Japanese toy and video game company
Taito Corporation
[b]
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
,
[c]
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]
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
[
edit
]
In 1944,
Ukrainian Jewish
businessman
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Taito's first video game was called
Elepong
. It is a ping-pong arcade cabinet released in 1973 in Japan.
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]
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
[
edit
]
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
Hirakawach?
,
Chiyoda
.
[20]
In October 2000, Taito merged with Kyocera Multimedia Corporation to enter the market of mobile phones for the first time.
[21]
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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Revitalizing The Legacy: An Interview With Taito's Keiji Fujita"
.
Gamasutra
.
- ^
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.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Smith, Alexander (November 19, 2019).
They Create Worlds
. CRC Press.
ISBN
9780429752612
.
- ^
a
b
c
Akagi, Masumi (September 21, 2005).
それは「ポン」から始まった-ア?ケ?ドTVゲ?ムの成り立ち
[
It Started From Pong
] (in Japanese). Amusement News Agency.
ISBN
978-4990251208
.
- ^
"Taito Corporation Company Profile 2019"
(PDF)
(in Japanese). Taito. 2019. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on May 15, 2020
. Retrieved
May 27,
2020
.
- ^
"History"
(in Japanese). Taito. Archived from
the original
on May 7, 2020
. Retrieved
November 4,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Ashcraft, Brian (May 2, 2018).
"Before Space Invaders, Taito Made Vodka"
.
Kotaku
.
G/O Media
. Archived from
the original
on August 8, 2020.
- ^
Crown Soccer Special
at the
Killer List of Videogames
- ^
"Munves' Southern Tour Reveals High Earnings For Several Games At Tampa Fair"
.
Cash Box
. Cash Box Pub. Co. March 9, 1968. p. 61.
- ^
a
b
c
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
.
- ^
Chris Kohler (2005),
Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life
,
BradyGames
, pp. 16?19,
ISBN
0-7440-0424-1
- ^
Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006).
ア?ケ?ドTVゲ?ムリスト???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
.
- ^
"Photos: The golden age of video arcades"
. December 20, 2016.
- ^
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"
.
- ^
"Nakanishi Appointed As New President Of Taito Corp"
(PDF)
.
Game Machine
. Amusement Press, Inc. April 1, 1984
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Taito Corporate History"
. Taito Corporation. January 18, 2024.
- ^
"The Tragic Tale Of Taito's WOWOW, The Console Which Promised Download Gaming In 1992"
.
Nintendo Life
. August 11, 2015.
- ^
"Game Industry Rebounds".
GamePro
. No. 88.
IDG
. January 1996. pp. 22?23.
- ^
"Jupiter Strike".
Next Generation
. No. 15.
Imagine Media
. March 1996. p. 81.
- ^
"
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?平河町二丁目5番3?"
- ^
"Taito Corporate History"
. Taito
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ^
"The demolition of Japan's videogame history"
.
Kill Screen
. March 24, 2016.
- ^
Jenkins, David (August 22, 2005).
"Square Enix Makes Bid For Taito"
. Retrieved
August 26,
2007
.
- ^
"Square Enix ready to acquire Taito"
.
The Japan Times
. August 23, 2005
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ^
Carless, Simon (September 22, 2005).
"Square Enix Nears Takeover Of Taito"
. Retrieved
August 26,
2007
.
- ^
Klepek, Patrick (September 28, 2005).
"Square Enix Swallows Taito"
. Archived from
the original
on February 4, 2012
. Retrieved
August 26,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
Jenkins, David.
"Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games"
.
www.gamasutra.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Square Enix To Make Taito A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary"
(PDF)
. Square Enix Co., Ltd. December 12, 2005
. Retrieved
November 1,
2016
.
- ^
"Notice regarding Dissolution and Liquidation of Subsidiaries"
(PDF)
. Square Enix Co., Ltd. September 28, 2008
. Retrieved
September 28,
2008
.
- ^
"Taito Corporation - Notice of Inquiry Change"
. Taito Corporation. 2006
. Retrieved
March 11,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Notice of an Absorption-type Company Split Between Taito Corporation and ES1 Corporation"
(PDF)
. Square Enix Holdings. November 27, 2009
. Retrieved
November 1,
2016
.
- ^
"Square Enix 2019 Annual Report"
(PDF)
. Square Enix. 2019. p. 30. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on December 5, 2019
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
"Timeless Classics "Space Invaders" and "Arkanoid" Heading "Instant Games" on Messenger and Facebook News Feed"
(PDF)
. Taito. November 30, 2016
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ^
"Ninja Warriors Again announced for Switch"
. Gematsu. July 3, 2018
. Retrieved
July 7,
2018
.
External links
[
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]
Taito Corporation
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Video game development
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Lists of video games
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Space Invaders
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Related
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Bubble Bobble
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Rainbow Islands
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Puzzle Bobble
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Related games
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Main entries
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Related games
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