, Dungeons & Dragons, and Japanese Games to Nintendo
For Nintendo players in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the letters FCI appeared on an unusually varied collection of […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Ocean Software: The History of Britain’s Video Game Giant Behind RoboCop and Batman
For millions of players who grew up with a ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, Atari ST, or one […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Natsume: The History Behind Harvest Moon, Wild Guns, and Two Different Game Companies
For players who grew up during the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo years, the name Natsume can evoke several […]
Publishers
Hasbro Video Game History: From Hasbro Interactive and Frogger to Baldur’s Gate 3 and Monopoly GO!
Long before Hasbro became associated with Baldur’s Gate 3, Magic: The Gathering Arena, or Monopoly GO!, the company had already […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Imaginative Technology Land: How ITL Became One of Japan’s Hidden Video Game Developers
Some video game companies build their identities around mascots, famous designers, or logos that appear before the title screen. Others […]
Publishers
MCA’s Video Game History: From Atari and LJN to Crash Bandicoot and Spyro
Long before Universal Interactive Studios helped bring Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon to the PlayStation generation, the entertainment empire […]
Publishers
LJN: How a Toy Company Became the Rainbow Logo of Nintendo History
For a generation of Nintendo players, LJN is remembered before anything else by a rainbow. The curved bands of red, […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Irem: How Moon Patrol, Kung-Fu Master, and R-Type Built an Arcade Legend
In the summer of 1987, Japanese arcade trade magazine Game Machine carried a full-page advertisement for a new science-fiction shooter […]
Game Developers, Publishers
Thinking Rabbit: How Sokoban Launched a Japanese Game Studio
Thinking Rabbit was never one of the largest companies in the Japanese video game industry. It did not have the […]
Development Studios, Publishers
SETA Corporation: How Super Real Mahjong, Aleck 64, and Aruze Shaped a Japanese Game Company
For players who grew up with the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, or Nintendo 64, SETA could be an easy […]
Publishers
Acclaim Entertainment: The Rise, Reinvention, and Fall of a Video Game Giant
When Acclaim Entertainment entered the video game business in 1987, the American industry was still living with the memory of […]
Game Developers, Publishers
Square: How Final Fantasy Built a Japanese RPG Giant and Led to Square Enix
Few companies illustrate the volatility of video game history better than Square. It began as a small software operation attached […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Capcom: How an Osaka Arcade Company Became a Global Video Game Powerhouse
Capcom is one of those companies whose characters have become almost inseparable from video game history. Ryu throwing a Hadouken […]
Development Studios, Publishers
Konami: How a Jukebox Repair Business Became a Video Game Giant
Long before Konami became associated with vampires, tactical espionage, dancing arcade cabinets, military commandos, psychological horror, and a frog trying […]
Publishers
Mindscape: The Rise, Reinvention, and Fall of a Video Game Publisher
For players who grew up around computers and consoles in the 1980s and 1990s, the Mindscape name could appear almost […]