Arcade Classics

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During the eighties and nineties many smaller game developers around the world,
including TAD, Mitchell, and Gottlieb, produced successful arcade video game titles
such as Cabal, Pang, and Q*bert.

Arcade Shooters
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Shoot 'em up arcade games are a fixture of Japanese gaming culture. Several
Japanese companies, including Psikyo, Raizing, and Seibu Kaihatsu, have become
well-known for producing beautiful and extremely difficult shoot ‘em ups in
franchises such as Gunbird, Raiden, and Strikers 1945.

Atari
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Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games. It was originally
the coin-operated arcade game division of Atari, Inc. and was split off into its
own company in 1984. Some of the most iconic titles from the golden era of arcade
gaming were Atari properties, including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Missile
Command, and Pong.

Capcom
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Capcom Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher best known for
the blockbuster Street Fighter series, which was the catalyst for the explosion of
the versus fighting game genre in the early nineties. Capcom's first arcade release
was Little League in 1983, and they continued to develop a variety of successful
arcade titles during the 1980s including 1942, Bionic Commando, and Ghosts 'n
Goblins. In 1988, Capcom shifted away from single-game arcade cabinets and moved to
the cartridge-based CPS-1 system.

Capcom CPS-1
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The CP System or CPS-1 is an arcade system board released by Japanese game
developer Capcom in 1988 that ran game software stored on removable ROM cartridges.
More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1 before Capcom shifted
game development over to its successor, the CPS-2, in 1993. Capcom's Street Fighter
II series is perhaps the best known franchise within the CPS-1 game library. Other
successful titles include 1941, Final Fight, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, and Strider.

Capcom CPS-2
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The CP System II or CPS-2 is an arcade system board released by Capcom in 1993. It
was the successor to their previous CP System and Capcom Power System Changer
arcade hardware and was succeeded by the CP System III hardware in 1996. As one of
the most successful arcade systems of the 1990s, the CPS-2 was home to blockbuster
fighting franchises such as Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and several
Capcom/Marvel/X-Men crossovers. Other genres were also well-represented, with
titles such as 1944: The Loop Master, Alien vs. Predator, and Dungeons & Dragons:
Tower of Doom.

Capcom CPS-3
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The CP System III or CPS-3 is an arcade system board that was first used by Capcom
in 1996. It was the second successor to the CP System arcade hardware, following
the CP System II. It would be the last proprietary system board Capcom would
produce before moving on to the SEGA Dreamcast-based Naomi platform. Only six
titles were released for the CPS-3, all head-to-head fighting games developed by
Capcom, including Red Earth, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and three versions of Street
Fighter III.

Cave
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CAVE is a Japanese video game company founded in 1994 by former employees of
Toaplan following its bankruptcy. They are known primarily for their "bullet hell"
shoot 'em ups; from 1995 up to 2010, CAVE was one of the most prolific shoot 'em up
developers in the Japanese market. "CAVE" is an acronym for "Computer Art Visual
Entertainment".

Data East
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Data East Corporation was a Japanese video game and electronic engineering company
in operation from 1976 to 2003. During this time they released over 150 arcade and
home video game titles including BreakThru, BurgerTime, Captain America and the
Avengers, Fighter's History, Joe & Mac, Magical Drop, and Shadowrun.

Irem
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Irem is a Japanese video game developer and publisher and formerly a developer and
manufacturer of arcade games. The company is best known internationally for three
1980s arcade games: Moon Patrol, Kung-Fu Master (the earliest beat 'em up game),
and the scrolling shooter R-Type.

Jaleco
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Jaleco was founded in 1973 as the Japan Leisure Co., Ltd and began developing
arcade video games in 1982. Their biggest arcade successes in the eighties and
nineties were typically shoot ‘em up and platforming titles, such as Exerion,
E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force, and The Astyanax.

Konami
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Konami Holdings Corporation is a Japanese entertainment company, which produces and
distributes arcade and home video games as well as various other media. Konami has
developed arcade games since 1978, with many successful action and shooter
franchises including Frogger, Contra, Gradius, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Time
Pilot, and X-Men.

