Konami: Difference between revisions

Konami Corporation
	The current Konami logo.
Company type	Public
Industry	Computer and video game industry; Entertainment industry; Health and fitness
Founded	March 21, 1969
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Key people	Kagemasa Kozuki CEO; Hideo Kojima
Products	Dance Dance Revolution; Castlevania; Metal Gear; (See complete products listing.)
Revenue	JPY 273.4 billion (2004)
Website	www.konami.com

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Konami Corporation (コナミ) (NYSE: KNM) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. The company was founded in 1969 as a jukebox rental and repair business in Osaka, Japan by Kagemasa Kozuki, the still-current chairman and CEO. It is currently headquartered in Tokyo. The company also operates health and fitness clubs in Japan.

History

On March 19, 1973, Kozuki transformed the business into Konami Industry Co., Ltd. and began work on manufacturing "amusement machines" for arcades. Their first actual game machine wasn't created until 1978. They began to achieve success with hit arcade games such as 1981's Scramble and Super Cobra.

Between 1982 and 1985, Konami manufactured and sold game software for home PCs, producing games for the MSX, Atari 2600, and Nintendo's Family Computer ("Famicom") game consoles. This new business was in addition to, not in place of, the arcades, and many hit console games of this time period were ports of the arcade versions. Konami of America Inc. was established in the United States in 1982, and in 1984 Konami expanded to the United Kingdom and established Konami Limited.

File:Konami.PNG

In February 2003, Konami adopted a new logo for its 30th anniversary. This was the previous logo.

Konami began to achieve great success when the Famicom took off, being released in the United States as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Many of the NES/Famicom's bestselling titles were produced by Konami, including the Castlevania series, Contra and its sequel, and Metal Gear. Konami was one of the most active and prolific third party development studios for the NES, which led to conflict with Nintendo of America's licensing restrictions. During the heyday of the NES, Nintendo of America controlled the production of all licensed NES software titles, and limited third party developers to a maximum of five titles per year. Several companies found a way around this restriction by founding quasi-independent subsidiary corporations, effectively doubling the number of games that they could release during the year. In the case of Konami, this subsidiary was known as Ultra Games, and a large number of Konami titles were published in North America under their banner, including the original Metal Gear, Skate or Die, the first three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games and the critically savaged Snake's Revenge (a Japanese-made Metal Gear sequel made specifically for the western market). In Europe, faced with a similar restriction placed by Nintendo's European branch, Konami established Palcom Software Ltd. to the same end. By the early 1990s, Nintendo of America had relaxed many of the more draconian of its licensing restrictions, and, no longer needed, Ultra was shut down in 1992, with the remainder of its staff being reabsorbed into Konami's official American branch.

In 2003, Konami of America closed down their arcade division due to heavy losses. All machine inquiries and new machines will be handled by Betson Enterprises.

Games

Over the years, some of the biggest and most memorable video games have been created by Konami. Genre-defining titles attributed to Konami include the dating simulation Tokimeki Memorial series, the vampire hunting Castlevania series, the action/shooter Contra series, the platform/adventure Ganbare Goemon series, the espionage action Metal Gear series, the console role-playing Suikoden series, and the rythmic dancing Dance Dance Revolution (aka Dancing Stage) series. Konami is particularly notable for its side-scrolling shoot-em-up games (also known as SHMUPS), such as Gradius, Parodius, and Twinbee. Konami's games based on cartoon licenses, especially the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Tiny Toon Adventures series, are still remembered fondly. Recent cinematically-styled franchises from Konami are the continuing Silent Hill survival horror game franchise, and the Metal Gear series, which underwent a public renaissance with Metal Gear Solid. Another successful franchise is Winning Eleven, the spiritual sequel to International Superstar Soccer, which is extremely popular in Latin America and Europe.

Konami is also notorious for its famous password, the Konami Code, which traditionally gives many powerups in its games. Although variants also exist, as in the Parodius series, and button naming can differ depending on the controller used, the classic Famicom or NES combination is: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.

Konami structure

In 2005, Konami Corporation merged with six of its subsidiaries.

