- This article describes the "SNK Corporation", which existed until 2001. For the current company (formerly Playmore and SNK Playmore), which was established in 2001 and inherited the intellectual property rights from the company mentioned in this article, check "SNK (2001 – present)".
"THE FUTURE IS NOW."
- Slogan
SNK Corporation (株式会社エス・エヌ・ケイ Kabushiki-gaisha Esu・Enu・Kē) was a Japanese game manufacturer that was involved in the planning, development, and sales of game consoles and game software, founded on July 22, 1978 in Osaka, Japan,[1][2] as well as the management of amusement facilities from the 1970s to 2001.
SNK is an acronym of Shin Nihon Kikaku ("新日本企画" "New Japan Project"), and was the company's legal name until it was shortened to SNK ("エス・エヌ・ケイ" "Esu・Enu・Kē") in 1986.
It is known as the publisher of the Neo Geo game system, which uses a loop lever and a common format for both commercial and home game consoles, allowing users to play their own commercial games at home.
After the company went bankrupt, the old company's intellectual property rights were transferred to Playmore Corporation in 2001. Playmore changed its name to "SNK Playmore" in 2003, and then changed its name again to SNK (new company) in 2016, the same as the old company.
History
Beginnings
SNK's original headquarters in Esaka, Osaka
When Eikichi Kawasaki noticed the rapid growth that was occurring in the coin-op video game market, he expanded SNK to include the development and marketing of stand-alone coin-op games. Their first one was Micon Kit (April 1978), a ball-and-paddle game similar to Atari's 1972 arcade hit, Breakout. The next two titles out of the new coin-op division were Ozma Wars, a vertically scrolling space shooter and Safari Rally, a driving maze game, both released in 1979.
Initially, the company's nickname was written in katakana, "Shin Nihon Kikaku", but in 1981, it was changed to ＳＮＫ by taking the initials from the Roman alphabet (Shin Nihon Kikaku). The English copyright notation also real "SNK CORPORATION".
Game quality improved over time, most notably with 1981's Vanguard, a side-scrolling space shooter that many people consider the precursor to modern classics such as Gradius and R-Type. SNK licensed the game to Centuri for distribution in North America, who ultimately started manufacturing and distributing the game themselves when profits exceeded expectations.
On October 20, 1981, the North American division (SNK Corporation of America) was opened.[3][4] They established themselves in Sunnyvale, California with the intent of delivering their own brand of coin-operated games to arcades in North America. The man chosen to run the American operation was John Rowe, the eventual founder of Tradewest and current (2005) president and CEO of High Moon Studios.
In April 1986, the company name was changed to the nickname "ＳＮＫ", but the registered trade name had to be "SNK Corporation" ("株式会社エス・エヌ・ケイ" "Kabushiki-gaisha Esu・Enu・Kē").[5][6][7][8] This is because the Ministry of Justice at the time did not allow the registration of business names in alphabets.[note 1]
SNK's original second headquarters in Esaka, Osaka.
SNK Corporate in Japan had at this point already shifted its focus solely toward developing and licensing video games for arcade use and (later) for early consoles. Between 1979 and 1986 they produced 23 stand-alone arcade games. Highlights from this period include Mad Crash (1984), Alpha Mission (1985), and Athena (1986), a game that gained a large following when it was ported to the NES in 1987. Their most successful game from this time frame was Ikari Warriors, released in 1986. Ikari Warriors was so popular that it was eventually licensed and ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, ZX Spectrum and NES. They followed up Ikari Warriors with two sequels, Victory Road and Ikari III: The Rescue.
SNK Corporation of America Office in 1995
Even at this late point, the home market was still suffering from the fallout caused by the video game crash of 1983. Nevertheless, one console manufacturer in particular seemed to weather the crash fairly unscathed: Nintendo. SNK signed up to become a third-party licensee for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) system in 1985 and opened a second branch in the United States, based in Torrance, California and called SNK Home Entertainment that would handle the North American distribution and marketing of the company's products for home consoles. By this time, John Rowe had left the company to form Tradewest, which went on to market SNK's Ikari Warriors series in North America. Subsequently, both halves of SNK America were now being presided over by Paul Jacobs, who is notable primarily for having helped launch the company's Neo-Geo system outside of Asia.
