Taito
From Sega Retro
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| Taito | ||
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| Founded: 1953-08-24[1] | ||
| T-series code: T-11 | ||
| Merged into: Square Enix (2005) | ||
Headquarters:
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Taito Corporation (株式会社 タイトー) is a video game publisher, developer and toy manufacturer known for games such as Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Bust-A-Move and Darius. It is headquartered in Taitō (or Taito City), a special ward of Tokyo, Japan, which is where the company gets its name from. The company's American publishing branch, Taito America, published their home console titles in North America until 1996, when the company struck a publishing deal with Acclaim Entertainment. In Europe and Australia, Taito's titles were published by other companies on their behalf.
Contents
History
On August 24, 1953, Russian-Jewish entrepreneur Michael Kogan established the Taito Trading Company. The company started its life off importing and distributing vending machines, and later jukeboxes before beginning to manufacture their own. In the 1960s it moved on to producing pinball tables, and saw its first video game released in 1973 (the same year the company was renamed Taito Corporation).
Michael Kogan passed away on February 5, 1984 while on a business trip in Los Angeles. A number of arcade industry figures wrote messages dedicated to him, including Sega figures David Rosen, Raymond Lemaire, and Hayao Nakayama.[2] Following his passing, Michael's son, Abba Kogan became chairman of Taito and Akio Nakanishi became Taito's president.
Taito distributed their own Sega NAOMI GD-ROM systems and games.
Taito was acquired by Square Enix in 2005, though the company still exists to this day.
Softography
Slot machine
- Olympia Star (1964) (concept and design)
- New Olympia (1969) (concept and design)
- Olympia Mark II (1971) (concept and design)
- Olympia Mark III (1972) (concept and design)
- Olympia Golden Star (1974) (concept and design)
SG-1000
- Space Invaders (1985)
- Chack'n Pop (1985)
- Elevator Action (1985)
Master System
- Bubble Bobble (1988)
- Cloud Master (1989)
- Rastan (1989)
- Operation Wolf (1990)
- Super Space Invaders (1992)
- Darius II (1992)
- Special Criminal Investigation (1992)
- Space Gun (1992)
- Renegade (1993)
- Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 (1993)
Mega Drive
- The NewZealand Story (1990)
- James "Buster" Douglas Knockout Boxing (1990)
- Rastan Saga II (1990)
- Insector X (1990)
- Space Invaders 90 (1990)
- Rainbow Islands Extra (1990)
- Darius II (1990)
- Growl (1991)
- Thunder Fox (1991)
- Ultimate Qix (1991)
- Fire Mustang (1991)
- Saint Sword (1991)
- Master of Weapon (1991)
- Mystical Fighter (1991)
- Chase H.Q. II (1992)
- The Flintstones (1993)
- Hit the Ice (1993)
- Darius (2019)
- Darius Extra Version (2021)
- Dragon's Lair: The Adventure Continues (unreleased)
- Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (unreleased)
Game Gear
- Rastan (1991)
- Super Space Invaders (1992)
- Bubble Bobble (1994)
- Bust-A-Move (1996)
Mega-CD
- Time Gal (1992)
- Night Striker (1993)
- The Ninja Warriors (1993)
- Revenge of the Ninja (1994)
Mega LD
- Pyramid Patrol (1993)
- Rocket Coaster (1993)
- Hyperion (1994)
- Time Gal (1995)
Saturn
- Galactic Attack (1995)
- HatTrick Hero S (1995)
- Darius Gaiden (1995)
- Bubble Bobble also featuring Rainbow Islands (1996)
- Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition (1996)
- Darius II (1996)
- Metal Black (1996)
- Night Striker S (1996)
- Taito Chase H.Q. Plus S.C.I. (1996)
- Space Invaders (1996)
- Bust-A-Move 3 (1997)
- Layer Section II Taikenban (1997)
- Time Gal & Ninja Hayate (1997)
- Cleopatra Fortune (1997)
- Elevator Action Returns (1997)
- Puzzle Bobble 2X & Space Invaders (1997)
- Gekirindan Time Travel Shooting (1997)
- Tokyo Shadow (1997)
- Pu-Li-Ru-La/Arcade Gears (1997)
- Gun Frontier Arcade Gears (1997)
- Layer Section II (1997)
- Bubble Symphony (1997)
- Senkutsu Katsuryuu Taisen Chaos Seed (1998)
- Densha de Go! EX (1998)
- Mizubaku Daibouken (1998)
- Psychic Force (unreleased)
NAOMI
- Cleopatra Fortune Plus (2002)
NAOMI GD-ROM
- Azumanga Daioh Puzzle Bobble (2002)
- Psyvariar 2: The Will To Fabricate (2003)
- Shikigami no Shiro II (2003)
- Usagi: Yasei no Touhai: Yamashiro Mahjong Hen (2003)
- Quiz Keitai Q mode (2003)
- Trizeal (2004)
- ExZeus (2005)
- Pochi to Nyaa (unreleased)
Dreamcast
- Psychic Force 2012 Taikenban (1999)
- Psychic Force 2012 (1999)
- Re-Volt (1999)
- Bust-A-Move 4 (2000)
- Densha de Go! 2: Kousoku-hen 3000 Bandai (2000)
- Spirit of Speed 1937 (2000)
- Cleopatra Fortune (2001)
PlayStation 2
- Taito Legends (2005)
Xbox
- Taito Legends (2005)
PlayStation 4
- Darius Cozmic Revelation (2021)
Nintendo Switch
Windows PC
- Taito Legends (2005)
External links
References
 NEC Retro has more information related to Taito
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- ↑ https://www.taito.co.jp/corporate/about (Wayback Machine: 2022-12-24 00:55)
- ↑ Game Machine, "1984-04-01" (JP; 1984-04-01), page 20