We've talked at length about Fuji Enterprise (フジ・エンタープライズ) in previous articles. This one is more of a spin-off, as we'll follow the adventures of a secondary character: Takeo Ueyama (上山武夫).
Although he might seem like a minor figure, Takeo Ueyama actually appears at several key moments in the history of the arcade industry — the emergence of what would become SNK, the Invader Boom, the rise of a collaborative bootleg network, lawsuits over game intellectual property, and more.
In short, he didn't just make friends along the way.
A Brief Look Back
Let's do a quick recap of the events preceding this article.
Takeo Ueyama first appears in Game Machine magazine in June 1975 (page 2). He is the president (社長) of the Fuji Enterprise group, possibly since the company's founding in June 1973. He reports to only one person: Tokuzô Uragami (浦上徳三), chairman (会長) of the group.
The group is flourishing, but Takeo Ueyama suddenly resigns from the presidency of Fuji Enterprise on April 20, 1976 (page 2), citing "personal circumstances".
Is this really a departure? We can question this because he soon reappears at the head of RJ Corporation (アールジェイコーポレーション). RJ Corporation is potentially a satellite company of Fuji Enterprise whose purpose is to handle the distribution of Kansai Kigyô (関西企業) games. Everything is explained in more detail here.
Takeo Ueyama leaves RJ Corporation on August 25, 1976 (page 11), only 3 or 4 months after the group's creation. It is stated that he resigns to "become independent".
This is where we'll pick up the thread of events.
Mars Japan
After his departure from RJ Corporation, approximately one year passes during which we don't know what Takeo Ueyama is doing. Then, starting in the fall of 1977, he becomes part of a brand new company: Mars Japan.
This company probably has a modest scope as it occupies an office among others in an office building in Meguro (Tôkyô).
Mars Juke - MJ-8800
Mars Juke is a karaoke machine. The invention of karaoke dates back to 1971. It's still something quite recent. When we think of karaoke, we imagine a video on a screen displaying the lyrics to sing. In the 1970s, there's nothing like that. The karaoke only produces the music without the singer's voice. The song lyrics are printed in a separate booklet.
Supercar DX Pittanko
Based on this image, it's a bit difficult to determine how Super DX Pittanko (スーパーカーDXピッタンコ) is played. Fortunately, the text accompanying the advertisement (page 13) provides more information.
"How to play: When you insert a 10-yen coin, a supercar — the Lamborghini Countach LP500S — dashes onto a three-lane road. If the center supercar is successfully sandwiched between the police cars (Porsche) on both sides, you score 1 'Pittanko' point (perfect). However, the center supercar tends to slip away quickly and keeps fleeing. The police cars on both sides are controlled by rotary knobs on the left and right sides of the cabinet. The score is shown up to 8 points; beyond that you succeed, and a 'Pittanko' supercar film is automatically dispensed as a prize."
The theme of this game is unmistakable. We're right in the middle of the "Supercar Boom" phenomenon, which I already discussed in this article.
In the photo, we can clearly see the rotary knobs but not the three-lane road. Is this panel really the one for the game? Or perhaps a placeholder image while waiting for the actual panel to be ready?
The manufacturer is Hokkai Seisakusho (北海製作所) (TAN 91-13988), a company based in Edogawa (Tôkyô). We know nothing else about Hokkai Seisakusho, except that it manufactured a video game in 1981 (TAN 95-2122).
Pittanko
Pittanko (ピッタンコ) is a Japanese word meaning "exactly right". Here, pittankos are photo films that can serve as prizes. They are mentioned in the Supercar DX Pittanko advertisement. Another advertisement (page 13) provides more details.
"Color film of sports cars (positives) Increase your sales by using them as prizes for a wide range of store game machines from various companies (Shinkansen, Dead Heat, Super Car, Piccadilly, etc.), pachinko-type game machines, prize-catching machines (Clean Sweep, Skill Digger, etc.), and other children's game machines.
How to use the films: Bring this film to your nearest DPE (Developing, Printing, Enlarging) shop to obtain beautiful color prints of sports cars in the size you desire. Enjoy enlarged color projections with a slide projector.
For store games, exchange 3 prize tickets for 1 of these films."
