GGI (Part II) : 1980

 

We continue our research into GGI. As noted in the first part, GGI is a company that touched on several different areas of the arcade business but always cultivated discretion. It isn't always easy to follow its trail.

At the end of the first part, despite the bankruptcy (page 2) in March 1980, we left GGI on a "see you later" rather than a "goodbye." Indeed, GGI resumed its activities immediately. They are more or less the same as before the bankruptcy. 

But 1980 is a turning point, and times are changing fast: modifying third-party companies' games without authorization and then selling them is no longer a vaguely tolerated activity. People now openly talk about piracy. In other words, GGI is about to become a pirate company... but not in Japan.

Here, summed up in one sentence, is what we know about GGI for the year 1980: it makes and sells modified copies of Galaxian around the world.

Galaxian

Galaxian was developed by Namco. The game was released on September 15, 1979 in Japan, and it became the new wave of video games after Space Invaders! Galaxian was a huge success, which of course led many companies to take an interest in it. To meet demand, and following a tradition begun with Space Invaders, Namco licensed Galaxian to a total of 19 companies worldwide. Obtaining a license from Namco came with certain conditions. The most important were not to change the game's name (Galaxian) and not to modify the game itself. 

In Japan alone, no fewer than 14 companies obtained an official license. Among the lucky recipients, some are heavyweights of the industry that need no introduction. For others, their names probably won't mean much to you. Here is the list of licensees: Taito, Irem, Sigma, Sammy Kōgyō, Sega, Logitec, Jatre, Takasago Denki Sangyō (高砂電器産業), Konami, General (ゼネラル), Osada Denki (長田電機), Nihon Bussan (Nichibutsu), Taisei Denki (大生電器), and Kyōwa Sangyō (協和産業). Abroad, Namco licensed the game to 5 companies: Midway (United States), Bell-Fruit (United Kingdom), Bertolino (Italy), Zaccaria (Italy), and Interflip (Spain). Sales of Galaxian began in February 1980 in the United States.

That's already a lot of companies allowed to legally manufacture and sell Galaxian, but there was still a host of other companies looking to sell Galaxian by any means necessary, including illegal ones. As I write this, the MAME software lists 46 different versions of Galaxian in total, whether original versions, officially licensed versions, or bootlegs. And there are still many more versions that are not listed by MAME. Among all these versions, a majority are modified versions. The modifications mainly concern the sprites, the speed, or the behavior of the enemies.

GGI is one of the companies that got into the business of copying Galaxian. After all, hadn't GGI already sold Spacian, a version of Galaxian running on Space Invaders hardware? It's hard to say exactly when GGI started selling copies of Galaxian by reproducing its original hardware. However, we find several traces of these copies, and they will help us sketch an evolution of the versions produced by GGI.

It starts far from Japan, in the Czech Republic.

Space Invader Kamikaze

It's on a Czech auction site that we find what may be the oldest copy of Galaxian made by GGI. It's a complete, working game, still installed in its original cabinet. 

"GG International" is proudly displayed in several places on the cabinet. The game is called Space Invader Kamikaze. 

GGI chose a name that has little to do with Galaxian. Perhaps the name Galaxian didn't yet mean much in Europe when GGI arrived there. Space Invaders was still an important game in Europe in 1980, and GGI may have wanted to introduce Space Invader Kamikaze as an improved version of Space Invaders (which wouldn't be entirely untrue). 

As for the game itself, the screenshot shows what appears to be a standard version of Galaxian — with one detail. The sprite representing the player's ship (called Galaxip in Namco's original version) has been replaced with the sleeker sprite of a supersonic jet. 

This sprite is, in a way, GGI's signature, as we'll encounter it again later in the article. Finally, let's note that the game, cabinet included, was not manufactured in Europe but was imported from Japan. Indeed, the components that make up the game (the monitor, for example) are Japanese. Inside, there's even a plate from the company that supplied the plywood used to build the cabinet. And that company is based in Niigata.

GGI, a truly international company

So GGI does business with Europe. Is that surprising? Not necessarily, because if you've previously read this article, you've already met Chōshirō Suzuki (鈴木長四郎). He would later become known as the president of Human. But before that, he had already worked for several companies, including GGI. In that article, Chōshirō Suzuki spent almost an entire year in seclusion. Starting at the end of the ski season, in May 1979, he decided to leave Mount Oze to return to Tōkyō and look for work. After some difficulty, he was finally hired by GGI, and one can imagine that this happened in the second half of 1979, or at the latest in early 1980. Chōshirō Suzuki mentions that during his time at GGI, he spent a lot of time abroad, particularly in Germany. The pieces of the puzzle fit together fairly well, and one can imagine that Chōshirō Suzuki is not unrelated to the presence of Space Invader Kamikaze in the Czech Republic.

