Native name | 株式会社カルチャーブレーン |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki Gaisha Karuchā Burēn |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 5 October 1980; 44 years ago (1980-10-05)[1] |
| Headquarters | Katsushika,Tokyo,Japan |
| Total equity | ¥192 million (2007)[1] |
| Website | Official website |
Culture Brain Inc. (株式会社カルチャーブレーン,Kabushiki-gaisha Karuchā Burēn) is a Japanesevideo game developer andpublisher founded on October 5, 1980.[1][2] In 2016, it was renamedCulture Brain Excel.[3]
Culture Brain was founded in 1980 asNihon Game Corporation. In 1981, a subsidiary to handle the sales operations of the company was established. Its first video games were arcades games, with titles such asShanghai Kid andChinese Hero that were manufactured under "Taiyo System" trademark. In 1987, it transitioned from arcade to console video games and renamed itself "Culture Brain". The company has also alternatively used the brand "Micro Academy" in the mid-1980s.
InNorth America, Culture Brain is mostly known for its sixvideo games for theNintendo Entertainment System and its three for theSuper NES. Three of those NES games,Baseball Simulator 1.000,The Magic of Scheherazade andFlying Warriors, were strongly redesigned from their Japanese source to better appeal North American consumers.[4]
Culture Brain was distinct for its innovative gameplay by incorporating multiplegenres in its games,[4] but like many other Japanese video game companies, Culture Brain ceased its operations in theUnited States in the 1990s. Ever since the demise ofCulture Brain USA, video games developed by the parent company have rarely made it inAmerica. An exception of the latter situation is theNintendo 64 version ofFlying Dragon which was published byNatsume Inc. in the United States.
In 2016, the company was renamedCulture Brain Excel and the website's URL was changed to the new name.[3] The longtime Culture Brain logo was instantly dropped with the intent of launching a new logo in the following year.[3]
In September 2021, Culture Brain Excel was renamed asNihon Game once again, returning to its original name from 1980.[5]
Culture Brain also ran until 2003 a professional school, theCulture Brain Art Institute.[6][7]
Thesebaseball titles included some form of "Super League" where pitchers and batters would have special abilities.
In this list are series which were originally released as "Chinese Hero", but became better known asSuper Chinese, but with the exception of "Kung-Fu Heroes", these titles were released in North America as the "Ninja Brothers" series.
A Japan-only series of games for theGBA (with twoDS versions) about fashion and dressing up. The games feature a wide range of clothes, shoes, accessories and makeup to be used in different combinations. There are 5 GBA games and 2 DS games.
A Japan-only series of games formally about care-taking ferrets, and later about care-taking hamsters. The illustrations of the Hamster Monogatari ones were heavily inspired byRitsuko Kawai's children's storybook series,Hamtaro.
A Japan-only series of games about catching, training and battling insects. First released withSuper Chinese Labyrinth both in Volume 3 of Culture Brain's Twin Series, a series of two-in-one Game Boy Advance games.