Supercar Card Game
It's somewhat anecdotal, but Mars Japan mentions in the advertisement that it also sells a card game with a supercar theme.
The Amusement Machine Show '77
The 15th AM Show takes place in October 1977. It's the event of the year not to be missed for all companies in the arcade sector.
But Mars Japan is a newly created company. It therefore hasn't had time to secure a booth.
Fortunately, it can count on the support of a company we've already discussed: Kansai Kigyô (関西企業). In addition to its own products, Kansai Kigyô presents Pittanko, from Mars Japan, at its booth.
Mars Japan had also announced in an advertisement the presence of Supercar DX Pittanko at the AM Show. This may be the case, but it's not confirmed by the Game Machine report.
Yet it seems that on the left side of the photo, we can see the end of the name 'Mars Juke' (『マースジューク』). And isn’t the machine located beneath that name Supercar DX Pittanko?
In any case, the presence of Mars Japan products at the Kansai Kigyô booth shows us that Takeo Ueyama and Tetsushi Matsumoto (松元哲士), president of Kansai Kigyô, parted on good terms after the RJ Corporation episode.
A New Address
Mars Japan changes address (page 3) just after the AM Show. The new address is: 1-20 Hazawa, Nerima-ku, Tokyo (東京都練馬区羽沢 1-20). A new address for new ambitions after the AM Show?
Mars Japan Organizational Chart
There's something I haven't mentioned about Mars Japan's organization: the president (社長) is not Takeo Ueyama.
It's a certain Masao Watanabe (渡辺正雄). But he doesn't handle the company's affairs.
On a daily basis, it's actually Takeo Ueyama who runs the company. His title is executive managing director (専務 senmu). He's sort of the company's number 2.
He's assisted by his senior managing director (常務 jômu) Shôji Nakayama (中山庄次).
Already Bankrupt...
We don't hear about Mars Japan for a few months until this announcement (page 3): Mars Japan went bankrupt on March 31, 1978.
It seems that conditions deteriorated quite rapidly for Mars Japan after the AM Show and the move, as Shôji Nakayama left the company as early as December 1977, leaving Takeo Ueyama alone at the helm.
Game Machine magazine indicates that the details after this departure are unclear.
As for president Masao Watanabe, he's no longer our concern, but we find him a few years later (page 3) as president of a company called Watanabe Amusement (渡辺アミューズメント) in Tochigi Prefecture (栃木県).
Just like RJ Corporation before it, Mars Japan only existed for a total of half a year. But this time, it's not the end but a new beginning, as the company will be reborn in another form.
TIM: Mars Japan 2.0?
A few months pass and Takeo Ueyama returns once again at the head of a company, as president this time!
This company is called TIM (ティ・アイ・エム) and it first makes itself known in January 1979. As for its address, it's simply that of Mars Japan.
TIM is in some ways the continuation of Mars Japan.
But unlike Mars Japan, TIM doesn't sell electromechanical games but video games.
Mars Japan sold games under its own name, but TIM adopts a different strategy.
Indeed, during the period between Mars Japan's bankruptcy and TIM's creation, a major phenomenon for the industry occurred: the Invader Boom. Space Invaders became an essential game in Japan. Taito can't produce enough machines to meet demand. A huge market has opened up for all kinds of ambitious entrepreneurs from all backgrounds. All companies in the sector, whether they're already well-established pillars or just ephemeral phenomena without a future, want to sell Space Invaders. Those who can't try to sell games "inspired" by Taito's original game. The least scrupulous companies simply sell copies with a different name.
TIM arrives a bit late to fully benefit from the Invader Boom. But it's not too late.
What place remains to occupy? What strategy to adopt?
- Become a game distributor, meaning buy Space Invaders games from Taito in large quantities and then resell them?
- Obtain a license from Taito and produce its own version of Space Invaders?
- Produce a game that resembles Space Invaders, with enough differences in graphics or gameplay not to call it a copy?
- Produce a copy of Space Invaders without worrying about the details and without concern for the future?
TIM modestly chooses a somewhat different path. In theory, TIM is an independent distributor. In practice, it becomes a reseller on behalf of a company that has managed to obtain a Space Invaders license from Taito.
