Tecmo

Tecmo
legal form	Kabushiki kaisha (joint stock company)
founding	1967 (as KK Tehkan)
Seat	Chiyoda , Tokyo , Japan
Branch	Software development
Website	www.tecmo.co.jp

Tecmo KK ( Jap. テクモ株式会社 , Tekumo Kabushiki Kaisha , Eng. Tecmo, Ltd. ) is a 1967 KK Tehkan ( Jap. 株式会社テーカン , Kabushiki-gaisha Tekan , Eng. Tehkan, Ltd. ) was established Japanese game developers , the made famous by games like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive . In 2005 a turnover of more than eighty million euros was achieved. In 2006 the company employed around 380 people. It also has three development departments called Team Tachyon , Team Ninja and Lievo Studio.

history

Tehkan

The Japanese game developer Tecmo was founded on July 31, 1967 under the name KK Tehkan . 1969 began selling entertainment equipment. In 1981 the US TEHKAN, INC. a subsidiary in the USA. The first arcade game , Pleiads , was released in April 1981. In the arcade game Bomb Jack , released in 1984, the player must collect bombs as Jack . In the same year the vertical shooter Senjyo was released for MSX . In 1985 Tehkan released two very successful games: Star Force for MSX and the arcade game Tehkan World Cup . In the football - game Tehkan World Cup two players can compete against the computer. The game pieces were then controlled with a trackball . In 1986, the conversion of the classic arcade game Bomb Jack appeared for home computers .

Tecmo

Tehkan changed its name to Tecmo on January 8, 1986 . In 1987 the action adventure Rygar was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System . In the following year Tecmo released the first part of the Ninja Gaiden series for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Ninja Gaiden, the player controls the Ninja Ryu through countless levels that are based on Asian myths. In 1990, several Tecmo games appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System. With Captain Tsubasa , the official licensed game for the anime series, a very successful game came onto the Japanese market, which was later supplemented by numerous sequels. In the same year appeared in addition to the sequel to Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos , two more games that formed a series: Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo World Cup Soccer . Tecmo Bowl was an American football game that impressed the player with the original licenses (12 teams). Tecmo also published other offshoots of the Tecmo sports games ( Tecmo Baseball, Tecmo NBA Basketball, Tecmo World Wrestling ) for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

In 1991, the two successors Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom and Tecmo Super Bowl appeared for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Fire 'N Ice , the sequel to the puzzle game Solomon's Key , was the last game to appear on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the Super Nintendo - era mainly successor appeared to be well-known game series ( Captain Tsubasa 3/4/5, Tecmo Super Bowl, Tecmo Super Bowl and Tecmo Super NBA Basketball ). Tecmo stayed true to its strategy of mainly publishing sequels to well-known games on the Sega Mega Drive (including Tecmo Super Baseball) . However, at the beginning of the PlayStation era, that strategy changed. In 1997 the beat 'em up Dead or Alive was released in the arcades and on the Sega Saturn . A PlayStation version came out in March 1998. Tecmo was able to establish itself with the successful Dead-or-Alive series in the beat 'em up .

On November 17, 1997, the innovative puzzle game Tecmo Stackers was released for the PlayStation. Tecmo Stackers combined the game principle of Tetris with Capcom's Puzzle Fighter Turbo and was playable in two-player mode with the computer or an opponent. Tecmo had bought the official license for the anime series Monster Rancher and published some games ( Monster Rancher 1/2, Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode II, Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout ) within the PlayStation era . Tecmo also developed a game that was known in Japan under the name Gallop Racer . Gallop Racer was the first part of the horse racing series that established itself in Japan over the next few years.

In December 2000 the successor Dead or Alive 2 appeared for the PlayStation 2 . Due to the high sales figures, Tecmo released the expansion Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore for the PlayStation 2. Tecmo released further offshoots of the Monster Rancher and Gallop Racer series on the PlayStation 2 . In November 2002, the successor to the NES classic Rygar was released under the title Rygar: The Legendary Adventure . Despite positive reviews, the game could not establish itself commercially. In the same year, the first part of Fatal Frame , a survival action-adventure series, was released. The sequel Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly was released a year later for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox .

