Psikyo
 | |
Native name | 彩京 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Saikyō |
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Defunct | 2005[1] |
| Headquarters | Kyoto, Japan |
Key people | Shinsuke Nakamura (CEO) |
Psikyo[a] was a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded in 1992. Psikyo was an offshoot formed from the Video System team that created the Aero Fighters series. The team mainly developed arcade games, mostly vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups and erotic mahjong games. The popularity of these arcade games led to them being ported to home consoles, and then ultimately led to Psikyo developing games for consoles.
Psikyo was acquired by X-Nauts in mid-2002. In 2003, it was reported that Psikyo was shutting down.[2] Shortly afterwards, X-Nauts stated this news was wrong.[3] Games under the Psikyo label would continue to be released, but would be outsourced to other teams.
Psikyo was known for its difficult "second loops"; after completing the game, you start again, with a high difficulty increase over the first "loop" with enemies firing faster and better. This has been present in every Psikyo shooter, since Samurai Aces, and was present in Aero Fighters. This has even been extended to Aero Fighters 2 and Aero Fighters 3, although these games are not developed by Psikyo.
In 2007, Keiyuki Haragami, a programming veteran of Psikyo, started a company called Zerodiv, to handle distribution of Psikyo's catalog. In March 2019, Zerodiv was acquired by City Connection. [4]
Games developed
| Release | Title | Genre | Arcade release | Home Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Sengoku Ace | Shooter | 
|
|
| 1994 | Battle K-Road | Fighting |
|
|
| Gunbird | Shooter |
|
PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Yahoo Mobile | |
| 1995 | Strikers 1945 | Shooter |
|
PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| 1996 | Sengoku Blade (Tengai) | Shooter |
|
Sega Saturn |
| 1997 | Sol Divide | Shooter |
|
PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Strikers 1945 II | Shooter |
|
PlayStation, Sega Saturn | |
| Taisen Hot Gimmick | Mahjong |
|
||
| Zero Gunner | Shooter |
|
||
| 1998 | Yoshimoto Mahjong Club | Mahjong | 
|
Sega Saturn |
| Gunbird 2 | Shooter |
|
Sega Dreamcast | |
| Pilot Kids | Shooter |
|
||
| Space Bomber | Shooter |
|
||
| Taisen Hot Gimmick Kairakuten | Mahjong |
|
||
| 1999 | Pocket Shooting | Shooter |
|
|
| Strikers 1945 III | Shooter |
|
||
| Strikers 1945 Plus | Shooter |
|
||
| Taisen Hot Gimmick 3 Digital Surfing | Mahjong |
|
||
| Yoshimoto Mahjong Club Deluxe | Mahjong |
|
PlayStation | |
| 2000 | Cannon Spike (Gunspike) | Shooter |
|
Sega Dreamcast |
| Dragon Blaze | Shooter |
|
||
| Lode Runner - The Dig Fight | Action |
|
||
| Quiz de Idol! Hot Debut | Quiz |
|
||
| Taisen Hot Gimmick 4 Ever | Mahjong |
|
||
| Ikuze! Onsen Takkyū!! | Table tennis |
|
PlayStation 2 | |
| 2001 | Gunbarich | Puzzle |
|
|
| Taisen Hot Gimmick Integral | Mahjong |
|
||
| Zero Gunner 2 | Shooter |
|
Sega Dreamcast | |
| Taisen Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo All Stars | Mahjong |
|
Sega Dreamcast | |
| 2002 | G-Taste | Mahjong |
|
PlayStation 2 |
| 2003 | Cho Aniki: Legend of Holy Protein | Shooter |
|
PlayStation 2 |
| 2005 | Taisen Hot Gimmick 5 | Mahjong |
|
|
| Taisen Hot Gimmick Mix Party | Mahjong |
|
Psikyo label games not developed by Psikyo
| Release | Title | Platforms |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Buggy Grand Prix: Kattobi! Dai-Sakusen | PlayStation 2 |
| 2004 | Gunbird Special Edition / Gunbird 1&2 | PlayStation 2 |
| Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 1: Strikers 1945 I & II[b] | PlayStation 2 | |
| Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 2: Sengoku Ace & Sengoku Blade | PlayStation 2 | |
| Psikyo Shooting Collection Vol. 3: Sol Divide & Dragon Blaze | PlayStation 2 | |
| Taisen Hot Gimmick: Cosplay Mahjong | PlayStation 2 | |
| 2005 | Sengoku Cannon | PSP |
| Taisen Hot Gimmick: Axes-Jong | PlayStation 2 | |
| 2009 | Strikers 1945 Plus | PSP |
| 2016 | Strikers 1945: World War | iOS, Android |
| 2017 | Strikers 1945 | Nintendo Switch |
| Gunbarich | Nintendo Switch | |
| Unreleased | Daraku Tenshi - The Fallen Angels | — |
Notes
References
- ^ http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/04/psikyo-defunct-but-their-game-library-lives-on/
- ^ "Psikyo shuts its development division down", GameSpot.com, April 29, 2003
- ^ "Psikyo not closing down operations as reported", GameSpot.com, May 2, 2003.
- ^ "「彩京」コンテンツを扱うゼロディブがシティコネクションの完全子会社に。ゼロディブ代表の原神敬幸氏はシティコネクションの執行役員に就任". 4Gamer. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
External links
- Official website (Psikyo) (in Japanese)
- Official website (X-Nauts) (in Japanese)
- Psikyo at Arcade-History.com
- PSIKYO 1ST GENERATION HARDWARE at System16 - The Arcade Museum
- PSIKYO SH2 HARDWARE at System16 - The Arcade Museum
- Psikyo (Company) at UVList
- Hitachi SH-2 arcade hardware at UVList
- Two 1997 Psikyo Developer Interviews at shmuplations.com
- Psikyo's (Company) game retrospectives at HG101
- X-Naut.Psikyo at MobyGames
- Psikyo (Company) at Giant Bomb
- Psikyo (Company) at GameFAQs