That company is Shin Nihon Kikaku.
Shin Nihon Kikaku
Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画) is the company that would become SNK a few years later. A large, well-known company in the sector (notably for its fighting games), but whose origins are incredibly obscure in comparison.
Unless I'm mistaken, the only source concerning its origins is a 2007 blog post whose content was taken up six months later by Wikipedia and then by the entire internet.
Shin Nihon Kikaku may have started as a sole proprietorship (個人事業) from 1973. The only certainty is that it became a joint-stock company (株式会社) in July 1978 (page 6). Its address is in Higashi-Osaka, in the Kansai region.
During 1978, the company sold a series of brick-breaker games called Micon Kit (マイコン・キット).
At the end of 1978, Taito made a public announcement (page 2). It had granted a license for its Space Invaders game to 3 companies for the first time, including Shin Nihon Kikaku. This gave them the right to manufacture and sell their versions of Space Invaders within the limits of the license agreement.
This is where the collaboration between TIM and Shin Nihon Kikaku begins.
Shin Nihon Kikaku and TIM, Hand in Hand
As we've seen, Shin Nihon Kikaku is still a young company. It doesn't yet have a national scope.
In 1978, its activities intermingled with those of a company based in Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture): Chûbu Center (中部センター). The nature of their relationship is not very clear, but it seems that it didn't survive 1978.
At the beginning of 1979, Shin Nihon Kikaku collaborates with two companies: Shure Lease (シュアー・リース) and TIM. We already talked about Shure Lease here.
This collaboration takes the form of private exhibitions organized in large hotels. TIM being a local company based in Tôkyô, it's in this city that it will organize all its private exhibitions.
The First Private Exhibitions
The first private exhibition takes place on January 23-24, 1979 at the Tôkyô Kankô Hotel (東京観光ホテル) in Shinagawa (Tôkyô). Game Machine (page 3) mentions that it was a great success.
The second takes place on March 22, 1979 at the Akasaka Tôkyû Hotel (赤坂東急ホテル) in Tokyo. This one (page 2) is organized in collaboration with Shure Lease (and of course Shin Nihon Kikaku). The games sold very quickly.
During these 2 private exhibitions, two games were presented:
Space Micon Kit
Space Micon Kit (スペースマイコン・キット) is the third and final iteration of the Micon Kit series. The first was a classic brick-breaker. The second introduced ships that earned points when shot down. Space Micon Kit introduces a second type of ship and new level layouts.
Without going into detail here, the games in the Micon Kit series are designed to be modifiable.
Space Invaders
Space Invaders (スペース・インベーダー) was developed by Tomohiro Nishikado (西角友宏), an employee of Pacific Kôgyô (パシフィック工業), a Taito subsidiary. Shin Nihon Kikaku's version is faithful to the original and makes no modifications. Shin Nihon Kikaku sells the TT (Tabletop) version.
The End of the Invader Boom in Japan
Even though the arcade industry is emerging from the shadows, it remains poorly regarded by Japanese society. The phenomenal success of Space Invaders eventually worries parents who question the harmful influence this game can have on their children. Japanese society points to the emergence of certain anti-social behaviors among young people: offenses (theft, counterfeit coins or use of voltage generators to get free games, even theft of the machine...), excessive spending, or playing until midnight.
The JOU (Japanese Operators Union) and the JAA (Japan Amusement Association), two national associations representing arcade industry companies, are considering (page 1) with various institutions a code of conduct for arcade machine operators.
The main ideas that emerge are:
- The fight against machines that violate electrical law,
- The fight against gambling and prize distribution at the end of the game. Everything that doesn't comply with the anti-gambling law (Fûeihô 風営法).
- The fight against offenses such as buying stolen goods.
- The prohibition for minors to play after midnight.
Moreover, regarding children's proper development, operators:
- Must not let elementary and middle school children play on their way to or from school.
- Must not let elementary and middle school children enter after 5 PM if they are not accompanied by a parent.
These declarations of intent are meant to moralize the industry sector but also to reassure Japanese society.
On this last point, the effect won't be as expected. Space Invaders will henceforth be categorized as a social problem by part of the population.
