Taito Corporation
Type	Subsidiary
Founded	1953
Founder	Michael Kogan
Headquarters
Industry	Software & Programming
Parent	Square Enix
Website	http://www.taito.co.jp/

The Taito Corporation (株式会社タイトー, kabushikigaisha taitō^?) is a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware. A subsidiary, in business matters is an entity that is controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome Michael Kogan (1917 – February 5, 1984) was a Russian Jewish businessman who founded the Japanese games maker Taito Corporation. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" A holding company is a company that owns part all or a majority of other companies' outstanding Stock. is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its Console role-playing game franchises which include the Final Fantasy series the Dragon A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Taito Trading Company was established by a Russian businessman named Michael Kogan. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Michael Kogan (1917 – February 5, 1984) was a Russian Jewish businessman who founded the Japanese games maker Taito Corporation. Taito also imports and distributes American coin-op video games in Japan, as well as their own games all around the world. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Taito Corporation was acquired by Square Enix in 2005. is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its Console role-playing game franchises which include the Final Fantasy series the Dragon

History

The company was founded in 1953 by a Russian businessman named Michael Kogan as Taito Trading Company (株式会社太東貿易, kabushikigaisha taitō bōeki^?). Michael Kogan (1917 – February 5, 1984) was a Russian Jewish businessman who founded the Japanese games maker Taito Corporation. Taito started out importing and distributing vending machines. A vending machine is a machine that provides various snacks beverages and other products to consumers Later, they began leasing jukeboxes and they eventually started to manufacture their own. Leasing is a process by which a firm can obtain the use of a certain fixed assets for which it must pay a series of contractual periodic tax deductable payments jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device usually a Coin -operated machine that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, "making by hand" is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale

Although Taito was already making coin-op mechanical and pinball games during the 1960s, it wasn't until 1973 that Taito introduced their first video arcade game. Pinball is a type of coin-operated Arcade game where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more Metal balls on a playfield inside a Glass It was also in 1973 that they changed their name from Taito Trading Company to Taito Corporation. In 1978 Toshihiro Nishikado, a designer at Taito, created Space Invaders which became the company's most popular title ever and one of the most memorable games in arcade history. (born 1944 in Osaka Prefecture) is a Japanese Video game developer. is an arcade Video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978 This game was published in the US by Midway. Midway Games ( (formerly Midway Manufacturing) is an American Video game publisher. Space Invaders was inspired by an earlier 1972 electro-mechanical game by Taito called Space Monsters.

Due to the huge success of Space Invaders, Taito opened in 1979 an American division called Taito America Corporation in order to release games in North America. Taito America was based in Wheeling, Illinois and was handling the arcade sector of the company in North America. Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. While the majority of the games Taito America published were games developed by its Japanese parent company, they did also publish games that they licensed from third-party companies, as well as games that were developed in the U. S. for Taito.

Taito's logo until 1988

Besides Taito America, Taito had another division in North America called Taito Software Inc that was in charge of the non-arcade sector of the company. Based in North Vancouver, British Columbia and established in 1988, Taito Software released Taito games exclusively for home computers and consoles. This page is about the two distinct British Columbia municipalities that use the name and are often jointly referred to as "North Vancouver" British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Prior to Taito Software, the consumer side was also handled by Taito America. Like Taito America, Taito Software's catalog was mainly games developed by the Japanese parent company and occasionally games licensed from other companies.

1995 marked the last year that North America saw the Taito label on new games as Taito America and Taito Software closed down their offices at the same time. Video games developed by Taito are still available in North America to this day but they now bear the name of other publishers.

Taito has had a big influence on the course of videogame history, developing some very innovative games. Space Invaders is probably the most notable, but games such as Qix, Bubble Bobble, Jungle Hunt, Elevator Action, and Puzzle Bobble also introduced unique and innovative gameplay ideas. is an arcade Video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978 Qix (pronounced /kɪks/ is an Arcade game, released by Taito America Corporation in 1981. is an Arcade game by Taito, first released in 1986 It was ported soon for numerous Home computers and Game consoles The game features twin Bubble Jungle Hunt is a one- or Two-player Side-scrolling Arcade game produced by Taito in 1982. is a 1983 Arcade game by Taito. It debuted during the " Golden Age of Arcade Games " Puzzle Bobble (also known in certain countries as Bust-a-Move) is a 1994 arcade puzzle game (for 1 or 2 players created by Taito

In 1992, Taito announced a CD-ROM-based console system named WOWOW^[1], that would have allowed people to play near-exact ports of Taito's arcades (similar to the Neo Geo), as well as download games from a satellite transmission (as the Satellaview would do later). CD-ROM (an initialism of "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory " is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains data accessible to but not writable WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. The Neo Geo is a cartridge -based arcade and home Video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. The was a Satellite modem add-on for Nintendo 's Super Famicom system in Japan released in 1995 It was named after the Japanese television station WOWOW and would have utilized its stations to download games. WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. The WOWOW was never released.

On August 22, 2005, it was announced that gaming giant Square Enix would purchase 247,900 Taito shares worth ¥45. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its Console role-playing game franchises which include the Final Fantasy series the Dragon 16 billion ([[US$409. 1 million), to make Taito Corporation a subsidiary of Square Enix. ^[2] The purpose of the takeover by Square Enix is to both increase Taito's profit margin exponentially as well as begin their company's expansion into new forms of gaming (most notably, the arcade scene), and various other entertainment venues. The takeover bid from Square Enix was accepted by previous majority stockholder Kyocera, making Taito an official Square Enix subsidiary. is a Japanese company based in Kyoto, Japan. The company was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori. On September 22, 2005, Square Enix announced successfully acquiring 93. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 7% of all shares of Taito, effectively owning the entire company. ^[3] By September 28, 2005, Taito became a subsidiary wholly owned by Square Enix. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[4]

See also

• List of Taito games
• Square Enix

References

External links

• http://www.taito.co.jp/ - Company homepage (in Japanese)
• The Taito Project from Emulation Status
• Taito Corporation at MobyGames
• Games Manufactured by Taito at Killer List of Videogames