Kamikaze by Karateco

There's another game that strongly resembles Space Invader Kamikaze. It might even be the same game. This game was discovered by the user QtQ (on X).

【レゲーなひとりごと】
さーて
今回はこの前配信開始されて盛り上がってる #ギャラクシアン を遊んでみますかね👾 pic.twitter.com/rWQfdZQ7OW

— QtQ【🏮⇨🍻⇨🕺⇨🏠】 (@_QtQ_) December 4, 2022

https://x.com/_QtQ_/status/1599323825485017088/video/1

https://x.com/_QtQ_/status/1599330561075843073/photo/2

Basically, it's Galaxian with the player sprite replaced. We find the same supersonic jet we saw in Space Invader Kamikaze (and which we'll see again). In Galaxian, the number of lives is shown by small Galaxip icons in the bottom left, and the level by a flag in the bottom right. In this case, the small Galaxips have also been replaced with the new sprite. The flag, however, is unchanged.

The seller's name is shown here on the title screen, and that's an important piece of information. It's the company Karateco. As far as I know, Karateco didn't manufacture games. It was a company specializing in importing games from Japan. But to be more precise, let's take the time to present what we know about Karateco, because this company is part of something bigger.

Karateco, a gateway to Europe?

Karateco is often considered a French company. Some nuance is needed here, though: Karateco is a Japanese company. Or rather, it is the Japanese subsidiary of the Stambouli Frères group.

Stambouli Frères was founded in 1965 in Beirut (Lebanon). This company was primarily specialized in international trade but also touched on all sorts of fields, such as casino management, drug stores, night clubs, game centers, etc. See here  ("About us"). Stambouli Frères appears to have been a major player in the Near East's leisure industry, at least during the 1970s. It follows that video games would be one of Stambouli Frères' activities, but not the only one.

In Europe, the company Stambouli Frères S.A. (a subsidiary of Stambouli Frères) was founded in Pantin (near Paris) in 1978. Its purpose was to import and export various products, including video games. This company later served as the "International Liaison Office" between the group's various branches.

Karateco was founded in Tōkyō (Minato ward) by 1980 at the latest. Its purpose was to export video games from Japan to the rest of the world. It's unlikely that Karateco ever sold games on the Japanese market. It's possible, however, that Karateco manufactured arcade cabinets in order to install PCBs in them before exporting them. This isn't entirely clear.

Around the same time, Stambouli Brothers was founded in New York. 

Kyūgo (キューゴ) and Stambouli Brothers announce their partnership (AM Show '80) (https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19801101p.pdf page 6)

In 1981, Karateco France S.A. was founded in Dugny (also near Paris). One might assume this company duplicated Stambouli Frères S.A., but its purpose was different. 

According to Elliott Stambouli (former president), it was meant to "replace most imported leisure electronic products by French-made products under Japanese technology". The explanation isn't entirely clear. As I understand it, it involved manufacturing arcade cabinets at the Dugny factory to house PCBs imported from Japan. Importing PCBs is indeed much easier than importing complete arcade cabinets. Incidentally, Karateco France S.A. also manufactured vending machines.

A side note. The official history on Stambouli's former website mentions that 3 factories were founded in the late 1970s: Tōkyō, Johannesburg (South Africa), and Paris. That's questionable, isn't it? Or maybe "the late 1970s" shouldn't be taken too literally, and should be understood to include the early 1980s? And what about this factory in Johannesburg?

Stambouli Frères owed much of its success to electronic poker machines (The Double, for example) , games of chance that were easily turned into real gambling machines and that quickly became a source of income for various criminal groups, particularly in France. French law banned these machines starting in 1981, and Stambouli Frères chose to relocate the offending machines to the United States in 1982, as best it could. In 1984, Stambouli Frères moved its headquarters from Beirut to Cyprus. The group's name was later changed to Stambouli Enterprises.

Note that Karateco is among the many companies sued in the United States by Midway for importing copies of Galaxian.

