“At that time, there were a lot of companies that didn’t have access to foreign markets,” Boughton says. It was a very different from the more traditional business world,” she says, and it sparked her interest in international video game publishing.īoth Boughton and Tsumura went solo to work as consulting agents during the ’90s, where their prior experiences proved invaluable for both Japanese and Western game publishers looking to establish a foothold overseas. “My second job was to help Alexey come from Russia and move to the United States. Among other titles, Boughton had a hand in Xanth Software’s pioneering first-person deathmatch shooter Faceball 2000 and, even more famously, Alexey Pajitnov’s Tetris.īoughton says it was her involvement with Tetris that started her on the path that eventually led to Tozai’s inception. Boughton, on the other hand, worked at Spectrum Holobyte and Bullet-Proof Software and helped bring innovative titles to new regions. Tsumura worked at Irem during the company’s formative years as a maker of legendary arcade titles, where he oversaw the development of early entries in the vintage franchises Tozai manages today. Its most recent release - R-Type Dimensions EX for Nintendo Switch - hails from Japan, but its other recent productions (including Lode Runner Legacy and Spelunker Party) speak to its focus on games with a deep international legacy.įittingly, Tozai president Sheila Boughton and chief advisor Scott Tsumura have had a hand in publishing globe-spanning properties since the ’80s. Established as a management firm to help forge trans-Pacific licensing arrangements for venerable Japanese properties, Tozai eventually evolved into a publisher in its own right. With offices that straddle the Pacific, Tozai manages a handful of legacy intellectual properties that have transcended borders and languages for decades. Publisher Tozai Games stands as a testament to this decadeslong common bond. But bear in mind that those older works owed a great deal in turn to the primal Western works that inspired their own creators. Of course, a keen observer might note that many Western indie titles have a decidedly Japanese vibe to them Shovel Knight riffs heavily on (Capcom’s) Mega Man, and Undertale plays like a love letter to (Nintendo’s) EarthBound. A well-crafted Western game can easily rocket its way up the Japanese charts, as seen recently even with indie titles like Shovel Knight and Undertale. It can range from blind adoration to near-xenophobic contempt. Overall, however, Japanese gamers have a varied and nuanced a relationship with American and European games. This 8-bit gaming console brings back fond memories to many of us age 20 or older and boasts a huge collection of fantastic games such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior and many other franchises that are still popular today.“Japanese gamers hate American games.” So goes one of gaming’s most enduring misconceptions.Īs with all clichés, there is some kernel of truth to the idea that Japanese video game enthusiasts look down their noses at imported software hence the phrase yo-ge kuso-ge (“Western games, shitty games”). However, you can purchased unlicensed NES games such as Road Runner, Dudes with Attitude, RBI Baseball 2, Krazy Kreatures, Fantasy Zone, Skull & Crossbones and Klax among many others. The most important aspect of this is that it required developers to submit their games to be reviewed by Nintendo's Quality Assurance department. Nintendo was the first gaming company to provide third party licensing that required a game development company to pay a fee to get a development kit and have their game officially licensed by Nintendo. NES Game - The Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as the NES in North America, Europe and Australia or Famicom, short for family computer, across most Asian countries is the best selling console of its time.
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