, from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is a Japanese
video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...
and
publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
established in 1984. It is headquartered in
Kure, Hiroshima
is a Cities of Japan, city in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 208,024 in 106,616 households and a population density of 590 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . With a strong industrial and ...
.
Its best known franchises are the ''
Kid Klown'' and
''Top Gear'' series, the latter developed by
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
-based English developers
Gremlin Graphics.
History
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).
The name represents the initial letters of Kotobuki Engineering Manufacturing Co.
Kemco started by developing video games for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
.
Although technically called Kotobuki System until 2004, the company was already using the brand Kemco on its first game ''
Dough Boy'' in 1985.
From the late 1980s until the early 1990s, Kemco's video games were distributed in North America by Seika Corporation of
Torrance, California
Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...
, under the joint label of Kemco * Seika.
In the 1990s, Kemco developed, ported, and published video games for several platforms including the
NES,
Super NES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...
,
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
, and
Game Boy
The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
. The company's first North American subsidiary, Kemco America, operated from October 2, 1991, to January 24, 2000.
In 2001, Kemco USA was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Kemco of Japan, especially targeting the American market.
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.
Since the 2010s, Kemco has been primarily known for its mobile games. Kemco USA closed in 2007, but products continue to be released in North America through Kemco of Japan.
See also
*
List of Kemco games
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://kemco-games.com
Video game companies established in 1984
Japanese companies established in 1984
Video game companies of Japan
Companies based in Hiroshima Prefecture
Video game development companies
Video game publishers