Kamikaze Part 2, Part 3

Given this presentation of Karateco, shouldn't we consider that Kamikaze is an import? This is all the more plausible since several clues point to GGI:

• Karateco doesn't manufacture games, but GGI does
• Kamikaze and Space Invader Kamikaze are very similar
• Their names are more or less identical
• The player sprite is GGI's supersonic jet

But wait, why do we call this game Kamikaze? That name doesn't appear anywhere on the title screen. It's because that's the name that appears on this Karateco flyer. 

Judging by the in-game image on the flyer, it's clearly an advertisement for a Galaxian bootleg. Karateco named its bootleg Kamikaze.

There's an interesting detail on this flyer. Under the name Kamikaze, Karateco added "Part 2 and 3." Karateco gives no explanation, but this detail shows that Karateco sold several versions of Kamikaze (at least 3).

Perhaps GGI sold each of these versions to Karateco. Or did other bootleggers also do business with Karateco selling modified copies? In the legal world, a contract between a producer and a reseller usually implies a certain degree of exclusivity. The producer owns the game's intellectual property rights and chooses with whom to share them and under what conditions. But when it comes to bootlegs, outside the bounds of the law, there's no notion of exclusivity. A manufacturer can sell its copies to an unlimited number of resellers. Likewise, a reseller can buy copies from as many manufacturers as it wants, since none of them holds the rights. It's something like the Wild West of intellectual property, and anything goes as long as you don't get caught. From a legal standpoint, there was still relative impunity in 1980, but that wasn't going to last much longer.

What is certain is that GGI manufactured at least one other version of Galaxian.

Galaxian Part 4

We're lucky with Galaxian Part 4, since this game is emulated by the MAME software.

Unlike the previous games, Galaxian Part 4 brings a number of changes compared to the original Galaxian:

• Some sprites are replaced: the player's ship (the Galaxip), the one showing the number of lives remaining, and the one indicating the current level.

• The player's ship moves faster.
• The player's shots are faster.
• The enemies move faster horizontally.
• In the original game, when a flagship (the yellow enemy at the very top) attacks, it's accompanied by up to 2 escorts. It's now accompanied by up to 5 escorts.
• Starting from level 3, in the enemies' starting formation, there are 8 flagships instead of 2. The enemy formation is square-shaped.

Galaxian Part 4 thus gives even more dynamism and challenge to a game that was already excellent to begin with. It's a very enjoyable version. That said, Galaxian Part 4 is not an "original bootleg" by GGI. GGI borrowed already-existing "pirate code." But if GGI is using this code, it must have come from somewhere. And that's where a new company enters our story: Artic International.

A piece of code that was a hit among bootleggers

We've seen that Galaxian was reproduced in numerous versions by bootleggers. In many cases, the modifications consist of replacing sprites, changing colors, or speeding up the player's ship, the enemies, the shots, and so on.

In the case of Galaxian Part 4 and other bootlegs, there is a specific piece of code that changes two things:

• the size of the flagships' escort
• the number of flagships starting from the third level

These two features always go together. There is no bootleg that has one of these changes without the other. This code was quite successful in the black market of arcade games, since the MAME software references about fifteen bootlegs that used it. It's hard to know which bootleg was the first, the "original" one. However, all fifteen of these bootlegs have, hidden in their code, the names of two people: "TSUCHIYA TAKEHIKQ QKAZAKE." These are presumably the two programmers behind them.

On the Arcade Museum forum, user highscoreheroes made a nice discovery. Takehiko Tsuchiya and Yoshinobu Okazaki worked for Artic (or rather Artic International), a company based in Taiwan. 

Artic would soon be involved in several lawsuits in the United States. Notably, in 1982 it was sued by Midway for, among other things, dealing in copies of Galaxian and conversion kits that make the aliens move faster and increase their number to six when in formation. Does that ring a bell?

There would be a lot to say about Artic, but let's just say that this company's role in the global gray-market arcade industry is probably vastly underestimated.

In any case, it's quite possible that Artic International is the company behind our "original" bootleg.

As for our programmers, we later find a trace of one of them in a different context — in the code of the arcade game Sky Army (1982) by the company Shōei (ショウエイ). Yoshinobu Okazaki worked for the company Applied Engineering (or Applied Engneering), which appears to have been a contractor for Shōei.

So we still have a very hazy picture of who developed the code used in Galaxian Part 4. GGI thus reused a piece of code that already existed. But not directly from an Artic International bootleg — rather, from another company's bootleg.

