Kemco
 Logo since 1999 | |
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Kure, Hiroshima, Japan |
Number of employees | 140[1] (2019) |
| Website | kemco-games |
Kemco Co., Ltd. (株式会社ケムコ, Kabushiki gaisha Kemuko), from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is a Japanese video game developer and publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima.[2][3]
Its best known franchises are the Kid Klown and Top Gear series, the latter developed by Sheffield-based English developers Gremlin Graphics.[4]
History
[edit]Kemco was founded in 1984 as Kotobuki System Co., Ltd. to be the video game subsidiary of the multifaceted corporation Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (established in 1979).[5][6][7] The name represents the initial letters of Kotobuki Engineering Manufacturing Co.[5]
Kemco started by developing video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.[5][7] Although technically called Kotobuki System until 2004, the company was already using the brand Kemco on its first game Dough Boy in 1985.[8]
From the late 1980s until the early 1990s, Kemco's video games were distributed in North America by Seika Corporation of Torrance, California, under the joint label of Kemco * Seika.[9]
In the 1990s, Kemco developed, ported, and published video games for several platforms including the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy.[10] The company's first North American subsidiary, Kemco America, operated from October 2, 1991, to January 24, 2000.[11]
In 2001, Kemco USA was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kemco of Japan, especially targeting the American market.[7]
In 2004, Kotobuki's system development division split to become the company Kotobuki Solution Co., Ltd., keeping the Kemco video game brand in the spin-off.[5][3] Two of its executives, Colin Gordon and Glenn Halseth, left Kemco to form its own video game company that acted as a spiritual successor to Kemco USA, Valcon Games.[12]
Since the 2010s, Kemco has been primarily known for its mobile games.[13] Kemco USA closed in 2007, but products continue to be released in North America through Kemco of Japan.[14][15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ "会社概要 | 株式会社コトブキソリューション". www.ksol.jp. Retrieved Jun 30, 2020.
- ↑ "About - KEMCO". www.kemco-games.com.
- 1 2 "「鉄人28号」が軽快アクションゲームになった！！". www.ksol.jp.
- ↑ "Electronic Entertainment Expo 2003 Exhibitor Profiles" (Press release).
- 1 2 3 4 "ケムコって、ファミコン時代のメーカーでしょ？ ざんねん!! ケムコの ぼうけんは モバイルアプリしじょうで つづいていた!!". 30 January 2017.
- ↑ "COMPANY HISTORY: COMPANY INFORMATION: KOTOBUKI ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING Co., Ltd". www.kemco.co.jp.
- 1 2 3 "Kemco Games". 12 August 2003. Archived from the original on 12 August 2003.
- ↑ "Dough Boy Box Shot for NES - GameFAQs". www.gamefaqs.com.
- ↑ "Uninvited" (PDF). thevgatv.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-09.
- ↑ "Kemco Games - IGN". 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015.
- ↑ "Washington Company List". Washington Companies Directory. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017.
- ↑ "Valcon Games LLC begins operations". Valcon Games. March 1, 2005. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Sheffield, Brandon (29 June 2010). "Interview: Valcon's Gordon On Why Game Boxes Matter, And 'Odd' Japanese Titles". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Washington Company List". Washington Companies Directory. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18.
- ↑ "Contact us - KEMCO". www.kemco-games.com.