In response to strong sales of the company's NES ports, SNK began to dabble in the development of original software designed specifically for the NES console. Two games came out of this effort: 1989's Baseball Stars and 1990s Crystalis (God Slayer in Japan). 1989 also marked the release of two new home video game consoles in North America: the Sega Genesis and NEC's joint project with Hudson, the TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo followed suit with a new system in 1991, the Super NES. Rather than become involved in the early 90s system wars, SNK Corporate in Japan jointly with SNK of America chose to refocus their efforts on the arcade market, leaving other third parties, such as Romstar and Takara, to license and port SNK's properties to the various home consoles of the time with help from SNK's American home entertainment division. With console ports mainly being handled outside the company, they moved on to developing SNK branded arcade equipment.
SNK also licensed Tiger Electronics to market handheld electronic games from some of its brands.
Neo Geo and Multi-Video System
During 1988 SNK began toying with the idea of a modular cabinet for arcades; up to that point, arcade cabinets typically contained only a single game. When an arcade operator wanted to switch or replace that game, they would have to completely remove the internals of the existing cabinet or exchange the entire setup for another game. SNK's new system, called Neo Geo MVS (short for Multi-Video System), featured multiple games in a single cabinet and used a cartridge-based storage mechanism. The system debuted in 1990 and could contain one, two, four, or six separate games in a single cabinet. In order to swap in a new game, all the operator had to do was remove one cartridge and exchange it for another.
The MVS was an immediate success. Arcade operators loved it because the setup time required for each game was nearly nonexistent, the floor space required was minimal, and the cost outlay for new cartridges was barely $500—less than half of what a traditional arcade unit cost at the time. But SNK also wanted to take advantage of people's desire to play arcade games at home, but without making the same compromises on CPU and memory performance that typical home consoles were forced to make. In 1990, the company released a home version of the MVS, a single cartridge unit called the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System, or more simply, the Neo Geo AES. Initially, the AES was only available for rent or for use in hotel settings, but SNK quickly began selling the system through stores when customer response indicated that people were willing to spend the money. Compared to the other consoles of the time, the Neo Geo AES had much better graphics and sound. It featured two CPUs: a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 main processor running at 12 MHz and a Zilog Z-80 backup processor running at 4 MHz. The system's main CPU was 50% faster than the 68000 processor found in Sega's Genesis console and the Neo Geo AES also had the benefit of specialized audio and video chipsets. A custom video chipset allowed the system to display 4,096 colors and 380 individual sprites onscreen simultaneously—compared to 64 simultaneous colors and 80 individual sprites for the Genesis—while the onboard Yamaha 2610 sound chip gave the system 15 channels of CD-quality sound with seven channels reserved specifically for digital sound effects.
Nonetheless, this type of power carried a large price tag; the console debuted at $599, which included two joystick controllers and a game (either Baseball Stars or NAM-1975). Within a few months of the system's introduction in North America, SNK lowered the cost of this package to $399 and added Magician Lord to the list of pack-in options. Other games cost $200 and up—each. Each joystick controller was a full 2 1/2 inches tall, measured 11 inches long by 8 inches across, and contained the same four-button layout as the arcade MVS cabinet.
The quality of the games obviously varied. Some, such as the Super Sidekicks series, were all-new creations, while others were updated versions of earlier successes, such as Baseball Stars Professional. SNK games were graphically bold and bright, with games such as Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy and the famous Metal Slug series being distinctive and instantly recognisable, no doubt contributing to the system's success in the arcades.
They also produced a Neo Geo CD and CDZ, a 64-bit arcade system, the Hyper Neo Geo 64, and two handheld systems, the Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color. Several of their more famous franchise titles, originally created for the MVS and AES systems, have been ported to other systems such as the Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, SNES, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3 and more recently PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (via Steam, GOG and Humble Bundle).
Neo Geo Pocket
The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK's original hand held system. It was released in Japan in late 1998, and discontinued in 1999, with the advent of the Neo Geo Pocket Color, due to lower than expected sales with the Monochrome Neo Geo Pocket. It was later released in North America and Europe.
Even though it had a short life, there were some significant games released on the system such as Samurai Shodown!, The King of Fighters R-1, and Card Fighters Clash.
From decline to bankruptcy
In the year 2000, competitive fighting games, which had become too complex, were in a slump with no end in sight. However, SNK itself relied too much on competitive fighting games, relying on the successful know-how from its heyday, and had specialized most of its development resources in that field, making it unable to make a sudden change in policy was a disaster, and business conditions deteriorated. In particular, the effects of the failure of home game consoles and the poor performance of Neo Geo World had become irreversible.
