The other names of SNK.

[Recap]

SNK. Shin Nihon Kikaku. We all know it. We all love it. But, for some reason, it's the company with the largest repertoire of pseudonymous to call itself. Since it seems nobody has compiled 'em all, let's try to do it here.

As one of the oldest Japanese video-game companies, SNK became big. So much, that it could absorb some other companies in its career. The first and most known was Alpha Denshi. It occured just before the Neo-Geo boom. Alpha Denshi never was a minor company: it had been creating arcade video-games since the very first years of the 80's. Alpha Denshi did maintain its name and staff at first, working as a subsidary group, but later its name was changed to "ADK" and the word "SNK" started to appear in the name copyrights. The absorption was completed.

With the launch of the Neo-Geo home system, SNK found itself into a controversy. The Super Famicom was the system which would monopolize the Japanese market soon; ignoring this fact would imply saying "no" to a big profit. But if the SNK logo were found on any non-Neo-Geo game, it could prevent people from not acquiring the Neo-Geo console. So a new label was born. "K. Amusement Leasing" was the name to market the SNK products for the SFC. It not lasted long, though. Takara soon signed an agreement to develope NG ports, but a version of Ashita no Joe and Ryuuko no Ken (Art of Fighting) were released under this label.

The birth of Saurus was not very different. Mega Drive users did also want their own NG conversions, so SNK developed them (well, some of them) under this name. Saurus was managed as an internal development team, but the "SNK" name never appeared in the copyrights of their NG games (besides Quiz King of Fighters). They have been making successful versions of Stakes Winner for the 32-bit systems, but with the recent SNK's bankruptcy, they vanished.

It is known that some of the best Irem creators went to SNK. The authors of R-Type developed Aicom's Pulstar. Aicom was an old company bought by SNK. Why SNK did prefer to put the soon-to-be-defunct Aicom logo instead of the SNK one in this game is a mystery to me, but it validates my thesis: SNK loved to create new sub-companies and labels. The same goes for Nazca: formed up from Irem ex-members, it was a little SNK group which developed Metal Slug and Big Tournament Golf. Sure, they also developed Metal Slug 2, X and 3, but their name is not found in the copyrights. You even can't find it in the PS / SS Metal Slug ports. Born and dead.

"Yumekobo" also was SNK. They put its name in Genshi Tou 2 (Prehistoric Isle 2) a sequel of a popular SNK game. But you can't find the SNK word in the game copyright. Suspicious, isn't it? Blazing Star, PS King of Fighters Kyou and PS Athena were their three other games.

With SNK's bankrupcy in 2000, the thing gets confusing. Two small companies were formed: Noise Factory and Brezza Soft. They still work for SNK / Playmore but also for other houses. SNK's name was just "Playmore" once for legal problems with the previous owner Aruze. They now want to be called "SNK Playmore".

But what does matter is not the name, but who is behind it. SNK always had some of the best game creators in its warehouse. Arc Systems Works, makers of the Guilty Gear saga, is formed from SNK ex-members (they worked in Shin Samurai Spirits / Samurai Shodown II, for instance). Metal Slug creators are working in Sammy's Dolphin Blue. The authors of Gekka no Kenshi (The Last Blade) developed PS Inu-Yasha for Banpresto. Who's left? I don't know. It is said that some of them are coming back to SNK Playmore. Probably, we can expect some quality games from some quality teams, but not really made "in-house".

Opinions?

[red_war_machine]

So, who made Koudelka? Great post, though.

[Recap]

Sacnoth. Not totally sure if they were an internal group, though.

- Recapitulador -

[Dolemite]

Sacnoth was made up of ex-SNK and Square employees.

[red_war_machine]

Sacnoth was made up of ex-SNK and Square employees.

So why does Koudelka have the SNK logo on it?

[xS]

Video System Co wasn't related to SNK was it?

[Recap]

Never. They just signed an agreement to develope some NG games.

[xS]

Btw, if you want credits for SNK's games www.mame.dk is a great source. And there aren't any ROMS hosted on it anymore, so I don' see how mods would have a problem with it.

[Freeter]

The authors of Gekka no Kenshi (The Last Blade) developed PS Inu-Yasha for Banpresto.

How the mighty have fallen....

[jiji]

Sacnoth. Not totally sure if they were an internal group, though.-

They were. They remained part of Aruze when SNK itself went bankrupt, and they still operate under that umbrella (though they've changed names; I can't remember the new one right now).