The story
The company's founder Sueharu Torii established Nihon Bussan in October 1970 in Kita-ku, Osaka. They begin their activities by mainly selling arcade machines. In 1972, the company was incorporated as Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd with a capital of 3 million yen.
In 1976, Nihon Bussan, under the trade name Nichibutsu, made its debut as a manufacturer to the Amusement Machine Show and opened a Tokyo office in 1978. 1978 also saw Nichibutsu entering the arcade game market, when they debuted with a clone of the game Breakout called Table Attacker. The same year, Nichibutsu settled with Taito by paying a license fee to launch a clone of Space Invaders titled Moon Base. Also in 1979, a business alliance was formed with Namco for a clone of Galaxian called Moon Alien. Originally intended as a limited release, Nichibutsu violated the manufacturing agreement by producing the title in more units than the agreement called for and ended up paying Namco the excess of the license fee. Nichibutsu continued to release successful titles such as Moon Cresta and Crazy Climber, which were programmed by Jorudan under contract.
In 1983, the company developed Jangou Night which features the industry's first undressing elements and established the genre of strip mahjong games. In 1984, Nihon Bussan developed Tube Panic, the industry's first board game equipped with a rotation feature. From the mid-1980s, Nichibutsu released Terra Cresta and Cosmo Police Galivan that made use of Yamaha YM3812 FM sound.
Nichibutsu entered the home video game market in 1983 by developing a console of their own, the My Vision, and in 1986 released their first NES title, MagMax, followed by the MSX in 1989; the same year also saw the release of the company's last mainstream arcade game, Sky Robo (Tatakae! Big Fighter in Japan) before switching to exclusively produce strip mahjong titles for that market; in 1992, the company left JAMMA after the arcade industry began showing concerns about increasingly risque material in their strip mahjong games. In 1990, Nihon Bussan released console-first titles for the PC Engine such as F1 Circus which became a major hit. During the height of the F1 Circus series, Nichibutsu sponsored Team Lotus from 1991 to 1993; the sponsorship agreement allowed Lotus to appear as the only licensed team in the F1 Circus titles until Nichibutsu obtained a complete license from Formula One Constructors Association.
Nichibutsu began releasing games for the Sega Genesis in 1991, Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992, PlayStation in 1995 and for the Sega Saturn in 1996. Some of the titles were mahjong titles, with their PC Engine game Sexy Idol Mahjong featuring strip elements from their arcade titles.
In March 2009, the company partnered with D4 Enterprise to distribute their portfolio for its Project EGG service.
In March 2014, Nichibutsu sold the rights of all video games to Hamster Corporation. Hamster had approached founder Sueharu Torii for a licensing agreement of Nihon Bussan's games. Torii opted instead to sell outright the company's video game library and to retire.
Timeline
1979 – The company's headquarters is relocated to Tenjinbashi, Kita-ku, Osaka. Their capital increases to 24 million yen. Nichibutsu U.S.A. Co., Ltd. is established in Torrance, California, US.
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1980 – Nichibutsu U.K. Ltd. is established in West Midlands, England, United Kingdom. Nichibutsu Kyushu Co., Ltd. is established in Hakataekiminami, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Fukuoka.
1981 – Nichibutsu Europe GmbH is established in Rödermark, Offenbach, Hesse, Germany. The Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd. factory opens in Sayama, Kumiyama, Kuse, Kyoto.
1983 – Tokyo office is moved to Nihonbashihoridome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Nichibutsu Sapporo Co., Ltd. is established in Nakanoshima, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido. Nichibutsu Sendai Co., Ltd. is established in Uesugi, Sendai, Miyagi. Nichibutsu Hiroshima Co., Ltd. is established in Higashikasumichou, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima. Nichibutsu also releases their only console, My Vision.
1984 – Capital increases to 36 million yen.
1985 – Capital increases to 50 million yen.
1989 – Nichibutsu's last mainstream arcade game, Sky Robo / Tatakae! Big Fighter, is released.
1991 – The company's Tokyo office is moved to Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
1992 – Nichibutsu withdraws from the Japan Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association over a dispute regarding the risque content in their mahjong games.
2001 – Nichibutsu's last home video game, Virtual Kyoutei 21, is released.
2005 – Nichibutsu's last arcade game (overall), Koi Suru Cosplay Akihabara is released.
2007 – The company ends development of video games, while continuing to oversee the rights to their games.
2009 – Nichibutsu joins D4 Enterprise's Project EGG, a retro game republishing/distribution service.
2014 – Nichibutsu sells their portfolio and trademark to Hamster Corporation and shuts down.
From Wikipedia’s article on Nichibutsu, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3