As a consequence, the Invader Boom will stop abruptly in mid-1979.
The end of the Invader Boom is a catastrophe for many companies that invested heavily. Many of them (including Taito, and probably Shin Nihon Kikaku and its partner TIM) find themselves with huge stocks of games impossible to resell.
All is not lost. There are solutions to survive:
- Resell the games abroad, where the Invader Boom continues in full swing.
- Modify the machines to turn them into new games.
- ... that's about it!
The situation is therefore very complicated. The number of companies that went bankrupt following this abrupt change is countless.
This brings us to TIM's third private exhibition.
The Last Private Exhibition
TIM's third private exhibition (page 3) still in cooperation with Shin Nihon Kikaku, takes place on September 6, 1979, once again at the Tôkyô Kankô Hotel (東京観光ホテル) in Shinagawa.
As we've seen, quite a lot has happened since the previous private exhibition, and this has consequences for the games being presented.
Space Invaders - Part II (スペース・インベーダー・パート2)
In an attempt to renew public interest, Taito re-released Space Invaders in an updated version.
Regarding the development of Space Invaders - Part II, Tomohiro Nishikado, the developer of the first Space Invaders, recalls this:
"I made Part II together with a junior colleague named Tetsunosuke Hatori (羽鳥鉄之助), but there are some differences between what I remember and what he remembers. I think Hatori's memory is probably more accurate. According to him, right after the first Space Invaders was completed, I had already started preparing for Part II.
He says he's not sure whether I did that because the sales division asked me to, or because I anticipated that the boom around the first game would eventually fade and decided to start on my own initiative. But apparently, around September or October — right after the first game was finished — I began working on the planning and programming for Part II. For a long time, I mistakenly thought that I hadn't worked on Part II myself and had left it entirely to Hatori. But Hatori told me, "When I joined the development, about half of the program was already done. I just made a few minor adjustments toward the end." That means, in reality, I was directly involved in making Part II.
As for the ideas behind Part II, we wanted to add something different from the first game, so we introduced a feature where the invaders split apart."
Enemies that split in two when hit by a shot appear starting from the fourth level.
Besides this, we find the following changes:
- Color graphics (not simply an overlay on the screen) and slightly redesigned
- New sound effects and improved sound
- Small animated scenes between levels
- Enemies are arranged differently according to levels
- It becomes possible to continue a game at the same point after losing by inserting a new coin
- Etc.
Once again, Shin Nihon Kikaku commercializes Space Invaders - Part II in tabletop format with an official Taito license.
New Space Wars
New Space Wars (ニュー・ススペース・ウォーズ) is a mysterious game. It's not currently emulated and is considered lost. But there are still things to say.
Comparing images of New Space Wars and Galaxy Wars (Universal), we note a striking resemblance.
Galaxy Wars is a game that consists of making a missile travel vertically across the screen to shoot down alien ships placed at the very top, all while avoiding aliens circulating horizontally and shots coming from the ships.
It's an attempt to reuse Space Invaders hardware to make a new game that met with some success. This is well explained for example here and here.
Following the trend launched by Space Invaders, Galaxy Wars gave rise to a series of manufacturing licenses (page 2) with other companies: Taito, Nihon Shôji (日本商事), and Irem.
Taito had previously sued Universal because the company considered that Universal was producing a copy of Space Invaders (this game is called Cosmic Monsters). This license agreement is potentially a concession that Universal granted to Taito.
Still, Shin Nihon Kikaku doesn't seem to possess a license to manufacture a copy of Galaxy Wars. In October 1979, Universal had already initiated legal proceedings (page 2) against Shôei (ショウエイ) for releasing a copy of this game. Shin Nihon Kikaku may have abruptly halted the commercialization of New Space Wars to avoid having to face these same legal proceedings, as we don't hear about this game afterwards.
Yosaku
Yosaku (与作) is a game published by Shin Nihon Kikaku.
Yosaku is a somewhat strange object in the arcade world.
It starts with a song that had some success in Japan from 1978. Composed by Kiminori Nanasawa (七澤公典) and sung by several singers, including Saburô Kitajima (北島三郎).
The song tells the daily life of Yosaku who goes to the mountains to cut wood.