Galaxian Part II

We've seen that the game Galaxian Part 4 was sold by GGI. One might instinctively think that GGI also sold games called "Galaxian Part 2" or "Galaxian Part 3." But we have absolutely no trace of that. In fact, GGI could have called its game directly Galaxian Part 4 because there was already a host of games claiming to be version 2 or 3. Most of these games are not emulated, and it would be hard to say what distinguishes them from one another, beyond perhaps a sprite swap or a speed increase on some game element.

For example, compare these two flyers (from an unknown company). 

https://ameblo.jp/neco65535/image-12740143491-15110233904.html

We have two games claiming to be Galaxian Part 2 and Galaxian Part 3. The text is identical. Who could say what sets these games apart? Is there even a difference? Adding "Part 2" or "Part 3" here looks like a marketing gimmick.

In this context, GGI may have tried to stand out by releasing a Galaxian "Part 4."

But there is one game emulated on MAME whose code is identical in every respect to that of Galaxian Part 4. Unlike Galaxian Part 4, this game kept the original Galaxian graphics, except for a logo change on the title screen. This game is called Galaxian Part II (or GX Part II), and it was manufactured by a company called International Scientific (the name doesn't appear in the game itself, but on the PCB).

The code of this game and that of Galaxian Part 4 are identical, character for character.

We can go even further by comparing the original Galaxian PCBs with those of GGI and International Scientific.

Here are two original PCBs from Namco and Midway

https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=2493.0

A Galaxian PCB by GGI

I've lost the original link, sorry

A Galaxian PCB by International Scientific

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/galaxian-part-ii-bootleg-not-in-mame.522483/page-2#post-4676396

There's a striking similarity between the GGI and International Scientific PCBs, far more than with the original PCBs.

This warrants a closer look at International Scientific.

International Scientific

Despite what its name might suggest, International Scientific (インターナショナル・サイエンティフィック in Japanese) is a Japanese company based in Hachiōji (Tōkyō). Of course, it sold bootlegs, but it can't be reduced to just that. I'm surprised to be writing this myself, but International Scientific was a pioneering company in consumer computing. What interests us here isn't just who International Scientific was, but above all whether this company could have played the same role as GGI in an international manufacturing and distribution network.

Here are a few observations that will help sketch its profile.

• If you're interested in computing history, you probably know that 1977 is the year the first three computers aimed at a broad consumer market were released: the TRS-80 (Radio Shack), the PET 2001 (Commodore), and the Apple II. What history has not recorded is that 1977 is also the year International Scientific released the Kaizer Z2, a computer that failed to find its place against its competitors.

https://moriyan6001.tumblr.com/post/54985121769/international-scientific-coltd-z-80-multi-cpu

•  Its successor, the Kaizer Z80, released in 1979, appears to have met the same fate

https://retrocdn.net/images/3/35/ASCII_JP_1980_10.pdf (page 18)

• Alongside its line of computers, International Scientific also traded in all sorts of computer products, as shown (or not — I admit it's not very legible) by this advertisement in the September 1978 issue of ASCII magazine. Notably, it sold products that were supposed to belong to its competitors.

     

• It also sold products imported directly from the United States. The American products are presumably those priced in dollars. The Japanese products are priced in yen.
• International Scientific formed partnerships with all sorts of companies internationally: the United States, Europe, Korea, etc., either for sales or for factory manufacturing. The company also had an office in California.
• In Japan, International Scientific had "partner factories" (協力工場) for hardware support (Kanon Seisakusho / カノン製作所, also based in Hachioji) and software (Densan / 電産).
• The Galaxian PCB shown earlier was manufactured in Japan. The components are Japanese, and it bears a "合" sticker, short for "合格" ("passed"), which is an internal certification that the product works.
• International Scientific already had a foothold in the arcade business as early as 1978, since it sold Universal's Circus Circus. Universal is a Japanese company, but its factories (or some of them?) are in Taiwan, and its products are distributed by Artic International in part of the United States.
• International Scientific was named, starting in January 1981 (along with many other companies), by Midway for dealing in copies of Rally-X and Pac-Man.
• In the lawsuit Nintendo of America vs. Elcon Industries, it's mentioned that the Crazy Kong games sold by Elcon were manufactured by Falcon but were sold to it by Artic International and International Scientific.

In the end, International Scientific looks like a sort of large import-export company for computer products across Japan and the rest of the world. Its network relied mainly on partnerships. It also had its own branded product line. Production of these products was supposedly handled by its "partner factories." My impression (which is by no means a claim of fact) is that International Scientific gradually found itself drawn into the same network as Artic International, and that it didn't turn out well for it. There are of course still many gray areas, but interesting, isn't it?

