was a Japanese manufacturer of

arcade games 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 ...

. The company was founded in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Chiyoda-ku is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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 ...

as , but changed to its current name sometime in 1984. It is currently owned by Hitoshi Hamada. One of their earliest arcade hits was the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

rail shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

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 ...

'', one of the first to combine close combat with long-range shooting. A year later, Seibu Kaihatsu became best known for their

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

vertical-scrolling

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

arcade game '' Raiden'', which was successful enough to earn several sequels and spin-offs in its series of titles. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, a development department known as was spun off from Seibu Kaihatsu. During the late '80s,

Fabtek Fabtek Inc. was a thriving video kit company founded in Bellevue, Washington, United States 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 and Nint ...

bought the rights to internationally distribute Seibu Kaihatsu's arcade titles outside Japan. This partnership started with

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 ...

, which was Fabtek's first game to be released, and ended with

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 ...

, which was both Fabtek's and Seibu Kaihatsu's last game to be released. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, its arcade division vanished and its official website shut down. It was also rumored that they filed for bankruptcy; in fact, Seibu Kaihatsu temporarily disbanded itself. Therefore, Fabtek's international distribution rights expired while closing its business. During the same year, they established , right before the dissolution of their relationship with adult video game developers h.m.p. and Mink to develop adult

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 ...

video arcade games. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, the development staff left Seibu Kaihatsu to apply at

MOSS Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

, then bought the development rights to the ''Raiden'' franchise from Seibu Kaihatsu to develop '' Raiden III'' and '' Raiden IV'' in order to keep the franchise's fanbase hyped with Seibu Kaihatsu assisting them.

Games by Seibu Kaihatsu

Stinger A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal. An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of v ...

(1983) (released as Seibu Denshi) * Scion (1984) (released as Seibu Denshi) * Kung-Fu Taikun (1984) * Knuckle Joe (licensed to Taito) (1985) * Shot Rider (1985) * Wiz (1985) * Empire City: 1931 / Street Fight (licensed to Taito) (1986) * Panic Road (1986) (co-developed with

Visco Corporation is a software company located in Japan. It was founded in 1982 by and later became corporate on August 8, 1983 while revealing itself as "Visco" in Japan. They originally developed video games for several platforms from the arcades and NES, ...

and licensed to Taito) * Air Raid / Cross Shooter (licensed to Taito) (1987) * Pop'n Run The Videogame (1987) * Mustache Boy (licensed to March) (1987) * ''

'' (1988) *

/ The Double Dynamites (licensed to Fabtek) (1989) * '' Raiden'' (1990) * Seibu Cup Soccer (1991) * Olympic Soccer '92 (1992) * ''

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) * Zero Team (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) * '' Senkyu / Battle Balls'' (1995) * ''

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) * E-Jan High School (1996) * '' Raiden Fighters'' (licensed to Fabtek) (1996) * '' Raiden Fighters 2: Operation Hell Dive'' (licensed to Tuning / Fabtek) (1997) * ''

'' (licensed to Tuning / Fabtek) (1998)

External links

Official website

MobyGames ProfileGiant Bomb Profile
Amusement companies of Japan Video game companies of Japan {{Japan-videogame-company-stub

Games by Seibu Kaihatsu

See also

External links