Taito
| |
| Taito | |
| Type | Brand owned by Square Enix |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 24, 1953 (Taito Trading Co., Ltd.) 1972 (Taito Corporation) June 22, 1999 (The Game Designers Studio) 2005 (SQEX Corporation) 2006 (Taito Corporation - merger with SQEX) June 1, 2009 (ES1 Corporation) February 1, 2010 (Taito Soft Corporation and Taito Corporation) |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Michael Kogan (Taito) Akitoshi Kawazu (Game Designers Studio) |
| Industry | video games |
| Products | Video games |
| Number of people | 645 |
| Website | http://www.taito.com/ |
Taito Corporation is a subsidiary of Square Enix.
Taito Trading Co., Ltd.
Taito was founded by Michael Kogan on August 24, 1953 as Taito Trading Co., Ltd. (太東貿易株式会社, Taitō Bōeki Kabushiki Gaisha).
Taito Corporation
The company changed its name to Taito Corporation (株式会社タイトー, Kabushiki Gaisha Taitō) in August 1972.
Aquisition by Kyocera
In March 1986, Taito became part of the Kyocera group.
The Game Designers Studio
On June 22, 1999, Square formed The Game Designers Studio, Inc., a shell company that allowed them to get around a deal with Sony that stipulated they would create games exclusively for PlayStation video game consoles.
Square owned 49% of the company and Akitoshi Kawazu, the head of Square's Product Development Division-2, owned 51%.
SQEX Corporation
In 2003, Square and Enix merged to form Square Enix.
In 2005, Square Enix renamed The Game Designers Studio to SQEX Corporation.
Aquisition by Square Enix
On September 22, 2005, Square Enix purchased 97.3% of all stock holdings in Taito when it purchased 247,900 shares for ¥45.16 billion ($409.1 million USD).
In March 2006, Taito was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix.
Merger with SQEX Corporation
In March 2006, Taito Corporation was merged with SQEX Corporation. The resulting company retained the name Taito Corporation.
ES1 Corporation
On June 1, 2009, Square Enix formed ES1 Corporation, a company that operated arcade facilities.
Taito Soft Corporation and Taito Corporation
On February 1, 2010, in an effort by Square Enix to consolidate its arcade divisions, Taito Corporation was renamed Taito Soft Corporation and ES1 Corporation was renamed Taito Corporation.
Absorption of Taito Soft Corporation into Square Enix
On March 11, 2010, Taito Soft Corporation was absorbed into Square Enix. As a result, Taito Corporation was the only division of Square Enix that retained the Taito name.
Video games developed by Taito owned by the WEC Museum
| Title | Platforms | Released | Added to museum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puzzle Bobble Mini | Neo Geo Pocket Color | 1999 | December 30, 1999 | The WEC Museum owns the game, box, and manual. |
Emulated video games developed by Taito owned by the WEC Museum
| Title | Platforms | Released | Added to museum | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Ski | Switch | 2019 | March 2, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1981 arcade game. |
| Ben Bero Beh | Switch | 2020 | March 2, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1984 arcade game. |
| Bubble Bobble | NES Classic Edition | 2019 | May 4, 2019 | The 1988 NES version is on the NES Classic Edition. |
| Cadash | PC Engine Mini | 2020 | May 1, 2020 | The 1991 PC Engine version is on the PC Engine Mini. |
| Darius Super Darius |
Genesis Mini PC Engine Mini |
2019 2020 |
May 4, 2019 May 1, 2020 |
The 2019 Sega Genesis version is on the Sega Genesis Mini. The 1990 PC Engine version is on the PC Engine Mini. |
| Elevator Action | Switch | 2019 | March 2, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1983 arcade game. |
| The Fairyland Story | Switch | 2020 | December 14, 2020 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1985 arcade game. |
| Front Line | Star Blast! Switch |
2018 2019 |
April 20, 2020 March 2, 2021 |
The 1982 arcade version is on the Star Flashback Blast. Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1983 arcade game. |
| Halley's Comet | Switch | 2021 | April 16, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1986 arcade game. |
| Jungle Hunt | Legends Flashback Star Blast! |
2018 2019 |
April 20, 2020 May 2, 2020 |
The 1982 arcade version is on the Star Flashback Blast!. The 1982 arcade version is on the 2019 Legends Flashback. |
| Parosol Stars | PC Engine Mini | 2020 | May 1, 2020 | The 1991 TurboGrafx-16 version is on the PC Engine Mini. |
| Polaris | Star Blast! | 2018 | April 20, 2020 | The 1980 arcade version is on the 2018 Star Flashback Blast. |
| Puzzle Bobble 2 | Switch | 2018 | August 16, 2018 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1999 Neo Geo MVS game. |
| Renegade | Switch | 2018 | August 16, 2018 May 12, 2021 |
Taito localized the Japanese Technōs game for the North American market. Hamster's Switch emulation of the 1986 arcade version. The 1988 NES version is on Technōs Collection 1 for Evercade. |
| Space Invadera | Legends Blast! Star Blast! |
2018 2018 |
April 20, 2020 December 6, 2020 |
The 1978 arcade version is on the Legends Flashback Blast!. The 1978 arcade version is on the Star Flashback Blast!. |
| Time Tunnel | Switch | 2019 | March 2, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1982 arcade game. |
| Wild Western | Switch | 2019 | March 2, 2021 | Hamster's Nintendo Switch emulation of the 1982 arcade game. |
