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_2.jpg) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan | |
Native name | 株式会社ユニバーサルエンターテインメント |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki-gaisha Yunibāsaru Entāteimmento |
| Formerly |
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| Company type | Public |
| TYO:6425 | |
| Industry | Pachinko Video game |
| Founded | December 2, 1969 (1969-12-02) |
| Founder | Kazuo Okada |
| Headquarters | Kōtō,, Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jun Fujimoto President |
| Products | Pachinko Pachislot Slot machines Video games |
| Revenue | ¥124 billion |
Number of employees | 988[1] (2019) |
| Website | www |
Universal Entertainment Corporation,[a] formerly known asAruze Corporation (Japanese:アルゼ株式会社,Hepburn:Aruze Kabushiki-gaisha) andUniversal, is a Japanese manufacturer ofpachinko,slot machines,arcade games and other gaming products, and a publisher ofvideo games. Aruze possesses licenses to both manufacture and distribute casino machines in the American states ofNevada,Mississippi andNew Jersey. The company's corporate headquarters are inTokyo. Aruze is also the licence holder of the video game franchiseShadow Hearts. Up until February 18, 2012, the company owned approximately 21% ofWynn Resorts. On November 1, 2009, Aruze Corporation changed its name to Universal Entertainment Corporation.
Universal Lease Co., Ltd was established in December 1969. It later changed its name toUniversal Ltd in Japan. Universal Distributing Company opened as an american subsidiary to sell video games direct to operators, and was later named Universal USA.
They initially earned success witharcade video games that cloned popular arcade games.Scratch (1977) was aBreakout clone that became the third highest-earningarcade video game of 1977 in Japan, just belowSpeed Race DX andBreakout.[2]Scratch was again Japan's fourth highest-earningarcade video game of 1978.Cosmic Monsters (1978) was aSpace Invaders clone that became Japan's sixth highest-earning arcade video game the same year.[3]
Universal eventually moved away from clones and began producing original arcade games.Get A Way[b] (1978)[3] was a sit-downarcade racing game that used a16-bitcentral processing unit (CPU),[4] for which it was advertised as the world's first 16-bit game;[5][6] it was among Japan's top twenty highest-earning arcade video games of 1978.[3]
Universal followed with the hugely influentialplatform gameSpace Panic (1980) and themaze gameLady Bug (1981). Universal's greatest hit game wasMr. Do! (1982), which spawned three sequels in the eventualMr. Do series:Mr. Do's Castle,Mr. Do's Wild Ride andDo Run Run. Cashing-in on the success oflaserdisc video games, Universal releasedSuper Don Quix-ote in 1984, on a new standardized laserdisc video game system they called the Universal System 1. A new game was planned every six months for the Universal System 1, including an unreleased laserdisc adventure game based onMr. Do!, but the company stopped producing arcade games in 1985, andSuper Don Quix-ote ended up being the only game released for the system. Universal Distributing of Nevada (UDN) was established to begin selling Universal's first slot machines direct to the gaming industry. A division, Universal Playland, was set up to continue the arcade game business.
Several Universal titles were designed by Kazutoshi Ueda, most notablyMr. Do! (1982). He later left Universal and went on to work atTehkan (now Tecmo), then became a co-founder ofAtlus, where he worked on theMegami Tensei series. Ueda's work at Universal inspired the game design style of Tehkan's Michitaka Tsuruta, who went on to createGuzzler (1983),Bomb Jack (1984),Solomon's Key (1986), and theCaptain Tsubasa game series.[7]
In January 2005, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Aruze. Aruze Corporation changed its company name to Universal Entertainment Corporation effective November 1, 2009.
On February 2, 2023, Aruze Gaming filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.[8]
In 2000, Aruze bought outSNK Corporation, maker of theNeo Geo. In exchange for the use of SNK's popular characters on their pachinko and slot machines, and a few games for the Neo-Geo, Aruze promised financial backing for the failing SNK. Instead Aruze instituted a program to liquidate SNK's assets and cut costs. This included licensing out popularIP to other companies (such asMetal Slug series,The King of Fighters series andSengoku series), closing underperforming divisions, discontinuing distribution outside Japan, ending support for the Neo Geo arcade platform and selling off warehoused inventory. By 2001 it was clear to many SNK's employees that Aruze was not planning to preserve SNK and was simply going to let the company implode after liquidating most of its useful assets. So Eikichi Kawasaki and many other executives from SNK left to form Playmore in August 1, 2001. Over this period many rank and file employees left to join other arcade developers or form their own companies.
In November 1, 2001, Aruze announced that its subsidiary, SNK to file for bankruptcy by theOsaka District Court on October 30, 2001 and all of its assets went up for bidding.[9][10] Kawasaki's Playmore stepped in and bought up most of the auctioned assets and set itself up to re-enter the video game market as the successor to SNK. Playmore also acquired some of the companies formed by ex-SNK employees, namely Brezzasoft and Noise Factory, to jumpstart development of more titles for the Neo Geo arcade system. Playmore quickly went about re-establishing themselves in the market; they opened new branches in North America and Europe, announced development of new titles for the Neo Geo arcade system, started developing games for console and portable systems for the first time in years and re-established distribution channels to sell inventory for the Neo Geo home and pocket systems. To further establish themselves as a reborn SNK they officially changed their name to SNK Playmore in 2003.
In October 2002, Aruze was sued by Playmore founder Eikichi Kawasaki for copyright infringement over SNK's intellectual properties, claiming their use was unauthorized by Playmore. In January 2004, a preliminary decision was handed down by theOsaka District Court favoring SNK Playmore and was awarded 5.64 billion yen (US$57,627,468) in damages.
| Formerly | Universal Playland (1972–1983) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | February 29, 1972 |
| Defunct | March 4, 1992 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | Oyama, Tochigi,Japan |
Key people | Tsutomu Fujisawa Ryuichi Nishizawa |
| Parent | Universal Entertainment |
| Website | UPL-Grave Digger |
UPL Co., Ltd (株式会社ユーピーエル), formally known asUniversal Playland (ユニバーサルプレイランド), was avideo game developer headquartered inOyama, Tochigi,Japan. It was founded in 1972 to continue Universal Entertainment's arcade business.[11] On November 1, 1983, the company was renamed to UPL. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 4, 1992.
Near the end of UPL's business, founder Tsutomu Fujisawa later established a new video game company called Scarab, which renamed itself several years later asfeelplus.
In May 2016, UPL sold its rights toHamster Corporation who then released the company's games through theArcade Archives lineup.
| Title | First release | Developer(s) | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku | June 3, 1999 | Aruze | PlayStation |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku Pocket: Hanabi | October 21, 1999 | Aruze | NeoGeo Pocket Color |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 2 | November 25, 1999 | Aruze | PlayStation |
| Azteca | February 10, 2000 | NeoGeo Pocket Color | |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 3 | July 19, 2000 | Aruze | PlayStation |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku Porcano 2 | July 20, 2000 | Aruze | NeoGeo Pocket Color |
| Pachisuro Aruze Oogoku Ohanabi | December 14, 2000 | Aruze | NeoGeo Pocket Color |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 4 | December 14, 2000 | Aruze | PlayStation |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku Pocket: DH2 | January 15, 2001 | Aruze | NeoGeo Pocket Color |
| Shadow Hearts | June 28, 2001 | Sacnoth | PS2 |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 5 | November 15, 2001 | Aruze | PlayStation |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 6 | December 13, 2001 | Aruze | PS2 |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 7 | August 8, 2002 | Aruze | PS2 |
| Shadow Hearts: Covenant | February 19, 2004 | Nautilus | PS2 |
| Hanabi Hyakkei Advance | July 29, 2004 | Game Boy Advance | |
| Don-Chan Puzzle: Hanabi de Don! Advance | July 29, 2004 | Game Boy Advance | |
| Aleck Bordon Adventure: Tower & Shaft Advance | November 26, 2004 | Altron | Game Boy Advance |
| Cool 104 Joker & Setline | December 2, 2004 | DS | |
| Type Tunes - Chase the Music! | 2005 | Arcade | |
| Guts da!! Mori no Ishimatsu | March 31, 2005 | PS2 | |
| Shadow Hearts: From the New World | July 28, 2005 | Nautilus | PS2 |
| Pachi-Slot Aruze Oukoku 8 | Cancelled | Aruze | PS2 |
| Aoi Don: Hanabi no Kiwami & Hanabi no Takumi | 2010 | Commseed | DS |
| Pachinko Aruze Oukoku | Cancelled | PlayStation | |
| The Splizer | Cancelled | PS2 |
Sit-Down-Rennspiel Get A Way (1978) mit 16-bit-CPU.[Sit-down racing game Get A Way (1978) with 16-bit-CPU.]
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