Data East
| Data East
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | April 20, 1976 |
| resolution | June 25, 2003 |
| Seat | Japan |
| management | Tetsuo Fukuda |
| Branch | Arcade machines, game software, pinball machines |
Data East was a Japanese company that manufactured computer games and pinball machines. The company was also known as DECO (Data East Corporation) and DE. There was also an American offshoot, Data East USA (from 1979).
Companies
Data East was founded in 1976 by Tetsuo Fukuda and initially manufactured accessories for arcade devices . Arcade games were produced from 1978 . From 1987 to 1996 pinball machines were also manufactured through the takeover of Stern Electronics. Data East introduced significant innovations in pinball technology such as stereo sound (1987) and dot-matrix display (1991).
A total of over 300 computer games were produced and later often licensed by other companies (e.g. from Irem ).
The pinball division went to Sega Pinball, Inc. in late 1994 and returned to Stern in 1999 .
On June 25, 2003, Data East filed for bankruptcy. The trademark rights went to G-Mode in 2004 .
Games (selection)
Arcade games
- Super Break (1978) first game from Data East
- 2 in 1 RD (/ SB / SG) (1978)
- Space Fighter (1978), predecessor of Space Fighter Mark II
- Miracle Super (1978)
- Eagle H (1979)
- Nyson (1979)
- Astro Fighter (1979)
- Mole Hunter (1980)
- Bad dudes
- Burgertime (1982) also from Bally / Midway
- Rootin 'Tootin' (1982)
- Bega's Battle (1983) first laser disc game from Data East
- Karate Champ (1984)
- Kung Fu Master (1984) licensed from Irem
- Commando (1985) licensed from Capcom
- Boulder Dash (1985)
- Speed Buggy / Buggy Boy (1986) licensed from Tatsumi
- Kid Niki : Radical Ninja (1986) licensed from Irem
- Express Raider (1986)
- Last Mission (1986)
- Shackled (1986)
- The Real Ghostbusters (1987)
- Karnov / Karnov's Revenge (1987/1994)
- RoboCop / RoboCop 2 (1988/1991)
- Vigilante (1988) licensed from Irem
- Sly Spy (1989)
- Tumblepop (1991)
- Air Walker (1996)
Home computer games
All of the above games were also implemented for home computers (some from other manufacturers).
- Ikari Warriors (1986) C64 (Arcade version: SNK, 1986)
- Tag Team Wrestling (1987) C64 (Arcade-Version: Technos, 1984)
- Dragon Ninja (1989) C64 licensed from Imagine Software
- ABC Monday Night Football (1989) C64
- Dream Team Challenge 3 on 3 (1991) C64
Other platforms
Own arcade systems
- DECO Cassette System (arcade system from 1980 with digital, encrypted cassettes), first arcade standard. The 1st game was Highway Chase . About 47 games had been produced by 1985.
- Mother Less Cassette System (MLC) (Arcade, from 1995, only 4 games, 32-bit RISC CPU)
Games
- Magical Drop III for Neo Geo Hardware (1997)
- Bloody Wolf for PC Engine (1988)
- Side Pocket for the Nintendo Game Boy (1990)
- Shadowrun RPG for the SNES system (1993)
Famous pinball machines
(almost all named after successful films)
- Laser War (1987, DE's first pinball machine and the first with stereo sound)
- Time Machine (1988)
- RoboCop (January 1990)
- Hook (1992)
- Back To The Future (1990)
- The Simpsons (1990)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1991)
- Batman (1991)
- Star Wars (1992)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- Tales from the Crypt (1993)
- The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard (1994)
- Guns N 'Roses (1994)
- Maverick - The Colt on Your Belt, an Ace Up Your Sleeve (1994, last pinball from Data East)
- Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
- Phantom of the opera (April 1990)
- Checkpoint (1991)
- Star Trek (1991)
- Secret Service (1988)
- Torpedo Alley (1988)
Web links
- Official website Data East Games ( memorial of November 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) via archive.org, last accessed November 30, 2011
- Data East at MobyGames (English)
- Data East Emustatus Project ( Memento from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) via archive.org, last accessed June 12, 2008