is a small

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

development company headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded on April 21, 1997, and has developed video games for other video game companies, including Nintendo, SEGA, and Square Enix.

Overview

The name of the company is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsindependent video games (indies) with a low budget and minimal connections to other developers which is described as "almost zero" (zero). From an interview with Famitsu, another candidate for the company name came from one of the fictitious game companies appearing in " Game Center CX Arino's Challenge". The philosophy of the company is to make games that are easy to understand and user-friendly. At the start, the company specialized in creating games for handheld systems, but eventually expanded to making mobile games. The company is also involved in making licensed trading-card games for popular franchises such as Legend of Mana and

Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...

. In an interview with a local university, the founder Masanobu Suzui commented that the company plans to "make new products that has never been created before". He regards the company as a game developer that "cherishes a creative viewpoint rather than state-of-the-art technology capabilities" and makes games that can be immersed by a long-time video game player but also aimed at what everyone can easily play.

History

In 1997, Masunobu Suzui founded the company at 24 years old, along with two members from the fresh graduate discovery project " Nintendo &

Dentsu Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest advertis ...

Game Seminar" (predecessor of the current "Nintendo Game Seminar"). They were initially tasked with developing programs for Nintendo's

Satellaview The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, magazines, and other media through sate ...

peripheral for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

. Some of the projects they worked on included "Sutto Hankoku" and "Cooking Pong!". The company went to develop many titles for the Nintendo DS such as ''

Electroplankton is an interactive music video game developed by indieszero and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was first released in Japan in 2005, and was later released in North America and Europe in 2006. This game ...

''. ''

Shaberu! DS Oryōri Navi is a cooking simulator for the Nintendo DS. It was released on July 20, 2006 in Japan. Brief information The software contains numerous Japanese recipes with step by step instructions, and the user can use the Nintendo DS's microphone for voice ...

'' released by Nintendo in July 2006 won the 10th Media Arts Festival Entertainment Division Excellence Award. '' Oshare Majo: Love and Berry'' was released from Sega in November which became a million seller and awarded a special prize in the annual work section of the Japan Game Award 2007. In June 2011, the company released '' DualPenSports'' as their first title for the Nintendo 3DS. The company then collaborated with Square Enix on ''

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy ''Theatrhythm Final Fantasy'' is a rhythm video game, developed by indieszero and published by Square Enix for Nintendo 3DS and iOS. Based on the ''Final Fantasy'' video game franchise, the game involves using the touch screen in time to various ...

'', in which Masunobu Suzui reunited with former Bandai producer Ikuro Kuroku when working on the game. The game went on to have an iOS and Arcade port, as well as two independent sequels titled '' Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call'' and '' Theatrhythm Dragon Quest''. The company then collaborated with Nintendo EAD for the development of ''

NES Remix ''NES Remix'' is a compilation video game series for Wii U, developed by Nintendo. The first and eponymous game was simultaneously announced and released on December 18, 2013, on the Nintendo eShop following a Nintendo Direct presentation. A seco ...

'' for both the Nintendo 3DS and the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

. During the planning phase, Koichi Hayashida, the Director of Nintendo Tokyo Production Department who participated in the "Nintendo & Dentsu Game Seminar" in his student days together with Masunobu Suzui, called up Suzui to partner up on the game development. Suzui then came to Hayashida with a game prototype, which Hayashida approved and green-lighted on the spot. This was around the time when development of the "Nintendo 3DS Guide Louvre Museum" was just completed, therefore the company was able to commit to the project. The game was well-reviewed and two sequels in the form of ''NES Remix 2'' and '' Ultimate NES Remix'' were developed. The company first mobile title was ''Grand Marche no Meikyuu'', released in September 2016. The game was developed in collaboration with Square Enix, after development of ''Theatrhythm Dragon Quest'' was wrapped up. However, Square Enix announced the game servers closure in November 2017. During Nintendo's E3 Presentation in 2017, the company was revealed to be co-developing '' Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido'', a strategic action-RPG-puzzle game for the Nintendo 3DS with Nintendo. A port of the game for the Nintendo Switch, to be released on the same day as the 3DS version, was revealed in a Nintendo Direct in March 2018, making this the first title the company developed for the Nintendo Switch.

Titles developed

''*=Released in Japan only''

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South ...

* '' Sutte Hakkun'' (1997)* - Broadcast over

, later released on a physical cartridge in 1999 * ''Oryouri Pon!'' (1997-1998)* - Four episodes, exclusively broadcast over Satellaview

Microsoft Windows

* ''Denshi no Seirei Chi-bitto'' (1998)* * '' Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' (2021)

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

* ''

Sakura Momoko no Ukiuki Carnival is a Role-playing video game, role-playing video game developed by Nintendo and indieszero and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. The game was released in Japan on July 5, 2002, and was never released outside Japan. Development As s ...

'' (2002)* * '' Mario Party-e'' * ''Sennen Kazoku'' (2005)*

Nintendo DS

* ''

'' (2005) - Rereleased in 2009 for

DSiWare This is a list of games and applications, collectively known as DSiWare, for the Nintendo DSi handheld game console, available for download via the DSi Shop and unplayable on earlier DS models. An update released for the Nintendo 3DS in June 201 ...

* '' Oshare Majo: Love and Berry DS Collection'' (2006)* * ''

'' (2006)* * ''

Retro Game Challenge ''Retro Game Challenge'' is a Nintendo DS game developed by indieszero and published by Namco Bandai Games and Xseed Games in North America. It is based on the television series '' GameCenter CX'', and Shinya Arino gave much input into the ga ...

'' (2007) * '' Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?'' (2008) - known in North America as ''Personal Trainer: Cooking'' * ''DS Calligraphy Training'' (2008)* * '' GameCenter CX: Arino's Challenge 2'' (2009)* - sequel to ''Retro Game Challenge''

Nintendo 3DS

* '' DualPenSports'' (2011) * ''

'' (2012) * ''Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre'' (2013) * '' Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call'' (2014) * '' Ultimate NES Remix'' (2014) - Additional work * ''Real Escape Game X Nintendo 3DS'' (2015)* * '' Theatrhythm Dragon Quest'' (2015)* * '' Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido'' (2018) - codeveloped with

Nintendo EPD commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. E ...

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

* ''

'' (2013) - Additional Work * '' NES Remix 2'' (2014) - Additional Work

Nintendo Switch

* '' Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido'' (2018) - co-developed with

* '' Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch'' (2019) - co-developed with

* ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' (2020) * ''Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain'' (2021) - co-developed with

PlayStation 4

* ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' (2020)

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

* ''Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory'' (2020)

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

* ''

'' (iOS) (2012) * ''Grand Marche no Meikyuu'' (Android/iOS) (2016) - Shut down 11/30/2017

References

External links

* {{Official website , http://www.indieszero.co.jp/ Privately held companies of Japan Software companies based in Tokyo Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1997 Japanese companies established in 1997 Musashino, Tokyo