Konami Corporation
- Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc.
- Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Inc.
- Konami Computer Entertainment Studios, Inc.
- Konami Online, Inc.
- Konami Media Entertainment, Inc.
- Konami Traumer, Inc
Konami Sports Life Corporation
Konami Sports Corporation
Konami Corporation of America — Holding company U.S.
- Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. formerly Konami of America Inc.
Konami Corporation of Europe B.V. — Holding company Europe, formerly Konami Limited
- Konami of Europe GmbH
Konami Software Shanghai, Inc.

External links

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{current-GCOTW}}
+{{Infobox Company |
+  company_name = Konami Corporation|
+  company_logo = [[Image:Konami_Logo.GIF|230px|The current Konami logo.]] |
+  company_slogan = N/A |
+  company_type   = [[Public company|Public]] |
+  foundation = [[March 21]], [[1969]] |
+  location = [[Tokyo, Japan]] |
+  industry = [[Computer and video game industry]]<br />[[Entertainment industry]]<br />Health and fitness |
+  revenue = [[JPY]] 273.4 billion (2004) |
+  num_employees = |
+  key_people = [[Kagemasa Kozuki]] CEO<br />[[Hideo Kojima]] |
+  products =  [[Dance Dance Revolution]]<br />[[Castlevania]]<br />[[Metal Gear]]<br />([[List of games by Konami|See complete products listing.]])|
+  homepage = [http://www.konami.com www.konami.com] |
+}}
+'''Konami Corporation''' (&#12467;&#12490;&#12511;) ([[New York Stock Exchange|NYSE]]: [http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=KNM '''KNM''']) is a leading [[video game developer|developer]] and [[video game publisher|publisher]] of numerous popular and strong-selling [[computer and video games]]. The company was founded in [[1969]] as a [[jukebox]] rental and repair business in [[Osaka]], [[Japan]] by [[Kagemasa Kozuki]], the still-current [[chairman]] and [[Chief executive officer|CEO]]. It is currently headquartered in [[Tokyo]]. The company also operates health and fitness clubs in Japan.
+==History==
-[[Image:Konami_Logo.GIF|right|200px|Current Konami logo]]
+On [[March 19]], [[1973]], Kozuki transformed the business into Konami Industry Co., Ltd. and began work on manufacturing "amusement machines" for [[arcades]]. Their first actual game machine wasn't created until [[1978]]. They began to achieve success with hit arcade games such as [[1981]]'s ''[[Scramble (video game)|Scramble]]'' and ''[[Super Cobra]]''.
-'''Konami Corporation''' (&#12467;&#12490;&#12511;) is a leading [[video game developer]] and [[video game publisher|publisher]].
-The company was founded in [[1969]] in [[Osaka]], [[Japan]] by [[Kagemasa Kozuki]]. It is now headquartered in [[Tokyo]].
+Between [[1982]] and [[1985]], Konami manufactured and sold game software for home [[Personal computer|PC]]s, producing games for the [[MSX]], [[Atari 2600]], and [[Nintendo | Nintendo's]] [[Nintendo Entertainment System| Family Computer]] ("Famicom") [[game console]]s. This new business was in addition to, not in place of, the arcades, and many hit console games of this time period were ports of the arcade versions. Konami of America Inc. was established in the [[United States]] in [[1982]], and in [[1984]] Konami expanded to the [[United Kingdom]] and established Konami Limited.
-Over the years, some of the biggest and most memorable video games have been created by Konami. Genre defining titles attributed to Konami include the dating simulation ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'' series, the vampire hunting ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, the action/shooter ''[[Contra (game)|Contra]]'' series, the platform/adventure ''[[Ganbare Goemon]]'' series, the espionage action ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series, the console role-playing ''[[Suikoden]]'' series, and the rythmic dancing ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'' (aka ''[[Dancing Stage]]'') series. Konami is particularly notable for its side-scrolling shoot-em-up games (also known as ''[[SHMUPS]]''), such as ''[[Gradius]]'', ''[[Parodius]]'', and ''[[Twinbee]]''. Konami's games based on cartoon licenses, especially the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' and ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' series, are still remembered fondly. Recent cinematically-styled franchises from Konami are the continuing ''[[Silent Hill]]'' [[survival horror game]] franchise, and the [[Metal Gear]] series, which underwent a public renaissance with ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''.
-[[Image:Konami.PNG|left|Old Konami logo]]
+[[Image:Konami.PNG|frame|In [[February 2003]], Konami adopted a new [[logo]] for its 30th anniversary. This was the previous logo.]]
-Many [[Easter_egg_(virtual)|easter eggs]] are hidden in a number of Konami games through the mechanism of the [[Konami Code]].  While in the game's start screen, the player presses "Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A" (the NES code) in rapid succession.  The exact results vary per game.
