Tose (company)
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Company type | Public K.K. |
---|---|
TYO: 4728 | |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | November 1979 |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Game & Watch Gallery series |
Number of employees | 1,000 (2015)[1] |
Website | Official website |
Tose Co., Ltd. (株式会社トーセ, Kabushiki-gaisha Tōse) (TYO: 4728) (also called Tose Software) is a video game development company based in Kyoto, Japan. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's Game & Watch Gallery series, various Dragon Ball games, as well as other Nintendo products. Tose has developed or co-developed over 1,000 games since the company's inception in 1979, but is virtually never credited in the games themselves (an exception to this is Game & Watch Gallery 4 and The Legendary Starfy series, as Tose shares the copyright with Nintendo).[2] "We're always behind the scenes," said Masa Agarida, Vice President of Tose's U.S. division. "Our policy is not to have a vision. Instead, we follow our customers' visions. Most of the time we refuse to put our name on the games, not even staff names." As such, Tose has gained a reputation for being a "ghost developer".[3]
History
In November 1979, Tose was established at Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto as independent entity from Toa Seiko Co., Ltd. In April 1984 they began to develop video games, a year later educational software. Tose's head office was moved Otokuni-gun, Kyoto Prefecture in May 1986. Event software development began in April 1987. In July 1988, new head office in Yamazaki, Kyoto was completed. Starting in May 1990, Tose began developing software for Game Boy and Super Famicom (Super NES).
In August 1999, Tose was listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange 2nd Section and Kyoto Stock Exchange. In October of that year, the Kyoto Head office was opened at Shijo-Karasuma, which integrate the business of head office functions and the Karasuma CG Center. On 27 September 2000, Tose was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 2nd Section.[4] In August 2001, they were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 1st Section and Osaka Securities Exchange 1st Section.
On December 18, 2007 Tose announced the leakage of its business information onto the Internet, discovered a day before. The information included 10 pieces of information relating to customer names, development cases, development contents, development fees and reception time.[5]
On September 1, 2011 Tose announced separating the amusement machine development business from the 2nd game development department (ゲーム事業部開発2部) into a separate amusement machine developer (AM開発部).[6]
List of games developed by Tose
NOTE: Some of these titles are merely believed or assumed to be developed by Tose, due to information compiled by various amateur and professional journalists. Most have not been officially confirmed as Tose-developed products by any of the games' publishers, co-developers, or Tose themselves. Many of the games released by Bandai, Tomy Corporation, Jaleco, Taito, Namco, Tonkin House were developed by Tose.
- See also Category:Tose (company) games
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Arcade
- Vanguard (1981)
- Vanguard II (1984)
Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System
- Exerion (1985)
- Field Combat (1985)
- Brist (1985)
- Compatile (1985)
- Chubby Cherub (1985)
- Ikki (1985)
- M.U.S.C.L.E. (1985)
- City Connection (1985)
- Mississippi Satsujin Jiken (1986)
- Mappy-Land (1986)
- Choplifter (1986)
- Dragon Power (1986)
- Ninja Kid (1986)
- Urusei Yatsura: Lum no Wedding Bell (1986)
- Bases Loaded (1987)
- Karaoke Studio (1987)
- Lupin Sansei: Pandora no Isan (1987)
- Uchūsen: Cosmo Carrier (1987)
- Goal! (1988)
- Bases Loaded II: Second Season (1988)
- Racket Attack (1988)
- Demon Sword (1988)
- Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu (1988)
- Pinball Quest (1989)
- Oishinbo: Kyukyoku no Menu 3bon Syoubu (1989)
- Sakigake!! Otokojuku: Shippu Ichi Gou Sei (1989)
- Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden (1989)
- Bandai Golf: Challenge Pebble Beach (1989)
- Shooting Range (1989)
- Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (1989)
- Terao no Dosukoi Ōzumō (1989)
- Short Order / Eggsplode! (1989)
- Akuma-kun: Makai no Wana (1990)
- Bases Loaded 3 (1990)
