Fabtek Inc. was a thriving video kit company founded in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and started its operations there in 1987. Fabtek's name was derived from the initials of its founder Frank Ballouz (F.A.B.-tek), a former

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...

and

Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards. ...

executive who later also founded Irem America. Fabtek was known for licensing arcade games mostly from two manufacturers for distribution:

Seibu Kaihatsu was a Japanese manufacturer of arcade games. The company was founded in 1982 at Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan as , but changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada. One of their earliest arcade hits was ...

and

TAD Corporation was a Japanese manufacturer of video arcade games that was founded and headquartered in Mitaka-shi, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by former employees of the company Data East and was named after its founder and owner name Tadashi "TAD" Yokoyama. ...

. Around 1990, Fabtek moved to

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...

Front side of Fabtek's '' Raiden'' arcade flyer, released in 1990. and continued its business there until closing its business in 1999. The Fabtek Inc. also worked, alongside Source Research & Development and Montague-Weston, on the "Workboy" a

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

accessory that could transform the Game Boy in to a portable workstation, which was planned for a summer 1992 release, but never materialized.

List of games distributed by Fabtek

Licensed from Seibu Kaihatsu

* ''

Dead Angle ''Dead Angle'', also known as ''Lead Angle'' and ''Gang Hunter'', is a 1988 arcade game, arcade shooter game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is the follow-up to the company's mobster-themed ''Empire City: 1931''. In ''Dead Angle'', players take ...

'' (1988) * ''

Dynamite Duke is a 1989 action arcade game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It was later ported to the Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis and X68000. Being a ''Cabal''-based shooter, it can be considered a follow-up to Seibu's '' Empire City: 1931'' and '' Dead An ...

'' (1989) * '' Raiden'' (1990) * ''Seibu Cup Soccer'' (1992) * ''Zero Team USA'' (1993) * ''

Raiden II Raiden may refer to: *Raijin, also called Raiden or Raiden-sama, the god of thunder and lightning in Japanese mythology * ''Raiden'' (film), a 1928 film directed by Shōzō Makino *Raiden Tameemon (Seki Tarōkichi; 1767–1825), a Japanese sumo wr ...

'' (1993) * ''

Raiden DX Raiden may refer to: *Raijin, also called Raiden or Raiden-sama, the god of thunder and lightning in Japanese mythology * ''Raiden'' (film), a 1928 film directed by Shōzō Makino * Raiden Tameemon (Seki Tarōkichi; 1767–1825), a Japanese sumo w ...

'' (1994) * ''

Viper Phase 1 is a 1995 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is a spin-off in the '' Raiden'' series set in space. Gameplay The game is set in outer space. Players pilot their space fighter through eight stages of enemy space fleets and bo ...

'' (1995) * '' Battle Balls'' (1996) * '' Raiden Fighters'' (1996) * '' Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive'' (1997) * ''

Raiden Fighters Jet a 1998 scrolling shooter arcade game by Seibu Kaihatsu. It is a sequel to '' Raiden Fighters 2'', released one year later. ''Raiden Fighters Jet'' retains the same game mechanics as its predecessors, while introducing new ones in a departure from ...

'' (1998)

Licensed from TAD Corporation

* ''

Cabal A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually unbeknownst to those who are outside their group. Th ...

'' (1988) * '' Toki'' (1989) * ''

Blood Bros. is a 1990 arcade game developed and published by TAD Corporation in Japan and Europe, and later published in North America by Fabtek. It is a spiritual sequel to the 1988 game ''Cabal'', with almost identical mechanics. A bootleg of ''Blood B ...

'' (1990) * ''Legionnaire'' (1992) * ''Heated Barrel'' (1992)

Other

* ''Sports Match'' (1989) (produced by Dynax) * '' Super Space Fortress Macross'' (1992) (produced by

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Banpresto was a partly-own ...

) * ''Jungle Joggers'' (redemption game) (1992) * ''

Super Mario World ''Super Mario World,'' known in Japan as is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America in 1991 and Europe and A ...

'' (

redemption game Redemption games are typically arcade games of skill that reward the player proportionally to their score in the game. The reward most often comes in the form of tickets, with more tickets being awarded for higher scores. These tickets can then ...

) (1993) (licensed by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

) * ''Gotcha Gotcha'' (1997) (produced by Dongsung Wonder Park and Para)

References

{{reflist

External links

List of Fabtek games
at

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Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1987 Video game publishers Companies based in Bellevue, Washington