Taito

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Taito.png
Taito
Type Subsidiary of 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

Title Platforms Released Notes
Space Invaders Arcade 1978
Lunar Rescue Arcade 1979
Lupin III Arcade 1980
Polaris Arcade 1980
Steel Worker Arcade 1980
Alpine Ski Arcade 1981
Marine Date Arcade 1981
Qix Arcade 1981
Adventure Canoe Arcade 1982
Birdie King Arcade 1982
Front Line Arcade 1982
Jungle Hunt Arcade 1982
Pirate Pete Arcade 1982
Strike Bowling Arcade 1982
Time Tunnel Switch 1982
Wild Western Switch 1982
Elevator Action Arcade 1983
Chack'n Pop Arcade 1983
Ben Bero Beh Arcade 1984
Bubble Symphony Arcade 1984
Outer Zone Arcade 1984
The Fairyland Story Arcade 1985
The Legend of Kage Arcade 1985
Arkanoid Arcade 1986
Bubble Bobble Arcade 1986
Halley's Comet Arcade 1986
Kiki KaiKai Arcade 1986
Renegade Arcade 1986 Taito localized the Technōs game Nekketsu Renegade Kunio-kun for the North American market.
Scramble Formation Arcade 1986
Arkanoid: Return of Doh Arcade 1987
Darius Arcade 1987
Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 Arcade 1987
Plump Pop Arcade 1986
Rastan Saga Arcade 1987
The New Zealand Story Arcade 1988
Raimais Arcade 1988
Rainbow Islands Extra Version Arcade 1988 Enhanced version of 1987's Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2.
Syvalion Arcade 1988
Tatsujin Arcade 1988
Cadash Arcade 1989
Cameltry Arcade 1989
Don Doko Don Arcade 1989
Violence Fight Arcade 1989
Volified Arcade 1989
Darius Alpha PC Engine 1990 Promotional version of Darius Plus containing only bosses with optional SuperGrafx enhancement.
Darius Plus PC Engine 1990 Enhanced port of 1987's Darius with optional SuperGrafx enhancement.
Growl Arcade 1990
Gun Frontier Arcade 1990
Hat Trick Hero Arcade 1990
Liquid Kids Arcade 1990
The Ninja Kids Arcade 1990
Super Darius PC Engine CD-ROM² 1990 CD-ROM Enhanced port of 1987's Darius.
Metal Black Arcade 1991
Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, NES, PC Engine 1991
RayForce Arcade 1993
Darius Gaiden Arcade 1994
Elevator Action Returns Arcade 1994
Kaiser Knuckle Arcade 1994
Bubble Memories Arcade 1995
Puzzle Bobble 2 Arcade 1995
Puzzle Bobble 2X Arcade 1995 Included an optional alternative set of levels and new attract mode animations.
Arkanoid Returns Arcade 1997
Puchi Carat Arcade 1997
Puzzle Bobble Mini Neo Geo Pocket Color 1999
Dan-Ku-Ga EGRET II Mini 2022 Previously unreleased update of 1995's Kaiser Knuckle.