AQ Interactive, Inc. was a Japanese video game developer and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. AQ stands for Artistic Quality. It was the parent company of the developers

Artoon Artoon Co., Ltd. (株式会社アートゥーン Kabushiki-Gaisha Ātūn) was a Japanese video game developer established in 1999. It became a subsidiary of AQ Interactive in May 2004 and became a wholly owned subsidiary in June 2005. The team w ...

Cavia ''Cavia'' is a genus in the subfamily Caviinae that contains the rodents commonly known as guinea pigs or cavies. The best-known species in this genus is the domestic guinea pig, ''Cavia porcellus'', a meat animal in South America and a common ...

and

feelplus Feelplus Inc. (株式会社フィールプラス Kabushiki gaisha Fiirupurasu) was a Japanese video game developer and a subsidiary of AQ Interactive. The studio was conceived by Microsoft Game Studios specifically to aid Mistwalker in video game ...

, and most recently the U.S. publisher

Xseed Games Xseed Games is an American video game company founded by former members of Square Enix USA. It later became a subsidiary of the Japanese game company Marvelous, providing the localization and publishing services for video games and related mat ...

. AQ Interactive and its subsidiaries produced games both under the AQ Interactive name, as well as developing for other publishers such as Microsoft Game Studios and Nintendo.

History

AQ Interactive was founded on October 1, 2005, when Cavia, established on March 1, 2000, changed its name and became a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

responsible for the management of subsidiary companies as well as sales and promotion of video game software. The old company's game planning & development business became Cavia Inc. which remained a subsidiary of AQI, until July 2010, when Cavia was re-absorbed as a part of AQI. It published its first game in November 2005, the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

launch title '' Tetris: The Grand Master ACE''. On March 12, 2009, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced relocating its headquarters to

Shinagawa, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total a ...

, between June and August 2009. On March 26, 2009, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced the establishment of its mobile contents and overseas business divisions, effective on April 1, 2009. In August 2010, AQ Interactive merged and relocated the

web sites into a single AQI Development product page. On March 31, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced merging its software and amusement business departments into consumer business department. On June 23, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced its merger with

Marvelous Entertainment (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 and became Marvelous AQL; the ...

and Liveware, effective on October 1, 2011.

Subsidiaries

* XSEED JKS, Inc.: On May 15, 2007, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced the acquisition of XSEED JKS, Inc., with share transfer before June 2007. On May 1, 2009, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced increasing its stake of XSEED JKS, Inc. from 55.0% (486636 shares) to 90.0% (766859 shares) on the day of announcement. *LINKTHINK Inc. (株式会社リンクシンク): On April 16, 2009, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced the acquisition of LINKTHINK Inc., effective on April 16, 2009. AQ Interactive, Inc. would own 66.8% stake (1030 shares) of the subsidiary. On November 6, 2009, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced increasing its stake of LINKTHINK Inc. to 100% (1540 shares).

Former subsidiaries

Microcabin , sometimes written as Micro Cabin, is a Japan-based video game developer and publisher incorporated in 1982, which grew from the Ōyachi Electrics Microcomputer Club. Known for their ''Xak'' series and its spinoff ''Fray in Magical Adventure'', ...

Corporation (株式会社マイクロキャビン): On 2008-05-09, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced the acquisition of Microcabin Corporation via share purchase, with trade on May 16, 2008. On January 14, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced selling its 85% stake (312704 shares) of Microcabin Corporation to Fields Corporation (フィールズ株式会社), and Microcabin Corporation became a consolidated subsidiary of Fields Corporation.マイクロキャビンをパチンコ機販売のフィールズが子会社化
/ref> *

Inc. (株式会社フィールプラス): A carryover subsidiary of cavia inc. On April 28, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced merging feelplus Inc. into AQ Interactive, Inc., effective on August 1, 2011.子会社株式の追加取得に関するお知らせ
/ref> * Cavia Inc. (株式会社キャビア): On April 28, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced merging Cavia Inc. into AQ Interactive, Inc., effective on August 1, 2011. *

(株式会社アートゥーン): On April 28, 2011, AQ Interactive, Inc. announced merging Artoon into AQ Interactive, Inc., effective on August 1, 2011.

Released games

The following are games developed and/or published by AQ Interactive. ;Arcade *'' Pokémon Battrio'' (2007) :

Fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

*''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jong'' ('' Higurashi When They Cry'' characters mahjong video game) (2009) : Mahjong *''Touch the Numbers'' (TBA) *''Cubemall'' :

UFO catcher A claw crane, claw machine, toy crane, or skill crane is a type of arcade game known as a merchandiser, commonly found in video arcades, supermarkets, restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, and bowling alleys. Machine components A claw ...