It became a subsidiary of pachislot manufacturer Aruze (currently Universal Entertainment), and although it once overcame the crisis after receiving a capital injection, the deterioration of the business environment continued unabated, and despite management restructuring led by Aruze, due to the inconsistency between SNK and Aruze, the employees fall into a state of confusion, and as a result, the company is stuck in a slump. Around the same time, Geibunsha's Neo Geo Freak a magazine that specialized in SNK topics, ceased publication after its December 2000 issue and moved its headquarters to Ariake, Koto Ward, Tokyo. The company relocated and reduced the number of employees by approximately 700.
The highlight of 2000 came when Capcom agreed to create a series of fighting games featuring both company's fighting game characters. When Capcom vs SNK was released, it was a success but most of the profits went to Capcom as they developed the game. SNK released SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash on the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Combined, both sold an unremarkable 50,000 copies (much due to the unpopularity of the handheld, since both games have been widely praised). SNK closed all American, Canadian and European operations, on June 13, 2000.[9][10]
With low morale and an unclear future, many of the company's employees left their jobs.[1] Some joined rivals Capcom and Arc System Works, and others moved on to found the developer Dimps. Kawasaki, along with five other former SNK executives, funded the formation of BrezzaSoft, which continued to develop Neo Geo games such as The King of Fighters 2001.
Collapse and Bankruptcy
The old official site of the SNK company (www.neogeo.co.jp), where it said goodbye to all its fans and clients who since 1978 have made the company that creates games of excellent quality, for over 23 years.
With a total debt of about 38 billion yen, SNK gave up on voluntary reconstruction, and on April 2, 2001, SNK applied for the application of the Civil Rehabilitation Law to the Osaka District Court, effectively going bankrupt.[11][12] The application was accepted, and the revitalization procedures were once proceeded, and the head office returned to Suita City, Osaka Prefecture.[13] The district court decided to abolish the civil rehabilitation proceedings on October 1, of the same year,[14][15] and declared bankruptcy on October 30.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
Much of the company's employees disbanded, with a number of them joining together to found the game and hardware developer BrezzaSoft. During this time, SNK licensed game production and development rights for their franchises to several other companies, such as Korean-based Eolith (who gained control of the King of Fighters franchise between 2001 and 2002) and Mega Enterprise (who produced Metal Slug 4), and Japanese-based Noise Factory (who were responsible for Sengoku 3).
After declaration of bankruptcy
After bankruptcy proceedings began, SNK-related rights were auctioned off, and Playmore, a former affiliate company (later SNK Playmore → second generation SNK), won the bid. Currently, the company is still announcing sequels to some of SNK's works.[note 2]
Three Neo Geo Land stores near Esaka Station continued to operate even after SNK went bankrupt, but all of them were closed by 2005 due to a review of SNK Playmore's operations. Most of the site has been demolished and is now used as a parking lot, but only the site (building) of the second Esaka store remains, and is occupied by tenants.
SNK Playmore is headquartered in Suita City, the same city as the old company, and in 2016 changed its name to "SNK Corporation", the same as the old company.
Message
SNK, the developer and inventor of the NeoGeo, are now out of business. On their website, the SNK team says goodbye and thanks all SNK fans. SNK had been supplying arcades with titles like Ikari Warriors and Prehistoric Isle since 1978, long before the NeoGeo. Today, Monday (October 29, 2001), which will probably go down in NeoGeo history as Black Monday, marks the end of the SNK era after 23 years. As a final gimmick, SNK is offering a wallpaper for download on their website, as a kind of farewell gift for fans.[16][24] Since the website is a bit overwhelmed at the moment, you can also download It from us and SNK's message to all its fans:[16][25]
- 2001年秋、ＳＮＫはその歴史の幕を閉じます。私たちが、ゲームづくりに情熱を燃やし続けてこれたのは、ひとえに皆さんの熱い支持と叱咤激励のおかげです。長い間のご愛顧とご支援、本当にありがとうございました！
- Dear All NEOGEO fans/customers, It is with deepest grief that In the Autumm of 2001. SNK will close the company history in its business. It was all of your favor and encouragement which made our passion running to make better games for SNK fans. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank and everyone of you for your continuous help and assistance rendered to SNK since its inocorporation in Japan July in 1978. Without your support, SNK Corporaton would not have been possible throughout 23 years of operation. With all out heart-felt gratitude, thank you once again！
Logos
Shin Nihon Kikaku
SNK
Videos
Logo
Promotional Videos
ALL ABOUT SNK【ＳＮＫのすべて】
Notes
- ↑ Game companies that followed the same path include ADK (formerly Alpha Denshi Corporation) and NMK (formerly Nihon Maicon Kaihatsu), while companies in different industries include TDK (formerly Tokyo Denki Kagaku) and These include RKB Mainichi Broadcasting (former company name: RKB Mainichi Broadcasting), and KDDI (formerly known as International Telegraph and Telephone, currently known as KDDI).
