was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in
Kita, Osaka. In the past they had also manufactured and sold yachts.
The main video game brand of the company was Nichibutsu (日物、ニチブツ), with adult video games (mainly strip
mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
arcade games) coming under the Sphinx (スフィンクス) brand.
[Sphinx also released the game in the name of Nihon Bussan and it is listed on the home page]
Mahjong Hanafuda product list
The company used a horned owl for its official logo.
In March 2014, Nihon Bussan sold its video game library to
Hamster Corporation
is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999.
On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 200 titles are distribut ...
due to the decision of original founder Sueharu Torii to retire. The company was disbanded on December 15, 2015.
History
The company's founder Sueharu Torii established Nihon Bussan in October 1970 in
Kita-ku, Osaka
is one of 24 wards of Osaka in Japan.
Incidents and accidents
2021 Osaka building fire
Notable locations
Kita-ku, particularly the Umeda area surrounding Osaka Station, is one of the main commercial centers of Osaka. Kita-ku is also a fina ...
. They begin their activities by mainly selling
arcade machine
An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
s. In 1972, the company was incorporated as Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd with a capital of 3 million yen.
In 1976, Nihon Bussan made its debut as a manufacturer to the
Amusement Machine Show
The Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) is an annual trade fair for amusement arcade products, such as arcade games, redemption games, amusement rides, vending machines, and change machines. The event is hosted one weekend per year in the Greater Tok ...
and opened a Tokyo office in 1978.
1978 also saw Nihon Bussan entering the
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
market, when they debuted with a copy of the game ''
Breakout'' called ''Table Attacker''. The same year, Nihon Bussan settled with
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 ...
by paying a license fee to launch a copy of ''
Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...
'' titled ''Moon Base''. Also in 1979, a business alliance was formed with
Namco
was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...
for a clone of ''
Galaxian
is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...
'' called ''Moon Alien''. Originally intended as a limited release, Nihon Bussan violated the manufacturing agreement by producing the title in more units than the agreement called for and ended up paying Namco the excess of the license fee. Nihon Bussan continued to release successful titles such as ''
Moon Cresta
is a fixed shooter video game released by Nichibutsu for arcades in 1980. In North America, it was licensed to Sega/Gremlin and Centuri, the latter releasing it in arcades as ''Eagle''. Incentive Software published ports of ''Moon Cresta'' for ...
'' and ''
Crazy Climber
is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerso ...
''.
In 1983, the company developed ''Jangou Night'' which features the industry's first undressing elements and established the genre of strip
mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
games. In 1984, Nihon Bussan developed ''Tube Panic'', the industry's first board game equipped with a rotation feature.
[''Shooting Game Side'' Volume 10 (September 26, 2014, Japanese)](_blank)
From the mid-1980s, Nihon Bussan released ''
Terra Cresta
is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nichibutsu in 1985. The player controls a flying craft to destroy the Mandler army before they destroy all of humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting different ...
'' and ''Cosmo Police Galivan'' that made use of
Yamaha YM3812
The OPL (FM Operator Type-L) series are a family of Sound chip, sound chips developed by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha. The OPL series are low-cost sound chips providing frequency modulation synthesis, FM synthesis for use in computing, music and vid ...
FM sound.
Nihon Bussan entered the home video game market in 1983 by developing a console of their own, the
My Vision
The is a home video game console developed by Nichibutsu and released in Japan in 1983. The system was dedicated solely to playing video versions of popular board games
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are mo ...
, and in 1986 released their first NES title, ''
MagMax
is an arcade game which was developed by Nihon Bussan and released in 1985 under its brand Nichibutsu. A horizontal scrolling shooter, players control the title hover ship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to ...
'', followed by the
MSX in 1989; the same year also saw the release of the company's last mainstream arcade game, ''Sky Robo'' (''Tatakae! Big Fighter'' in Japan) before switching to exclusively produce strip mahjong titles for that market; in 1992, the company left
JAMMA
The (formerly the , abbreviated JAMMA) is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo.
JAMMA is run by representatives from various arcade video game manufacturers, including Bandai Namco, Sega, Taito, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, and Konami am ...
after the arcade industry began showing concerns about increasingly risque material in their strip mahjong games.
[ 雀ゲームの審査に不満を示した日本物産の退会で議論」, ''Game Machine'' issue 420 (1992), p. 3 (Japanese)/ref> In 1990, Nihon Bussan released console-first titles for the ]PC Engine
The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, though ...
such as ''F1 Circus
is a series of Formula One-based racing video games developed and published by Nichibutsu starting on the PC Engine in 1990.
Games
The following is a list of games released in the series. None of the series was released outside Japan. The in ...
