Sunsoft

From Sega Retro

SunCoporation (サン電子株式会社) is a Japanese electronics company founded on April 16, 1971. In 1978 it began publishing video games under the Sunsoft (サンソフト) brand.

Beginning its work in arcades, Sunsoft would move into Famicom game development in the mid-1980s. It would acquire the rights to develop and publish several Sega arcade ports for the system in Japan, and would publish games for Sega platforms, starting with the System 16 arcade game Bay Route in 1989. In addition to original titles, Sunsoft would also obtain licenses to several film and televison properties, establishing a US operation in 1986, known as Sun Corporation of America which would exist until 2001 when it was shuttered.

By the mid-90s, Sunsoft were effectively running two operations: the original Japanese arm continued to produce video games for the likes of the Super Famicom, Sega Saturn and PlayStation, but these efforts were not being picked up for distribution from their US arm, which was more interested in publishing games based on licensed properties like Looney Tunes. The company is also notable for financing Cyan's Myst (and Riven: The Sequel to Myst), which would for a period be the best selling computer game of all time (although ironically, Sunsoft were only interested in the console versions, which were decidedly less popular).

For reasons unknown, all Japanese Sega Mega Drive games published by Sunsoft resemble their Famicom game packaging; smaller boxes with the art printed right-to-left (save for Panorama Cotton), and complete with non-standard cartridge designs.

Softography

Mega Drive

Game Gear

Mega-CD

Mega LD

Sega Titan Video

Saturn

NAOMI GD-ROM

PlayStation 2

PlayStation Portable

Wii Virtual Console

Nintendo Switch

Nintendo Switch Online

Accessories produced

External links

References

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