*''Minna de Derby'' : Horse racing ;PlayStation 2 *''

Love Com , also known as ''Lovely Complex'', is a romantic comedy shōjo manga by Aya Nakahara. It was published by Shueisha in '' Bessatsu Margaret'' from 2001 to 2006 and collected in 17 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series is about the romance betwe ...

'' (2006) :

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

*'' Driver: Parallel Lines'' (Japanese version) (2006):

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

*'' Arcana Heart'' (2007) :

*''Suggoi! Arcana Heart 2'' (2009) :

;PlayStation 3 *'' Vampire Rain: Altered Species'' (2008) :

Action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

/ Stealth ;PlayStation Portable *''Jitsuroku Oniyome Nikki'' (2006) :

*''Anata wo Yurusanai'' (2007) :

Sound novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

*''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jan'' (2009) : Mahjong *'' CR Hana no Keiji Zan'' (Cancelled) :

Pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as an arcade game, and much more frequently for gambling. Pachinko fills a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in the West as a form of low-stakes, low-st ...

simulator ;Wii *'' Victorious Boxers: Revolution'' (2007) :

*'' The World of Golden Eggs: Nori Nori Rhythm-kei'' (2008) : Rhythm action *'' Ju-on: The Grudge'' (2009) :

Survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

Graphic adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

*'' Club Penguin: Game Day! (2010) : Minigame collection ;Nintendo DS *''

Boing! Docomodake DS is a puzzle-platform game starring NTT DoCoMo's mascot, Docomodake. Their rival is NHK's mascot, Domo-Kun who has been in games of his own. It was developed by Suzak and AQ Interactive AQ Interactive, Inc. was a Japanese video game develo ...

'' (2007) : Puzzle *''

KORG DS-10 ''KORG DS-10'' is a music creation program for the Nintendo DS that emulates the Korg MS range of synthesizers. Frequently people refer to the Korg MS-10, however the MS-10 is a single oscillator monosynth. The DS-10 adds sync which the Korg ...

'' (2008) : Music synthesizer software *'' Blue Dragon Plus'' (2008) :

Tactical role-playing Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated TRPGs), also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as (both abbreviated SRPGs), are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical (turn-b ...

*'' Away: Shuffle Dungeon'' (2008) :

Role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

*''KORG DS-10 Plus'' (2009) : Music synthesizer software ;Nintendo 3DS *''

Cubic Ninja is a puzzle video game for the Nintendo 3DS. Developed by AQ Interactive and published by Ubisoft, the game requires players to use the console's accelerometer and gyroscope to manipulate the titular character through various levels on a quest ...

'' (2011) : Action puzzle ;Xbox 360 *'' Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'' (2005) : Puzzle *'' Tsuushin Taisen Mahjong Touryuumon'' (2006) : Mahjong *'' Bullet Witch'' (2006) :

*'' Vampire Rain'' (2007) :

/ Stealth ;Browser game *''Browser Sangokushi'' (2009) : Strategy/

Simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...

*'' Baka to Test to Shōkanjū for Mixi'' (2010) :

Quiz A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which players attempt to answer questions correctly on one or several specific topics. Quizzes can be used as a brief assessment in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, ...

*''Derby Master'' (2010) : Horse racing/

*''Browser Baseball'' (2010) :

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

;iPhone *''Glandarius Wing Strike'' (2009) :

Shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

Developed games

;Wii *''

The Last Story is a Japanese action role-playing game, developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive for the Wii video game console. Nintendo published the title in all regions except for North America, where it was published by Xseed Games. Initially released in ...

'' (2011) – co-developed with

Mistwalker is an independent video game development studio. The company was founded in July 2004 by Hironobu Sakaguchi, best known for his work at Square including creating the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The company has created both game franchises such as ' ...

/ published by Nintendo ;Nintendo 3DS *''Animal Resort'' (2011) – published by

;PlayStation 3 *'' No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise'' (2010) – published by Marvelous Entertainment and

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

References

External links

* (archived from th
original

profile at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

LINKTHINK Inc. page
{{Authority control Japanese companies established in 2005 Japanese companies disestablished in 2011 Video game companies established in 2005 Video game companies disestablished in 2011 Software companies based in Tokyo Defunct video game companies of Japan Video game development companies Video game publishers