Midway
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Midway Games, Inc. was an American game development and publishing company and was
the leading producer of arcade games in the United States from the late 1970s
through the late 1980s. Midway's top franchises included Mortal Kombat, Rampage,
Spy Hunter, NBA Jam, Cruis'n, and NFL Blitz.

Namco
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Namco Limited is a Japanese corporation best known as a video game developer and
publisher, and was a front-runner during the golden age of arcade video games from
1978 until the early 1980s. Pac-Man went on to become the best-selling arcade game
in history and an international popular culture icon. Namco was also known for
creating successful franchises including the Galaxian, Ridge Racer, Ace Combat,
Tekken, Soul, and Tales series.

Neo Geo
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The Neo Geo is a cartridge-based arcade system board and fourth-generation home
video game console released on April 26, 1990, by SNK Corporation. The Neo Geo MVS
- the arcade version of the hardware - was a success during the 1990s, due to the
cabinet's low cost, six ROM slots and compact size. Several successful video game
series were released for the platform, such as Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Samurai
Shodown, The King of Fighters and Metal Slug. Neo Geo hardware production lasted
seven years, discontinued in 1997, whereas game software production lasted until
2004, making Neo Geo the longest supported arcade system of all time.

Nintendo
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Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan and one of
the world's largest video game companies by market capitalization. Nintendo entered
the arcade game industry in 1975 and found huge success with the release of Donkey
Kong in 1981, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo now boasts many blockbuster
franchises including Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon.

Sega
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Sega Games Co., Ltd., originally short for Service Games and officially styled as
SEGA, is a Japanese multinational video game developer and publisher headquartered
in Tokyo, Japan. While well-known for its home consoles such as the Genesis and
Dreamcast, Sega remains the world's most prolific arcade producer, with over 500
games in over 70 franchises on more than 20 different arcade system boards since
1981.
Some of the most successful arcade franchises from Sega's late 1980s era include
After Burner, Golden Axe, Out Run, and Shinobi.

SNK
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SNK Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company and best
known as the owner of the Neo Geo arcade and home video game platforms. Prior to
the release of the Neo Geo MVS arcade system in 1990, SNK developed dozens of
traditional arcade titles including the popular Alpha Mission, Athena, and Ikari
Warriors.

Taito
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The Taito Corporation is a Japanese video game developer and publisher and operator
of arcade game hardware. 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, responsible for beginning the golden
age of arcade video games. Along with Space Invaders, Taito is famous for arcade
franchises such as Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble, Bust-A-Move, and Darius.

Technos
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Initially operating from a single-room apartment in Tokyo, Technos was founded in
1981 by three staff members of Data East. Their first locally successful title was
Nekketsu Koha Kunio-Kun, a beat 'em up in 1986 released to overseas markets as
Renegade (part of the same series as River City Ransom and Super Dodge Ball), and
the company found worldwide success with the release of Double Dragon in 1987.

Tecmo
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Tecmo Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. When it was
still called Tehkan, the company released arcade games such as Bomb Jack and Tehkan
World Cup, and later on as Tecmo became famous for titles like Ninja Gaiden, Rygar,
and Tecmo Bowl. In 2009, Tecmo merged with Koei and was operated as a subsidiary
until its dissolution in 2010.
Toaplan
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Toaplan Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game developer responsible for the creation
of a wide array of relatively famous scrolling shooters and other arcade games.
They are now perhaps best known for the title Zero Wing, whose opening cutscene is
the source of the popular Internet meme "All your base are belong to us." After
Toaplan's closure in 1994, many employees formed other successful shoot 'em up game
developers such as Cave, Raizing/Eighting, Gazelle, and Takumi.

Williams
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WMS Industries, Inc. is an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer
based in Enterprise, Nevada. In 1973, the company branched out into the coin-
operated arcade video game market with its Pong clone Paddle Ball, eventually
creating a number of video game classics, including Defender, Joust, and Robotron:
2084.