Westone Bit Entertainment Inc. (株式会社ウエストン·ビット·エンタテインメント, Kabushiki-gaisha Uesuton Bitto Entateinmento) was a video game developer founded in May 1986, based in Mukoujima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. They were most famous for the Wonder Boy/Monster World series. Originally called Escape (エスケープ, Esukēpu), the company was renamed to Westone as the word Escape made them sound unreliable.[1] The company's name was changed yet again to Westone Bit Entertainment in April 2000.[2] The chief publisher was Ryuichi Nishizawa. The company went bankrupt and entered the liquidation process on October 1, 2014.[3] Currently, the intellectual property rights to Westone Bit Entertainment's games are owned by LAT Corporation.
Native name | |
|---|---|
| Japanese name | |
| Kanji | 株式会社ウエストン·ビット·エンタテインメント |
| Formerly |
|
| Founded | May 1986 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | October 1, 2014 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy liquidation |
| Successor | LAT Corporation |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
| Website | westone.co.jp |
The Westone name is derived from the first characters of the names of company founders, Ryuuichi Nishizawa (Nishi = West) and Michishito Ishizuka (Ishi = Stone).[1]
Games
edit- Wonder Boy (1986)
- Jaws (1987)
- Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987)
- Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988)
- Appare! Gateball (1988)
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989)
- Mashin Eiyuden Wataru Gaiden (1990)
- Aoi Blink (1990)
- Aurail (1990)
- Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991)
- Power Eleven (1991)
- Riot City (1991)
- Riot Zone (1992)
- Monster World IV (1994)
- Blood Gear (1994)
- Mega Bomberman (1994)
- Dungeon Explorer (1995)
- Kekkon (1995)
- Dark Half (1996)[4]
- Wolkenkratzer: Shinpan no Tou (1996)
- Willy Wombat (1997)
- Soukou Kihei Votoms Gaiden: Ao no Kishi Berserga Monogatari (1997)
- Sotsugyou Album (1998)
- Sotsugyou III: Wedding Bell (1998)
- Sotsugyou M: Male Graduation - Seitokaichou no Kareinaru Inbou (1998)
- Wachenröder (1998)
- Milano no Arbeit Collection (1999)
- Cyber Team in Akihabara: PataPies! (1999)
- Di Gi Charat Fantasy (2001)
- Reel Fishing: Wild (2001)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project (2001)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ayanami Raising Project with Asuka Supplementing Project (2003)
- Relaxuma: Ojama Shitemasu 2 Shuukan (2005)
- Secret of Evangelion (2006)
- Clockwork Aquario (2021)[5]
References
edit- ^ a b "Monster World Complete Collection manual extracts".
- ^ "Developer Table" (in Japanese).
- ^ "ゲーム開発の（株）ウエストンビットエンタテインメントほか1社が破産開始決定".
- ^ Lopes, Gonçalo (2 February 2016). "Dark Half Review (SNES)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ "Clockwork Aquario, cancelled Westone Bit Entertainment arcade game from 1992, coming to PS4 and Switch in 2020". Gematsu. 4 June 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
External links
edit- Official website via Internet Archive (in Japanese)
- Westone at MobyGames
- Westone at GameFAQs
 | This Japanese video game corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |