, formerly from 1987 to 2013, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Natsume Atari is based in Shinjuku, Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and is known for developing licensed titles and mobile games. The company was founded as Natsume Co., Ltd. in 1987. In 1995, its American division Natsume Inc. split to become an independent company. The name "Natsume" was retained by both companies in their respective countries. In 2013, Natsume Co., Ltd. renamed itself Natsume Atari following a merger with its subsidiary Atari Inc. (a pachinko company, not to be confused with the American game company) that year. Tengo Project is a well-known internal team responisble for modern revivals of classic video games. Composed of veteran developers with an average age of 54 (as of 2022), its permanent members are composer Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, designer Shunichi Taniguchi, and programmer Toshiyasu Miyabe.

Products

During the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

and

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

era, Natsume Atari developed numerous titles, often licensed, such as ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS Entert ...

''. Natsume Inc published a wide range of titles, including those developed by Natsume Co. Ltd., such as '' S.C.A.T.'', '' Wild Guns'' and ''

Shadow of the Ninja ''Shadow of the Ninja'', originally released in Japan as and later released in Europe and Australia as ''Blue Shadow'', is a side-scrolling action game developed by Natsume for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1990. The game revolves ...

''. Natsume Atari also released the SNES game '' Pocky & Rocky'' as well as '' Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals''. Natsume Atari had also developed the

Medarot ''Medabots'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the '' ...

games up until the end of the

GBA 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, 2 ...

era, and Natsume Inc. published some of them outside of Japan. A sizeable amount of Natsume Atari's products were video games it developed for other publishers. Some of its biggest clients over the years included Imagineer,

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

and

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

. Most of Natsume Atari's video games, as a sub-contractor, were original titles, but it occasionally developed some ports as well. Taito, in particular, outsourced the development of three of its

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

ports to Natsume Co., Ltd.: ''

Sagaia is a 1989 arcade video game developed by Taito. It is the direct sequel to the 1987 '' Darius''. It was later released as in Japan in 1991 for the Game Boy as well as non-Japanese ports. A remake was released for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² as ...

'', ''

Renegade Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *'' Comman ...

'' and ''

Special Criminal Investigation ''Special Criminal Investigation'', also known as ''S.C.I.'' for short or as ''Chase HQ II: Special Criminal Investigation'' in some home versions, is a 1989 vehicular combat racing game published by Taito for arcade game, arcades. It is the seque ...

''.

Corporate divisions

Natsume Co., Ltd. was founded in Japan on October 20, 1987. It became the parent company of Natsume Inc., founded in May 1988. Natsume Inc. started publishing video games in 1990. By 1995, Natsume Inc. had broken away into its own company and is separately owned and operated. In October 2002, Natsume Co., Ltd. founded the pachinko company Atari Inc. (not to be confused with the American game company) in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, which specialized in developing slot and pinball machines. On May 6, 2005, Natsume Solution began operation in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

. This division specializes on web site development, providing mobile solutions/services and developing web systems. On March 1, 2006, Natsume Solution was merged with Evolve. Meanwhile, Natsume Inc. opened up a development studio of its own, named Natsume Inc. Japan. Natsume Co., Ltd. changed its name to Natsume Atari in October 2013, and it is not directly connected to Natsume Inc. or its subsidiary Natsume Inc. Japan. Despite their corporate split off, Natsume Atari and Natsume Inc. have continued to collaborate on a number of occasions.http://www.natsume.com/news/news_pdffiles/pid_204_May122016_WGReloaded_Announced.pdf

Works

Pre-split Natsume

These are games produced while Natsume Inc., was still operating as a subsidiary of Natsume Co., Ltd. Natsume Inc. would publish only Natsume Co., Ltd.'s games until becoming independent in the mid-90s.

Natsume Atari / Natsume Co., Ltd.

Natsume Atari, formerly Natsume Co., Ltd, has mostly acted as a developer since splitting from Natsume Inc. - although it has also published some games, notably in the ''

'' series.

Tengo Project

Note

References

{{Reflist

External links

Natsume Atari homepage
(Japanese)
Natsume Co., Ltd. homepage
(Japanese, old)
Natsume Solution/evolve Co., Ltd. homepage
(Japanese) Video game companies established in 1987 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game publishers Japanese companies established in 1987