Namco Tales Studio
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, formerly known as , was a Japanese
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 founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when
Telenet Japan was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company had several video game divisions including: Wolf Team, Laser Soft, Reno, Renovation Products, Riot, Commseed, and Telenet Jr. Telenet Ja ...
sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary developer of the ''Tales'' RPG series, as it had been since the series' beginning. In November 2011, it was announced that the current Tales Studio would be dissolved and would merge with their publisher,
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
. In February 2012, it was announced that the 80 people of the Tales team would join
Bandai Namco Studios is a Japanese video game development, video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studio Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia and Infinite St ...
.http://www.bandainamco.co.jp/files/E38390E383B3E38380E382A4E3838AE383A0E382B3E382B9E3.pdf


History

Originally headed by Masahiro Akishino, Wolf Team became independent from Telenet in 1987, was reintegrated in 1990 and got merged with another Telenet subsidiary called Lasersoft, then was completely absorbed in an internal restructuring at Telenet in 1993 at which point most of the staff left together with Akishino. The remaining staff were the then-very-young programmer
Yoshiharu Gotanda is a Japanese video game developer, video game development company formed in March 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Yoshiharu Gotanda (programmer, current tri-Ace President), Masaki Norimoto (game designer) and Joe Asanuma (director). Th ...
, designer
Masaki Norimoto Masaki may refer to: Name * Masaki (given name), a unisex Japanese given name * Masaki (surname), a Japanese surname Places * Masaki, Ehime, a town located in Iyo District, Japan * Masaki Art Museum, a museum in Tadaoka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan th ...
, director
Joe Asanuma Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * Joe (1970 film), ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * Joe (2013 film), ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * Joe (TV series), ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from ...
, graphic artist Yoshiaki Inagaki, sound composer
Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, such as for '' Tales'', ''Star Ocean'', ''Mario Golf'', ''Mario Tennis'', '' Golden Sun'', and ''Dark Souls'' series, as well as several other ani ...
, and sound effect designer Ryota Furuya. Wolf Team went on to create games such as ''
Sol-Feace is a 1990 horizontal-scrolling shooter video game developed by Wolf Team and published by Telenet Japan for the Sharp X68000 computer. Versions for the Sega CD and Sega Genesis were released later on, the latter renaming the game ''Sol-Deace''. ...
'' and '' Hiouden: Mamono-tachi tono Chikai'', which faced weak sales. They were also notable for porting
laserdisc video game An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, ...
s to the
Sega Mega-CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...
, including some Japan-only arcades like ''
Time Gal is an interactive movie video game developed and published by Taito and Toei Company, and originally released as a laserdisc game in Japan for the arcades in 1985. It is an action game which uses full motion video (FMV) to display the on-scree ...
'' and ''
Ninja Hayate is a 1984 in video gaming, 1984 laserdisc video game first developed and released by Taito Corporation, Taito and Toei Company, Malone Films for arcade game, arcades in Japan and the United States. The game was later Porting#Porting in gaming, po ...
'' (released as ''Revenge of the Ninja'' for the Sega Mega-CD outside Japan). For ''Tale Phantasia'', a game concept by Gotanda, they looked for an outside publisher with a better reputation.Pär Villner & Fredrik Schaufelberger: "Square Enix", ' 29, September 2009, pg. 44-59. (Swedish) After approaching
Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...
, Telenet struck a contract 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 ...
. Namco insisted on many changes to the game, including changing the title to ''
Tales of Phantasia is an action role-playing game originally developed by Wolf Team. It is the first title in Namco's ''Tales (video game series), Tales'' series. Initially released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom in December 1995, it was ...
''. The conflict over these changes pushed the game's release from 1994 into late 1995. Most of the initial staff left during this dispute and founded
tri-Ace is a Japanese video game developer, video game development company formed in March 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Yoshiharu Gotanda (programmer, current tri-Ace President), Masaki Norimoto (game designer) and Joe Asanuma (director). Th ...
in early 1995. To continue the lucrative arrangement with Namco to develop the ''Tales'' series, Telenet re-staffed Wolf Team and retained some other staff, such as
Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, such as for '' Tales'', ''Star Ocean'', ''Mario Golf'', ''Mario Tennis'', '' Golden Sun'', and ''Dark Souls'' series, as well as several other ani ...
on a freelance basis. Wolf Team dedicated itself to the series, developing or co-developing nearly every game. In 2003, Namco assumed majority ownership of the company and renamed it Namco Tales Studio. At the time of its renaming Namco owned 60% of this venture, Telenet Japan/ Kazuyuki Fukushima retained 34%, and Tales series director
Eiji Kikuchi is a video game director best known as the series director of the ''Tales'' role-playing game series. He presently works for Namco Tales Studio , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company w ...
received 6%. (Kikuchi, who was the head of Telenet's game development department for 10 years, left Telenet to head the new team full-time.) Effective on April 1, 2006, the then-newly merged
Bandai Namco Holdings also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...
bought the remaining shares from Telenet Japan, cutting the last link to the developers' former employer and increasing its stockholding majority to 94%. In October 2007, Telenet filed for bankruptcy and closed, putting an end to the Wolf Team name. Namco later acquired the remaining shares. Namco Tales Studios remained the primary developer of the so-called "mothership" titles of the ''Tales'' series, with the exception of ''
Tales of Legendia , is an action role-playing game that was developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2 as the seventh main title in their '' Tales'' series. Originally released in Japan in August 2005, it was later made available in English in North A ...
'' and ''
Tales of Innocence is an action role-playing game, developed and released for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Vita. ''Innocence'' is the ninth main installment in the '' Tales'' series, developed by Alfa System and published by Bandai Namco Games. It was releas ...
''. ''Legendia'' was developed by an internal Namco development team called Team Melfes; while ''Innocence'' was developed by an independent developer,
Alfa System ''Alfa System'' is a video game development and planning company from Kumamoto City, Japan. The company was founded in 1988. In their early years Alfa System developed exclusively for NEC consoles with Hudson Soft and other publishers. They later ...
, which also developed various spinoff games in the ''Tales'' series. In November 2011, it was announced that the current Tales Studio would be dissolved and would merge with their publisher,
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
. In February 2012, it was announced that the 80 people of the Tales team would join
Bandai Namco Studios is a Japanese video game development, video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studio Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia and Infinite St ...
.