Tecmo has developed into an important game manufacturer for the Xbox in recent years. Dead or Alive 3 was their first game to hit the Xbox launch. In January 2003 the controversial beach volleyball game Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball was released . Ninja Gaiden was released in March 2004 and was a remake of the NES classic from 1988. The game received numerous awards and positive reviews from the trade press. In 2005 three more games were released exclusively for the Xbox: Dead or Alive Ultimate , GunGriffon: Allied Strike and Ninja Gaiden Black . Ninja Gaiden Black includes the original game and the expansion packs Ninja Gaiden Hurricane Pack and Ninja Gaiden Hurricane Pack: Volume 2 .

Dead or Alive 4 should be available as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in November. The game is technically adapted to the Xbox 360 and offers numerous innovations compared to its predecessors. Tecmo is also working on the sequels to Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and Ninja Gaiden .

Tecmo Koei Games booth at E3 2010

On September 4, 2008, Koei announced that it was in talks about the purchase of the competing company Tecmo. In November 2008 it was decided to merge the two companies. The merger was completed on April 1, 2009, whereby Tecmo became a subsidiary of the new Koei Tecmo Holdings .

Games

Developed by Tehkan

1981: Pleiads ( Arcade )
1984: Bomb Jack (Arcade)
1984: Senjyo ( MSX )
1985: Star Force (MSX)
1985: Tekhan World Cup (Arcade)
1986: Bomb Jack ( Amiga , Amstrad CPC , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , ZX Spectrum )

Developed by Tecmo

1986: Solomon's Key ( Nintendo Entertainment System )
1987: Rygar (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1988: Ninja Gaiden (Arcade, Nintendo Entertainment System)
1989: Tecmo World Wrestling (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1990: Captain Tsubasa II (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1990: Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1990: Tecmo Bowl (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1990: Tecmo World Cup Soccer (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1991: Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1991: Tecmo Super Bowl (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1992: Fire 'N Ice (Nintendo Entertainment System)
1992: Captain Tsubasa 3 ( Super Nintendo )
1992: Shadow Warriors ( Game Boy )
1992: Tecmo Cup Football Game ( Sega Mega Drive )
1993: Captain Tsubasa 4 (Super Nintendo)
1993: Secret of the Stars (Super Nintendo)
1993: Tecmo Super Bowl (Super Nintendo)
1994: Captain Tsubasa 5 (Super Nintendo)
1994: Tecmo Super NBA Basketball (Sega Mega Drive)
1995: Turf Hero (Super Nintendo)
1997: Dead or Alive ( Sega Saturn , Arcade)
1997: Tecmo Stackers ( PlayStation )
1998: Dead or Alive (PlayStation)
2000: Dead or Alive 2 ( Dreamcast , PlayStation 2 )
2000: Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (PlayStation 2)
2001: Dead or Alive 3 ( Xbox )
2002: Project Zero (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
2002: Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (PlayStation 2)
2003: Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (Xbox)
2004: Project Zero II: Crimson Butterfly (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
2004: Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
2005: Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)
2005: GunGriffon: Allied Strike (Xbox)
2005: Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox)
2005: Dead or Alive 4 ( Xbox 360 )
2005: Tokobot (PlayStation Portable)
2006: Project Zero 3: The Tormented (PlayStation 2)
2006: Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 ( Xbox 360 )
2006: T (R) APT (PlayStation 2)
2006: Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri (PlayStation 2)
2007: Ninja Gaiden Sigma ( PlayStation 3 )
2008: Ninja Gaiden 2
2009: Rygar: The Battle of Argus
2009: Annie's Wild Shot (iPhone)
2011: Quantum Theory
2012: Project Zero 2: Wii Edition
2014: Project Zero V: Oracle of the Sodden Raven (Wii U)
2016: Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 (PS4)

Published by Tecmo

2008: SPRay

Outsourced Tecmo games

2008: Fatal Frame IV (developed by Grasshopper; published by Nintendo)

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ 第 42 期ビジネスレポート (“42nd Annual Report”). Tecmo, March 14, 2008, p. 22 , accessed February 9, 2011 (Japanese).

[1] 第 42 期ビジネスレポート (“42nd Annual Report”). Tecmo, March 14, 2008, p. 22 , accessed February 9, 2011 (Japanese).