+Konami began to achieve great success when the Famicom took off, being released in the United States as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Many of the NES/Famicom's bestselling titles were produced by Konami, including the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, ''[[Contra (game)|Contra]]'' and its sequel, and ''[[Metal Gear (video game)|Metal Gear]]''. Konami was one of the most active and prolific third party development studios for the NES, which led to conflict with [[Nintendo of America]]'s licensing restrictions. During the heyday of the NES, Nintendo of America controlled the production of all licensed NES software titles, and limited third party developers to a maximum of five titles per year. Several companies found a way around this restriction by founding quasi-independent subsidiary corporations, effectively doubling the number of games that they could release during the year. In the case of Konami, this subsidiary was known as '''[[Ultra (company)|Ultra Games]]''', and a large number of Konami titles were published in North America under their banner, including the original ''Metal Gear'', ''[[Skate or Die]]'', the first three ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' games and the critically savaged ''[[Snake's Revenge]]'' (a [[Japanese]]-made ''Metal Gear'' sequel made specifically for the western market).   In Europe, faced with a similar restriction placed by Nintendo's European branch, Konami established '''Palcom Software Ltd.''' to the same end. By the early [[1990s]], Nintendo of America had relaxed many of the more draconian of its licensing restrictions, and, no longer needed, Ultra was shut down in [[1992]], with the remainder of its staff being reabsorbed into Konami's official American branch.
 In 2003, Konami of America closed down their arcade division due to heavy losses. All machine inquiries and new machines will be handled by [[Betson Enterprises]].
-== See also ==
+==Games==
+Over the years, some of the biggest and most memorable video games have been created by Konami. Genre-defining titles attributed to Konami include the dating simulation ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'' series, the vampire hunting ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, the action/shooter ''[[Contra (arcade game)|Contra]]'' series, the platform/adventure ''[[Ganbare Goemon]]'' series, the espionage action ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series, the console role-playing ''[[Suikoden]]'' series, and the rythmic dancing ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'' (aka ''[[Dancing Stage]]'') series. Konami is particularly notable for its side-scrolling shoot-em-up games (also known as ''[[SHMUPS]]''), such as ''[[Gradius]]'', ''[[Parodius]]'', and ''[[Twinbee]]''. Konami's games based on cartoon licenses, especially the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' and ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' series, are still remembered fondly. Recent cinematically-styled franchises from Konami are the continuing ''[[Silent Hill]]'' [[survival horror game]] franchise, and the ''Metal Gear'' series, which underwent a public renaissance with ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. Another successful franchise is ''[[Winning Eleven]]'', the spiritual sequel to ''[[International Superstar Soccer]]'', which is extremely popular in [[Latin America]] and [[Europe]].
+Konami is also notorious for its famous password, the [[Konami Code]], which traditionally gives many [[powerup]]s in its games.  Although variants also exist, as in the ''[[Parodius]]'' series, and button naming can differ depending on the controller used, the classic Famicom or NES combination is: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start.
+==Konami structure==
+In [[2005]], Konami Corporation merged with six of its subsidiaries.
+* Konami Corporation
+** Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc.
+** Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Inc.
+** Konami Computer Entertainment Studios, Inc.
+** Konami Online, Inc.
+** Konami Media Entertainment, Inc.
+** Konami Traumer, Inc
+* Konami Sports Life Corporation
+* Konami Sports Corporation
+* Konami Corporation of America &mdash; [[Holding company]] U.S.
+** Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. formerly ''Konami of America Inc.''
+* Konami Corporation of Europe B.V. &mdash; Holding company Europe, formerly ''Konami Limited''
+** Konami of Europe GmbH
+* Konami Software Shanghai, Inc.
+==See also==
 * [[List of games by Konami]]
 * [[Treasure Co. Ltd]]
+* [[Konami Code]]
-== External links ==
+==External links==
 * [http://www.konami.com Konami Corporate Information]
 * [http://www.konami.jp/ Konami Entertainment] ([[Japanese language|Japanese]])
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