was 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 ...

based in

Kōtō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2025, the ward has an estimated population of 543,730, and a population density of . The total ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It was founded on October 1, 1985 and dissolved on February 9, 2009. A branch was located in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. SETA developed and published games for various gaming platforms since the original NES and the

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 ...

. It produced games primarily in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, but also in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, focusing on golf and puzzles. SETA is commonly recognized for developing a variety of custom hardware to enhance games for Nintendo consoles, including enhancement chips, a

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

, and a bio sensor. It created development tools for

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

's consoles. SETA also developed the Aleck 64 arcade system, based on the

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 ...

console. Additionally, SETA assisted in the production of the SSV arcade system, collaborating with Sammy and Visco. In 1999, Aruze became the parent company. SETA withdrew from the game business in 2004 after releasing ''Legend of Golfer'' on the

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

. The company announced its closure in December 2008 due to Japan's declining economic conditions. SETA officially closed on January 23, 2009, with Aruze absorbing the company's assets. It was subsequently liquidated at the

Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. See also *Judicial system of Japan In the judicial system of Japan, the Constitution of Japan guarantees that "all judges shall be independent in the exercise of thei ...

on May 25, 2009.

Subsidiaries

Former subsidiaries

*UD Technology Inc (ユーディテック・ジャパン株式会社): On December 20, 2003, UD Technology Inc announced its merger with SETA Corporation, effective April 1, 2004. The merged entity became the headquarters for SETA Corporation's Unified Communication business. *IKUSABUNE Co., Ltd. (株式会社企画デザイン工房戦船): Merged into SETA Corporation and became the headquarters for SETA Corporation's Image Contents business on April 1, 2004.

Video games

Arcade

* ''U.S. Classic'' (1987; distributed by

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

in North America, one of America's top eight best-selling arcade games of 1989) * '' Arbalester'' (1989) * ''Super Real Mahjong PV'' (1994; Japan's seventh highest-grossing arcade

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...

(PCB) software of 1995)

Nintendo Entertainment System

* '' J.B. Harold Murder Club'' * ''

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (also simply known as ''Tom Sawyer'') is a novel by Mark Twain published on June 9, 1876, about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1830s-1840s in the town of St. Petersbu ...

'' * '' Castle of Dragon'' (developed by

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

) * '' Formula One: Built to Win'' * ''Honshogi: Naitou Kudan Shogi Hiden'' * '' 8 Eyes'' * ''Morita Shogi'' * '' Magic Darts'' * '' Silva Saga'' * ''Bio Force Ape'' (Unreleased; a prototype version of the unreleased game was recovered and made available online) * ''UWC'' (Unreleased game based on WCW; a review copy was uncovered in 2019)

Game Boy

* '' Ayakashi no Shiro'' * '' Battle Bull'' * '' QBillion'' * ''Torpedo Range''

Super NES/Super Famicom

* '' A.S.P.: Air Strike Patrol'' * '' Cacoma Knight in Bizyland'' (English version only - Original Japanese version by Datam Polystar) * '' F1 ROC: Race Of Champions'' * '' F1 ROC II: Race of Champions'' * '' GD Leen'' * ''Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi'' * ''Hayazashi Nidan Morita Shogi 2'' * '' Kendo Rage'' (''Makeruna Makendo'') (English version only - Original Japanese version by Datam Polystar) * '' Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror'' (English version only - Original Japanese version by Datam Polystar) * '' Super Stadium'' * ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'' * ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' * ''Shodan Morita Shogi'' * '' Silva Saga II: The Legend of Light and Darkness'' * ''Super Real Mahjong P4'' * ''Super Real Mahjong P5 Paradise''

TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine

* ''Super Real Mahjong P5 Custom''

Nintendo 64

* '' Chopper Attack'' * '' Eikō no Saint Andrews'' * '' Saikyō Habu Shōgi'' * '' Morita Shogi 64'' * ''Pachinko 365'' * '' Tetris 64'' * ''Ultimate War'' (cancelled) * ''Ide Yosuke no Mahjong Juku''

PlayStation

* ''Kanazawa Shogi '95''

Saturn

* ''Shougi Matsuri'' * ''Super Real Mahjong P5'' * ''Super Real Mahjong P6'' * ''Super Real Mahjong P7'' * ''Super Real Mahjong Graffiti'' * ''Kanazawa Shougi'' * ''Real Mahjong Adventure "Umi-He": Summer Waltz''

GameCube

* '' Legend of Golfer''

Xbox 360

* '' Project Sylpheed''

M65C02

* ''Cal.50'' - Licensed to

Macintosh

* ''Super Real Mahjong P4''

3DO

* ''Super Real Mahjong P4''

Aleck 64

The Aleck 64 is an

arcade system board An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-opera ...

based on the Nintendo 64, designed by SETA in cooperation with Nintendo, and sold exclusively in Japan from 1998 to 2003. It essentially consists of a Nintendo 64 board

retrofitted Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...

with sound capabilities that were standard for arcade games of the time. Nintendo and SETA began working on their agreement for the board in 1996, aiming to replicate the business model that

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

and

Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

had established with the Namco System 11, facilitating conversions of arcade games. * ''Eleven Beat'' (developed with

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

) * ''Hanabi de Doon! - Don-chan Puzzle'' (developed with Aruze) * ''Hi Pai Paradise'' (developed with Aruze) * ''Hi Pai Paradise 2 - onsen ni ikou yo!'' (developed with Aruze) * ''Kurukuru Fever'' (developed with Aruze) * '' Magical Tetris Challenge: Featuring Mickey'' (developed with

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

) * ''Mayjinsen 3'' * '' Rev Limit'' (unreleased) * '' Star Soldier: Vanishing Earth'' (developed with

) * ''Super Real Mahjong VS'' * ''Aleck Bordon Adventure 4th Story: Tower & Shaft'' (developed with Aruze and Altron) * ''Vivid Dolls'' (developed with Visco) * ''Variant Schwanzer'' (developed with

Sigma Sigma ( ; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; ) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as an operator ...

) (unreleased)

Notes

References

External links

* (archives) {{Authority control Video game publishers Video game companies established in 1985 Video game companies disestablished in 2009 Defunct video game companies of Japan Japanese companies established in 1985 Japanese companies disestablished in 2009 Video games developed in Japan