Developed games

Namco Tales Studio has developed games for the
Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
,
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 ...
,
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, 2 ...
,
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
,
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
,
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
,
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
,
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
,
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
, and
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
. Notes: Tales Studio sound staff only For a complete list of Tales of games, see
Tales (video game series) The ''Tales'' series is a Media franchise, franchise of fantasy role-playing video games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco), and developed by its subsidiary, Namco Tales Studio until 2011 and presently by Bandai Namco Stud ...
.


As Wolf Team

*''Aisle Lord'' *''
Anett Futatabi is a side scrolling, beat-em-up video game developed and published by Wolf Team for the Mega CD hardware add-on for the Mega Drive. It is the final in a trilogy of games that also includes ''Earnest Evans'' and '' El Viento''. The game was releas ...
'' *'' Arcus'' *'' Arcus II: Silent Symphony'' *''Arcus 3'' *''
Arcus Odyssey ''Arcus Odyssey'' is an action game video game developed by Wolf Team and released by Renovation Products in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and X68000 and in 1993 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game features an isometric ...
'' *'' Akushu: Kagerou no Jidai wo Koe te'' *'' Apros: Daichi no Shou Kaze no Tankyuu Sha hen'' *''
Cliff Hanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhange ...
'' *''
Cobra Command Cobra (sometimes referred to as Cobra Command) is a fictional terrorist organization and the nemesis of the G.I. Joe Team in the Hasbro action figure toyline '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' and '' G.I. Joe: Sigma 6'', as well as in related ...
'' *'' Crystal Chaser: Tenkuu no Masuishou'' *'' D: European Mirage'' *'' Daitoua Mokujiroku Goh'' *''Diamond Players'' *'' Devastator'' *''
Dino Land is a pinball video game developed by Wolf Team for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in 1991 in North America and Japan. Summary This game had a quest mode that spanned three pinball areas: Rescue the kidnapped girlfriend from Din ...
'' *'' Earnest Evans'' *''
El Viento is a platform game developed and published by Wolf Team for the Sega Genesis game console in 1991. It is the first in a trilogy of games, which includes '' Earnest Evans'' and ''Anett Futatabi''. Gameplay ''El Viento'' is a platform game. The ...
'' *'' Fhey Area'' *'' Final Zone (FZ Senki AXIS)'' *'' Gaudi: Barcelona no Kaze'' *''
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
'' *'' Goh 2'' *'' Gulf War Soukouden'' *''Hiōden'' *''Hiōden 2'' *'' Hiōden: Mamono-tachi tono Chikai'' *''Jinmu Denshou'' *'' Mid-Garts'' *'' Neugier: Umi to Kaze no Kodō'' *'' Niko^2'' *''
Revenge of the Ninja ''Revenge of the Ninja'' is a 1983 American martial arts– thriller film directed by Sam Firstenberg, and starring martial artist Sho Kosugi, Keith Vitali, Virgil Frye and Kane Kosugi. The plot follows a ninja trying to protect his only son fr ...
'' *''
Road Blaster is an interactive movie video game developed by Data East featuring animation by Toei Animation, originally released exclusively in Japan as a laserdisc-based arcade game in 1985. The player assumes the role of a vigilante who must avenge the de ...
'' *'' Ryū: Naki no Ryū Yori'' *'' Seirei Shinseiki - Fhey Area'' *'' Shinsengumi: Bakumatsu Genshikou'' *'' Sol-Feace/Sol-Deace'' *'' Span of Dream'' *'' Suzaku'' *''
Tales of Destiny is an action role-playing game originally developed by Telenet Japan's "Wolf Team" as the second main title in Namco's '' "Tales of"'' series. Originally released for the PlayStation in Japan in December 1997, an English version was later made av ...
'' *''
Tales of Destiny 2 is a Japanese action role-playing game, co-developed by Wolfteam and Telenet Japan, and published by Namco. It is the fourth main entry in the '' Tales'' series of video games, and a direct sequel to 1997's '' Tales of Destiny''. It released on ...
'' *''
Tales of Eternia , known as ''Tales of Destiny II'' in its original North America release, is an action role-playing game published by Namco as the third main title in their '' Tales'' series. Initially released for the PlayStation in November 2000 in Japan, an ...
'' *''
Tales of Phantasia is an action role-playing game originally developed by Wolf Team. It is the first title in Namco's ''Tales (video game series), Tales'' series. Initially released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom in December 1995, it was ...
'' *'' Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon'' *'' Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2'' *'' Tenbu Limited / Mankan Zenseki'' *'' Tenbu: Sangokushi Seishi'' *'' The Grail Hunter'' *'' Tokyo Twilight Busters'' *''
Time Gal is an interactive movie video game developed and published by Taito and Toei Company, and originally released as a laserdisc game in Japan for the arcades in 1985. It is an action game which uses full motion video (FMV) to display the on-scree ...
'' *'' Valis: The Fantasm Soldier'' *''Yaksa'' *'' Zan: Kagerou no Toki'' *'' Zan: Yasha Enbukyoku'' *''Zan II: Spirits'' *'' Zan 2: Kagerou no Jidai'' *'' Zan 2: Kagerou no Jidai Soshuhen'' *'' Zan 3: Tenun Ware ni Ari'' *''Zan Gear''


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control Former Bandai Namco Holdings subsidiaries Defunct video game companies of Japan Video game companies established in 1986 Video game companies disestablished in 2012 Video game development companies Wolf Team games 2012 disestablishments in Japan Japanese companies disestablished in 2012 Japanese companies established in 1986