'' which became a major hit. During the height of the F1 Circus series, Nihon Bussan sponsored Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...
from 1991 to 1993; the sponsorship agreement allowed Lotus to appear as the only licensed team in the ''F1 Circus'' titles until Nichibutsu obtained a complete license from Formula One Constructors Association
The Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) was an organization of the chassis builders (constructors) who design and build the cars that race in the FIA Formula One World Championship. It evolved from the earlier ''Formula 1 Constructors ...
.
Nihon Bussan began releasing games for the Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...
in 1991, 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 ...
in 1992, Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
in 1995 and for the Sega
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
in 1996. Some of the titles were mahjong titles, with their PC Engine game ''Sexy Idol Mahjong'' featuring strip elements from their arcade titles.
In March 2009, the company partnered with D4 Enterprise
is a Japanese video game publisher currently specializing in content delivery services like Project EGG over the Internet. Some of the titles that have been re-released include many of Compile (company), Compile's titles, like the ''Madō Monoga ...
to reprint and distribute Nihon Bussan retro games for its Project EGG service.
In March 2014, Nihon Bussan sold the rights of all video games to Hamster Corporation
is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999.
On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 200 titles are distribut ...
. Hamster had approached founder Sueharu Torii for a licensing agreement of Nihon Bussan's games. Torii opted instead to sell outright the company's video game library and to retire.
Timeline
* 1979 – The company's headquarters is relocated to Tenjinbashi, Kita-ku, Osaka. Their capital increases to 24 million yen. Nichibutsu U.S.A. Co., Ltd. is established in Torrance, California
Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...
, USA.
* 1980 – Nichibutsu U.K. Ltd. is established in West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, England, United Kingdom. Nichibutsu Kyushu Co., Ltd. is established in Hakataekiminami, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka.
* 1981 – Nichibutsu Europe GmbH is established in Rödermark
Rödermark is a town in the Offenbach (district), Offenbach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany, southeast of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and northeast of Darmstadt.
Geography
Location
The town ...
, Offenbach, Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, Germany. The Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd. factory opens in Sayama, Kumiyama, Kuse, Kyoto.
* 1983 – Tokyo office is moved to Nihonbashihoridome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Nichibutsu Sapporo Co., Ltd. is established in Nakanoshima, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido. Nichibutsu Sendai Co., Ltd. is established in Uesugi, Sendai, Miyagi. Nichibutsu Hiroshima Co., Ltd. is established in Higashikasumichou, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima. Nichibutsu also releases their only console, My Vision
The is a home video game console developed by Nichibutsu and released in Japan in 1983. The system was dedicated solely to playing video versions of popular board games
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are mo ...
.
* 1984 – Capital increases to 36 million yen.
* 1985 – Capital increases to 50 million yen.
* 1989 – Nihon Bussan's last mainstream arcade game, ''Sky Robo'' / ''Tatakae! Big Fighter'', is released.
* 1991 – The company's Tokyo office is moved to Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
* 1992 – Nihon Bussan withdraws from the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association
The (formerly the , abbreviated JAMMA) is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo.
JAMMA is run by representatives from various arcade video game manufacturers, including Bandai Namco, Sega, Taito, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, and Konami am ...
over a dispute regarding the risque content in their mahjong games.
* 2001 – Nihon Bussan's last home video game, ''Virtual Kyoutei 21'', is released.
* 2005 – Nihon Bussan's last arcade game (overall), ''Koi Suru Cosplay Akihabara'' is released.
* 2007 – The company ends development of video games, while continuing to oversee the rights to their games.
* 2009 – Nihon Bussan joins D4 Enterprise's Project EGG, a retro game republishing/distribution service.
* 2014 – Nihon Bussan sells the rights to their games to Hamster Corporation
is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999.
On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 200 titles are distribut ...
and closes the company.
List of Nihon Bussan games
Paddle game
*1978 Table Attacker (copy of Breakout)
*1978 Table Attacker Guard (copy of Breakout)
*1978 Table Attacker Special (copy of Breakout)
*1978 Table Attacker Black (copy of Breakout)
*1978 Table Bonpa (copy of Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
)
*1979 Attacker Ace (copy of Breakout)
*1979 Bonpa (copy of Circus)
Shooter
*1978 Moon Base (copy of Space Invaders
is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...
)
*1978 Moon Base Spector (copy of Space Invaders Color version)
*1978 Moon Base Zeta
*1979 Super Moon Base
*1980 Moon Alien (copy of Galaxian
is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...
)
*1980 Moon Alien 2
*1980 Moon Cresta
is a fixed shooter video game released by Nichibutsu for arcades in 1980. In North America, it was licensed to Sega/Gremlin and Centuri, the latter releasing it in arcades as ''Eagle''. Incentive Software published ports of ''Moon Cresta'' for ...
*1980 Moon Alpha
*1980 Moon Raker
*1980 Moon Quasar
*1981 Moon Shuttle
*1984 Seicross
*1984 Tube Panic
*1985 MagMax
is an arcade game which was developed by Nihon Bussan and released in 1985 under its brand Nichibutsu. A horizontal scrolling shooter, players control the title hover ship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to ...
