SNK Corporation
| SNK
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Kabushiki-gaisha (joint stock company) |
| founding | July 22, 1978 (as Shin Nihon Kikaku, until October 22, 2001) August 1, 2001 (named Playmore) |
| Seat |
Suita , Osaka Prefecture , Japan
|
| Branch | Software development |
| Website | www.snk-corp.co.jp |
KK SNK Corporation ( Japanese 株式会社 SNK , Kabushiki-gaisha SNK , English SNK Corporation ) is a Japanese video game company. SNK means Shin Nihon Kikaku , in German New Japan Project .
Company history
In the early 1970s, Eikichi Kawasaki , a retired boxer, ran a coffee shop and civil engineering company in Osaka . In 1973 he bought an electrical machine company in Kobe and founded Shin Nihon Kikaku . When Eikichi Kawasaki saw the rapid growth that was emerging in the coin-operated video game market, he expanded Shin Nihon Kikaku to develop and market stand-alone coin-operated games. On July 22, 1978, the company was reconstituted as Shin Nihon Kikaku Corporation in Higashiōsaka .
The first arcade games released were Ozma Wars and Safari Rally in 1979 . 1980 Sasuke vs. Commander and in 1981 the games Zarzon , Fantasy and Vanguard followed .
SNK is best known for making the Neo Geo video game console , which SNK has been developing since the early 1990s. The majority of successful SNK games were developed for the Neo Geo, although some were later ported to other consoles. SNK developed several variations of the Neo Geo, such as the Neo Geo CD , the Neo Geo CDZ and the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 . They also developed the two handhelds Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color .
The company was founded in 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki, who was also its president until SNK went bankrupt in autumn 2001. The then owner, a company called Aruze, split the rights and ownership of SNK to several companies including Eolith , Mega Enterprises and Noise Factory . However, Eikichi Kawasaki started a new company called Playmore , and spent a year buying back the former owners of SNK. In the middle of 2002 he achieved his goal with the last acquisition: the name SNK. Finally, in 2003, the company was changed to the name SNK Playmore .
On April 25, 2016, SNK officially removed the name “ Playmore ” from the company logo and reinstated the original slogan “ The Future Is Now ” to signal “a return to the rich gaming history of SNK”. On December 1, 2016, SNK Playmore also officially changed its company name to SNK Corporation.
Well-known games
- Art of Fighting Series
- Athena
- Baseball stars
- Crystalis
- Fatal Fury series
- Ikari Warriors series
- The King of Fighters series
- The Last Blade Series
- Magician Lord
- Metal Slug Series
- Psycho Soldier
- Samurai Shodown Series
Web links
- SNK USA CORPORATION website (English)
- SNK at MobyGames (English)
- Interview with Shinya Morishita, Overseas Marketing Dept. Manager of SNK-Playmore (German)
- Retrospective SNK (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.neogeospirit.com/dossiers/snk/dossier_snk1.htm 1978/1979
- ^ The History of SNK. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Announcement regarding the name change of SNK CORPORATION. In: snk-corp.co.jp. November 1, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2017 (Japanese).
- ↑ Sato: SNK Playmore Is Changing Its Name To SNK Starting December 1, 2016. In: Siliconera.com. November 1, 2016, accessed February 14, 2017 .