Difference between revisions of "Zemina"

Revision as of 23:51, 23 September 2021

Zemina

Founded: 1981

Defunct: 1992

Headquarters:

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Zemina (재미나) was a South Korean video game developer, notable for playing a crucial role in the development of that country's game industry, and for its modern status as one of South Korea's most recognized native video game companies.

Company

Established in 1981, Zemina was one of many companies which produced software exclusively for the South Korean market. Beginning with the Daewoo Zemmix (an MSX computer) before progressing to the Sega Master System, the company saw a significant amount of financial and critical success in its home country. South Korea generally lacked software copyright laws until 1987, and Zemina spent a number of years hacking their logos into overseas games. The legality of some of their later releases is also questioned too, as newer laws protected only the game's actual code, and not the intellectual property that was being copied. Zemina generally lacked the official licenses to produce Sega Master System ports, but later notably acquire some licenses to specific properties (such as Konami's Block Hole.)

Zemina would eventually fade away during the 1990s, as copyright laws became more strict and Japanese competitors were eventually allowed to enter the market.

Games

Many of Zemina's Sega Master System games were actually SG-1000 games housed in a Master System cartridge and utilize the system's SG-1000 backwards compatible graphics mode. As the company's games were generally ports of existing MSX titles (which themselves were often bootlegs of commercially-released games), the similar architecture between the MSX and Master System standards meant games were relatively easy to port to the home system.

Softography

Master System

F-1 Spirit: The Way to Formula-1 (1987)
Nemesis (1987)
Nemesis 2 (1987)
New Boggle Boggle 2 (1989)
Super Boy II (1989)
The Three Dragon Story (1989)
Block Hole (1990)
Eagles 5 (1990)
Flashpoint (1990)
Puznic (1990)
The Micro Xevious (1990)
Cyborg Z (1991)
Penguin Adventure (1991)
Super Boy 3 (1991)
Wonsiin (1991)
Street Master (1992)
Super Boy 4 (1992)

References

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 | mergedwith=
 | mergedinto=
-| headquarters=South Korea
+| headquarters=[[wikipedia:South Korea|South Korea]]
-}}
+}}{{stub}}'''Zemina''' (재미나) was a South Korean video game developer, notable for playing a crucial role in the development of that country's game industry, and for its modern status as one of South Korea's most recognized native video game companies.
-'''Zemina''' (재미나) was a South Korean video game developer established in 1981. Zemina were one of many companies which provided software exclusively to the South Korean market, beginning with the Daewoo Zemmix (an MSX computer) before progressing to the [[Sega Master System]]. The company faded away during the 1990s, presumably as copyright laws became more strict and Japanese competitors were allowed to enter the market.
-South Korea lacked copyright laws for computer programs until 1987, so Zemina spent many years hacking overseas games for a South Korean audience. The legality of some of their later releases is also questioned too, as newer laws only protected the game's code, not intellectual property rights. Zemina generally lacked the official licenses to produce [[Sega Master System]] ports, but did notably acquire some licenses to specific properties (such as [[Konami]]'s ''[[Block Hole]]''.)
+==Company==
+Established in 1981, Zemina was one of many companies which produced software exclusively for the South Korean market. Beginning with the Daewoo Zemmix (an MSX computer) before progressing to the [[Sega Master System]], the company saw a significant amount of financial and critical success in its home country. South Korea generally lacked software copyright laws until 1987, and Zemina spent a number of years hacking their logos into overseas games. The legality of some of their later releases is also questioned too, as newer laws protected only the game's actual code, and not the intellectual property that was being copied. Zemina generally lacked the official licenses to produce [[Sega Master System]] ports, but later notably acquire some licenses to specific properties (such as [[Konami]]'s ''[[Block Hole]]''.)
-Many of Zemina's Master System games were ports of MSX games which were themselves pirates of commercial games. These typically run using the Master System's first graphics mode (which was used for backwards compatibility with [[SG-1000]] games), meaning they are essentially SG-1000 games "in disguise". This is because MSX and SG-1000 hardware is very similar in design.
+Zemina would eventually fade away during the 1990s, as copyright laws became more strict and Japanese competitors were eventually allowed to enter the market.
+==Games==
+Many of Zemina's [[Sega Master System]] games were actually [[SG-1000]] games housed in a Master System cartridge and utilize the system's [[SG-1000]] backwards compatible graphics mode. As the company's games were generally ports of existing [[MSX]] titles (which themselves were often bootlegs of commercially-released games), the similar architecture between the MSX and Master System standards meant games were relatively easy to port to the home system.
 ==Softography==