*1985 Terra Cresta
is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nichibutsu in 1985. The player controls a flying craft to destroy the Mandler army before they destroy all of humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting different ...
*1986 UFO Robo Dangar
is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nichibutsu in 1986. It is a spinoff of the ''Cresta'' Series, which includes ''Moon Cresta'', ''Terra Cresta'' and ''Terra Force''. The game is inspired by the anime series ''UFO ...
*1986 Soldier Girl Amazon (a.k.a. ''Sei Senshi Amatelass'')
*1986 Ninja Emaki (a.k.a. ''Youma Ninpou Cho'')
*1987 Sky Fox (a.k.a. ''Exerizer'')
*1987 Terra Force
*1987 Legion
*1988 Formation Armed F
is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by Nichibutsu in 1988. The player controls a spacecraft called the Vowger and shoots enemies, collects power-ups and attempts to defeat bosses to advance levels. The Vowger can be chan ...
*1989 Sky Robo (a.k.a. ''Tatakae! Big Fighter'')
*1992 Terra Cresta 2
*1997 Terra Cresta 3D
Action
*1980 ''Crazy Climber
is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerso ...
''
*1981 ''Frisky Tom
''Frisky Tom'' is a 1981 arcade video game developed by Jorudan and published by Nichibutsu. In this game, the player assumes the role of a plumber, named Tom, who is tasked with protecting and maintaining a network of plumbing pipes that route wa ...
''
*1982 ''Wiping'' (also known as "Rug Rats")
*1983 ''Dacholer'' (''Kick Boy'')
*1983 ''Skelagon'' (''SF-X'')
*1984 ''Roller Jammer''
*1984 ''Dynamic Ski
''Dynamic Ski'' is a skiing arcade video game released by Taiyo System and Nihon Bussan, Nichibutsu in 1984.
Reception
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dynamic Ski'' on their April 15, 1984 issue as being the twenty-third most-successful t ...
''
*1985 ''Cop01''
*1985 ''Galivan
''Cosmo Police Galivan'' (コスモポリス ギャリバン ''Kosumoporisu Gyariban''), is a single-player, shoot-em-up arcade video game developed and released worldwide by Nichibutsu. The game is inspired by the Japanese tokusatsu shows '' S ...
'' (also known as "Cosmo Police Galivan")
*1986 ''Mighty Guy''
*1987 ''Booby Kids
is an action video game for the Nintendo Family Computer. This video game is the home conversion of Nichibutsu's arcade game, , that was originally supposed to be named ''Booby Kids''.
In 1993, Nichibutsu released for the Game Boy a similar g ...
'' (a.k.a. ''Kid no HORE HORE Dai Sakusen'')
*1987 ''Samurai Assassin'' (a.k.a. ''Kozure Ōkami'')
*1988 ''Crazy Climber 2
is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerson ...
''
*1990 ''Die Hard
''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan, with a screenplay by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. Based on the 1979 novel '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', by Roderick Thorp, it stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Ale ...
'' (PC Engine version developed for Pack-In-Video Co. Ltd.)
*1993 ''Galivan 2'' (also known as "Cosmo Police Galivan 2: Arrow of Justice")
*1996 ''Expert'' (PlayStation 1. Japanese Title: エキスパート)
Quiz
*Hihoo! (1987)
*Hihoo!2 (1987)
*Quiz DE Date (1991)
*Miracle Q (1991)
*Kotaemon kachi (1991)
*TECHNO・DOOL (1991)
Puzzle
*Oh! Pyepee (1988)
*Tougenkyou (1988)
*Pairs (1989)
* Puzzle'n Desu! (1995)
Sports
* F1 Circus
is a series of Formula One-based racing video games developed and published by Nichibutsu starting on the PC Engine in 1990.
Games
The following is a list of games released in the series. None of the series was released outside Japan. The in ...
Action role-playing
* Artelius
Casino
* Kouryaku Casino Bar
The Super Nintendo has a library of games, which were released in plastic encased ROM cartridges. The cartridges are shaped differently for different regions; North American cartridges have a rectangular bottom with inset grooves matching protr ...
Mahjong
*1983 ''Jangō Lady''
*1984 ''Night Gal'' (Japan's top-grossing table arcade cabinet
An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
of October 1984 and December 1984)
*1986 ''Second Love''
*1990 ''Mahjong Triple Wars''
*1991 ''Mahjong Vanilla Syndrome''
*1994 ''Sailor Wars''
Notes
References
External links
* (archives)
{{Authority control
Video game companies established in 1970
Video game companies disestablished in 2015
Defunct video game companies of Japan
Hamster Corporation
Video game development companies
Hentai companies
Mass media in Osaka
Japanese companies established in 1970
Japanese companies disestablished in 2015