As for GGI, one may wonder how deeply it was involved in this network, at least in the United States. Because yes, GGI did have confirmed activities in the United States. But we'll get into that in the next article. Whatever the extent of its involvement, GGI is among the lucky few who apparently were never troubled by Midway or other companies that went after bootleggers.

The bootlegger, a lone wolf?

Before wrapping up this article on the year 1980, there's one question left that we can now answer: why is it so hard to know exactly what GGI was doing?

I've mentioned several times how hard it is to pin down where GGI's role begins and ends. That's also true for other companies, like International Scientific or Karateco. In fact, it holds for any somewhat obscure company in this industry. To understand this better, we need to take a closer look at how the bootleg industry works in general.

To do this, let's consider the general case of a company we only know to be a bootlegger. When you think of a bootleg company, the image that comes to mind is that of a somewhat isolated factory quietly churning out copies, hidden from view (especially from the police), and selling them under the table. The reality is far more complex.

Making a bootleg involves many steps. Let's list them:

1. Organization and funding of the project The producer who launches the project is the one who provides the funds. They set up contracts with contractors.
2. Reverse engineering and hardware design Before copying a game, you need to understand how it works. Then you need to create a new design that accounts for the technical or cost limitations the bootlegger faces. Basically, hardware design involves drawing the schematic of the copper traces on the printed circuit board (called a Gerber file) and detailing the components to be assembled. This is also the stage at which the silkscreen markings that will appear on the PCB are determined. If a company's name or logo is silkscreened on, it's normally that of the producer.
3. Ordering components Generally, it's the company running the project that orders the components, in order to keep costs down.
4. Modifying the original software The code is modified if the gameplay is to be changed. Some sprites may also be replaced, or the rights holder's name simply erased. This gives the bootleg a bit of individuality and can reduce somewhat the risk of legal action by the rights holder. If the bootleg is meant for a specific customer, that customer's name can be added to the title screen.
5. PCB manufacturing The copper traces are etched onto the printed circuit board following the supplied Gerber file.
6. Component assembly The company assembles the components it was given onto the PCBs it was given. It simply follows instructions. Once assembly is complete, the product is tested and validated.

The PCB is ready. It can be sold as-is or installed in a cabinet. If it's installed in a cabinet, that of course adds more steps.

After the game is manufactured comes the sale. Manufacturers generally produce large quantities of games. They usually can't sell directly to end customers (game centers, snack bars, cafés, etc.). Even though the games are bootlegs, they have to rely on local resellers who buy the bootlegs and resell them to end customers. Everyone involved is aware that these are cheaper but illegal products.

If the bootleg is meant for export, the producer can either sign contracts directly with foreign customers or sell its bootlegs to an import-export company that will find its own customers. Even if the producer signs contracts directly with foreign customers, it may still need an import-export company to actually ship the products.

Complicated, isn't it? What emerges from all this is that the bootlegger doesn't work alone. In its own way, it sustains an entire network of more or less complicit contractors. But if anything goes wrong — legally, in particular — it's the bootlegger who bears full responsibility and has to deal with the consequences.

Now that we've said all that, can we determine where GGI's role begins and ends? We know that GGI's name appears on arcade cabinets, on title screens, and on PCBs. We also know that it signed contracts abroad (that was Chōshirō Suzuki's job, wasn't it?).

At first glance, then, it was a producer.

We also know, from the previous article, that GGI had technical know-how. But that doesn't tell us at which stages of manufacturing GGI was involved, or even whether it was involved at all. Nor do we know whether GGI had its own factories. We'll also see in the next article (hopefully) that GGI negotiated contracts on all sides, and that this sometimes led in strange directions.

I'll say it again: it's difficult to determine where GGI's role begins and ends. But I hope that, after these explanations, it's now clearer why that is.

Conclusion

GGI went bankrupt, but that gave it new vigor. In this year 1980, GGI truly lived up to the "I" in its name: G.G. International. We find traces of it in Europe, and perhaps in the United States (with Galaxian Part 4). All of this thanks to one game: Galaxian. 

But this is nothing compared to what comes next. In 1981, GGI will continue to grow its activities in the arcade business, including in legitimate trade (with a worldwide hit) and in more obscure circuits. And above all, new partners will appear, which will help us better understand just how far its network really extended. There will be an enormous amount to tell. 

It promises to be interesting, but my head already hurts just thinking about it.