- ↑ At the point, there were troubles with Aruze, who had acquired the rights to the work, over copyright and other issues, resulting in a lawsuit, but SNK Playmore won most of the cases in three cases, including an interlocutory judgment. Aruze is currently appealing two cases.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 旧企業情報 (Japanese). SNK (6 August 2001). Archived from the original on 6 August 2001. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ SNK HISTORY — 株式会社SNK (Japanese). SNK (1 December 2016). Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ Original SNK Corporation of America Official website (English). SNK Corp. of America (18 April 1998). Archived from the original on 18 April 1998. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ About US at an archived version of the official SNK Corporation of America website (English). SNK Corp. of America (5 October 1999). Archived from the original on 5 October 1999. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ 1978-2024 ｜ 株式会社SNK (Japanese). SNK (4 April 2024). Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ 旧SNK 公式サイト (Japanese). エス・エヌ・ケイ (12 October 2001). Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ A site that mirrors the old SNK official website (Japanese). SNK (12 October 2001). Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ SNK Homepage (English). SNK (5 October 2001). Archived from the original on 5 October 2001. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (9 June 2000). SNK Closing Its Doors (English). IGN. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (13 June 2000). SNK Confirms US Closure (English). IGN. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ 「ＮＥＯ-ＧＥＯ」（ネオジオ）などのゲーム機器の開発･製造 株式会社エス・エヌ・ケイ 民事再生手続き開始を申請 負債380億円 (Japanese). 帝国データバンク (2 April 2001). Archived from the original on 8 April 2001. Retrieved on 18 May 2024.
- ↑ エス・エヌ・ケイが大阪地裁に民事再生手続きを申請！ (Japanese). 電撃オンライン (2 April 2001). Retrieved on 20 May 2024.
- ↑ Funatsu, Minoru (2 April 2001). SNK applies for the start of civil rehabilitation proceedings and abandons voluntary reconstruction (Japanese). Impress. Retrieved on 20 May 2024.
- ↑ Kitamura, Takakazu (4 October 2001). SNK abandons civil rehabilitation proceedings and releases "KOF2001" with a different distributor (Japanese). Impress. Retrieved on 20 May 2024.
- ↑ SNKが再建を断念。発売間近の『ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ2001』はどうなる？ (Japanese). 電撃オンライン (5 October 2001). Retrieved on 20 May 2024.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 SNK FOR EVER. SNK (29 October 2001). Retrieved on 14 September 2024.
- ↑ エス・エヌ・ケイ フォーエバー. エス・エヌ・ケイ (29 October 2001). Archived from the original on 2 June 2002. Retrieved on 24 May 2024.
- ↑ SNKが大阪地裁から破産宣告 (Japanese). ZDNet JAPAN (2 November 2001). Archived from the original on 19 November 2001. Retrieved on 25 May 2024.
- ↑ アルゼがSNK株主より損害賠償請求 (Japanese). ジーパラドットコム (2 November 2001). Archived from the original on 24 December 2001. Retrieved on 25 May 2024.
- ↑ Seyoon Park, Andrew (29 October 2001). SNK Corporation closes its doors (English). GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2 November 2001. Retrieved on 25 May 2024.
- ↑ SNK issues cryptic bankruptcy statement (English). Spong (29 October 2001). Retrieved on 25 May 2024.
- ↑ Dagdag (31 October 2001). SNK : un dernier petit cadeau (French). Gamekult. Retrieved on 25 May 2024.
- ↑ https://www.angelfire.com/ga/engallo/copy_of_evil.html
- ↑ DADDEL KINGZ NEO GEO NEWS (German). DADDEL KINGZ (29 October 2001). Archived from the original on 5 December 2001. Retrieved on 6 June 2024.
- ↑ Official Farewell Messages by SNK (English). kingkof.tripod.com. Retrieved on 19 August 2024.
Official Pages
- SNK Official page at Internet Web Archives
- SNK Corp. of America official page at Internet Web Archives
- SNK Homepage official page at Internet Web Archives
- Neo Geo do Brasil official page at Internet Web Archives
- Neo Creation official site at Internet Web Archives
- SNK Lands 5 Major News At The Tokyo Game Show
- A site that mirrors the old SNK official website at Internet Web Archives
- SNK HISTORY
- SNK Brand 40th Anniversary