- Frankenstein: The Monster Returns (1991)
- Bases Loaded 4 (1991)
- Golf Grand Slam (1991)
- Toxic Crusaders (1992, NES only)
- Legends of the Diamond (1992, NES only)
- Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES & Game Boy only)
- Rokudenashi Blues (1993)
- Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (1993)
- Battle Rush: Build Up Robot Tournament (1993)
- Pro Sport Hockey (1993)
- Crayon Shin-Chan: Ora to Poi Poi (1993)
- J. League Super Top Players (1994)
Super Famicom/Super NES
- Super Tennis (1991)
- Super Bases Loaded (1991)
- Goal! (1992)
- Dig & Spike Volleyball (1992)
- Super Professional Baseball II (1992)
- Super Play Action Football (1992, Super NES only)
- Bazooka Blitzkrieg (1992)
- Super Bases Loaded 2 (1993)
- Super Goal! 2 (1993)
- Namco Open (1993)
- Rokudenashi Blues (1994)
- Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni (1994)
- Takeda Nobuhiro no Super League Soccer (1994)
- Super Bases Loaded 3 (1994)
- Tetris 2 (1994)
- Gon (1994)
- Natsuki Crisis Battle (1995)
- Sterling Sharpe: End 2 End (1995, Super NES only)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu (1992)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden (1993)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 2 (1993)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 3 (1994)
- Pro Sport Hockey (1994)
- Dragon Ball Z: Chou Gokuu Den: Kakusei-hen (1995)
- Dragon Ball Z: Chou Gokuu Den: Totsugeki-hen (1995)
- Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (1996)
Game Boy
- Boxing (1990)
- Karakuri Kengou Den Musashi Lord (1991)
- Soccer (1991)
- Yoshi's Cookie (1992, NES & Game Boy only)
- Takeda Nobuhiro no Ace Striker (1994)
- Sports Collection (1996)
- Namco Gallery Vol. 1 (1996)
- Namco Gallery Vol. 2 (1996)
- Namco Gallery Vol. 3 (1997)
Game Boy Color
- Dragon Warrior Monsters (1998)[7]
- Dragon Warrior I & II (1999)
- Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (2000)[7]
- Winnie the Pooh: Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood (2000)
- Dragon Warrior III (2000)
- Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 (2001)
Game Boy Advance
- Densetsu no Stafy (2002)
- Shrek: Hassle at the Castle (2002)
- Densetsu no Stafy 2 (2003)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (2003)
- Shrek: Reekin' Havoc (2003)
- Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest: Shōgeki no Shippo Dan (2003)
- Densetsu no Stafy 3 (2004)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King (2005)[7]
PlayStation
- Theme Aquarium (1998)[8][9]
- Thousand Arms (1998)[10]
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (1998) [11]
- Resident Evil Survivor (2000)
PlayStation 2
- The King of Route 66 (co-developed with Sega-AM2, 2003)[7]
- Code of the Samurai (co-developed with Red Entertainment)
GameCube
- Resident Evil Zero (2002)
PlayStation 3
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (co-developed with Square-Enix and tri-Ace, 2013)
PlayStation 4
- World of Final Fantasy (co-developed with Square-Enix, 2016)
- The King of Fighters XIV (co-developed with SNK, 2016)
PlayStation Portable
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (2006)
- Ultimate Ghosts'n Goblins (2006)
- Star Ocean: First Departure (2007)[12]
- Star Ocean: Second Evolution (2008)
PlayStation Vita
- World of Final Fantasy (co-developed with Square-Enix, 2016)
Nintendo DS
- Super Princess Peach (2005)
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (2005)[7]
- Sega Casino (2005)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (2006)[7]
- Densetsu no Stafy 4 (2006)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (2006)[7]
- MySims (2007)
- MySims Kingdom (2008)
- Crash: Mind Over Mutant (2008)
- Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (2008)
- The Legendary Starfy (2008)
- WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (2008)
- WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 (2009)
- MySims Agents (2009)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 (2010)
- Planes (2013)
- Tetris DS (unreleased)
Nintendo 3DS
- Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (2011)
- Resident Evil: Revelations (2012)
- Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D (2012)
- Planes (2013)
- WarioWare Gold (2018)
SEGA Dreamcast
- Resident Evil: Code Veronica (2000)
List of games published by Nintendo
These are games published by Nintendo that were developed by Tose.
Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System
- Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shōjo (1989, Famicom Disk System)
- Short Order / Eggsplode! (1989, NES only)
- NES Play Action Football (1990, NES only)
Game Boy
- Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991)
- Tetris 2 (1993, Game Boy port)
- Kirby's Block Ball (1995)
- Arcade Classic No. 3: Galaga/Galaxian (Nintendo, 1995)
- Game Boy Gallery (1995)
- Game & Watch Gallery (1997)
Game Boy Color
- Game & Watch Gallery 2 (1998)[7]
- Game & Watch Gallery 3 (1999)[7]
Virtual Boy
- Mario's Tennis (1995)
Game Boy Advance
- Densetsu no Stafy (2002)[7][13]
- Game & Watch Gallery 4 (2002)[7]
- Densetsu no Stafy 2 (2003)[7]
- Densetsu no Stafy 3 (2004)[7]
Nintendo DS
- Super Princess Peach (2005)[7]
- Densetsu no Stafy 4 (2006)[7]
- The Legendary Starfy (2008)[7]
Nintendo 3DS
- Fire Emblem Fates (castle modeling support for Intelligent Systems, 2015)
Wii U
- Paper Mario Color Splash (environment art support for Intelligent Systems, 2016)
Games ported by Tose
Tose has ported a few games, including Square and Enix games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES.
- Chrono Trigger (PlayStation, Nintendo DS)[14]
- Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (ports of Final Fantasy I & II for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance, respectively)[7]
- Final Fantasy IV (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)[7]
- Final Fantasy V (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)[7]
- Final Fantasy VI (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)[7]
- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PlayStation Portable)[7]
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PlayStation Portable)
- Star Ocean: First Departure (PlayStation Portable)
- Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PlayStation Portable)
- Resident Evil Revelations HD (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360)
- Ōkami (Nintendo Wii, co-developed with Ready At Dawn)
- 2002 FIFA World Cup (Nintendo GameCube, co-developed with EA Canada, Acclaim Studios Manchester, and Intelligent Games)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch port)
See also
References
- ^ Leone, Matt (30 September 2015). "The secret developers of the video game industry". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ Sheffield, Brandon (2006-05-18). "Tose: Game Development Ninjas". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ^ Cifaldi, Frank (2006-04-20). "The Connection is Made: Developer Highlights from Game Connection 2006 (Part Two)". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ^ 東京証券取引所市場第二部への上場のお知らせ
- ^ 業務情報の漏洩に関するお知らせ[permanent dead link]
- ^ 機構改革および人事異動についてのお知らせ
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Kennedy, Sam (2007-01-24). "Tose: Gaming's Dirty Little Secret". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
- ^ Rose, Mike (May 1, 2013). "What the heck is Bullfrog's Theme Aquarium?". Gamasutra. UBM Technology Group. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "Aquarium (1998) PlayStation release dates". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ Hill, Doug (October 14, 1999). "Tose to develop for Playstation 2". RPGamer.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Caoili, Eric (December 29, 2010). "Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers' Fan-Translation Trailer". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2015-05-13.
- ^ Seedhouse, Alex (May 25, 2019). "Star Ocean: First Departure R Announced For Nintendo Switch". Nintendo Insider. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
- ^ 任天堂より発売のゲームボーイ アドバンス用ソフト「伝説のスタフィー」は、任天堂とトーセが共同開発いたしました。
- ^ "Nintendo Power Holiday 2008". Nintendo Power. Vol. 236. 2008. p. 82.