It's therefore a popular song with a simple theme, but the arcade industry picked up this theme in 1979 to make a game out of it. Or rather, no fewer than five different games were published, maybe even more.
Shin Nihon Kikaku's version is currently considered lost, as it's not emulated. But it's known that a working machine exists, as this video proves:
As one might guess, the goal of the game is to help Yosaku cut trees while all the forest animals try to prevent him from doing so.
The manufacturer name displayed on the title screen is "OLCA CORPORATION". There's a whole debate about whether the game in this video is an original or a bootleg manufactured by the company Orca (オルカ). I'm not going to discuss it here.
What we can say is that Yosaku uses the same hardware as Space Invaders. We can therefore assume that it's yet another attempt to reuse unsold Space Invaders PCBs in a different way.
Finally, it's indicated that the machine presented during this private exhibition was a prototype.
Yosaku to Gonbei
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| Wing version of Yosaku to Gonbei |
Yosaku to Gonbei (与作とゴン平) is NOT a Shin Nihon Kikaku game. It's a game published by Jatre (ジャトレ), a company whose business model is split halfway between arcade and karaoke.
The game is manufactured by Yorii Electronics (ヨリイエレクトロニクス) (based in Saitama). I could be wrong, but I believe Yorii Electronics is basically a screen monitor manufacturer. This game is then commercialized by two companies under two different names. Wing (ウイング), which is probably Yorii Electronics' commercial front, publishes the game under the name Yosaku to Donbei (与作とドン平). Jatre publishes it under the name Yosaku to Gonbei (与作とゴン平).
This game doesn't resemble Shin Nihon Kikaku's. Here, we're dealing with a rather intense version of Space Invaders. The goal of the game isn't to cut down a tree but to shoot down all the birds sitting on it with a rifle.
Obviously, it's yet another game whose base is Space Invaders hardware.
We can make the following reflection: TIM has only exhibited Shin Nihon Kikaku games until now. Why exhibit a Jatre game now?
Perhaps it's simply that TIM remains an independent distributor despite the more than close ties it maintains with Shin Nihon Kikaku.
Still, Jatre will go bankrupt shortly after (at the beginning of 1980), victim, like many others, of the end of the Invader Boom.
And Suddenly... The Marriage Between TIM and Shin Nihon Kikaku
TIM and Shin Nihon Kikaku therefore collaborate together through private exhibitions. We can also assume that these two companies work together the rest of the time.
Why not unite to form an autonomous group (manufacturing/sales)?
Other companies in the sector have followed or will follow this same path: Data East/Zest, Konami/Leijac, Nanao/Irem, etc.
It's therefore natural that the following announcement (page3) comes a few weeks after the last private exhibition:
"On September 20, Shin Nihon Kikaku absorbed and merged with TIM, while welcoming Mr. Takeo Ueyama as senior managing director (常務) of the company. TIM, which had been an active and powerful distributor of Shin Nihon Kikaku's products in Tokyo, is expected—through this merger—to further strengthen and stabilize the company's sales network."
With this merger, Takeo Ueyama will become the number 2 or 3 of a rapidly expanding company, assisting president Eikichi Kawasaki. The future looks bright, doesn't it?
...And the Express Divorce
It's an incredible announcement for TIM and its president. It will be followed by... absolutely nothing. Takeo Ueyama will never join Shin Nihon Kikaku. TIM and Shin Nihon Kikaku will each continue their activities on their own. It's even possible that they never worked together again afterwards. Inexplicable, but that's how it is. In any case, it's the end of TIM's private exhibitions.
When we think about the reasons for this express divorce, we can't help but imagine all sorts of scenarios. The truth is that we have no explanation, nor any information.
The two companies were about to merge, but it didn't happen. That's all.
Conclusion
The 1970s thus conclude on a sour note for TIM and its president Takeo Ueyama. TIM no longer has its partner Shin Nihon Kikaku.
In the next part, we'll see that TIM is ultimately far from isolated, but its partners are far from being the best company.
We've also seen that the end of the Invader Boom had left all the arcade sector players with tons of Invaders Games PCB units in stock, forcing them to make choices.
Is this an opportunity or the beginning of the end for TIM?
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