, formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game development studio located in

Kichijōji is a neighborhood in the city of Musashino in Western Tokyo, Japan. It is centered on a compact commercial area to the north and south of Kichijōji Station, with a full range of shops, restaurants, bars, and coffee houses. The area is a popu ...

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 ...

, Japan, founded on June 19, 1995. The company is best known for its popular

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

games in the late 1990s and early-mid-2000s, starting with the release of '' Virtual Pro-Wrestling'' in 1996. The company's take on

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

proved successful in the late 1990s with the release of several games, culminating in '' WCW/nWo Revenge'' for 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 ...

. As a result, the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

ended their twelve-year relationship with

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally founded by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a storefront in Oyster Bay in 1987, the company built a global develop ...

and partnered with THQ/AKI in 1999. The relationship would continue AKI's reputation for quality wrestling games, which ended with the release of '' WWF No Mercy''.McLaughlin, Ru
IGN Presents the History of Wrestling Games

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming 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 district and is headed by its former e ...

(November 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2-03-11.

History

The company went public in 1998 and on April 1, 2007 was renamed syn Sophia, Inc. The first game developed under that name was '' Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary'' for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

in 2007. However, they used their previous name in some of their future titles until 2008 with the release of ''

Style Savvy ''Style Savvy'', known as ''Nintendo presents: Style Boutique'' in the PAL region and as in Japan, is a fashion video game developed by Syn Sophia and published by Nintendo. It was released for the Nintendo DS on October 23, 2008 in Japan, on Oc ...

'' for the Nintendo DS. '' Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution'' would be developed under the name AKI Corporation USA.

Games

Developed under The Man Breeze

Developed under AKI Corporation

Developed under syn Sophia, Inc.

Unreleased games

A version of ''WWF No Mercy'' for the

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

was in the works and planned for release alongside the Nintendo 64 version. The game was originally planned to utilize the Nintendo 64

Transfer Pak The Transfer Pak is an accessory for the Nintendo 64 (N64) controller. It features a cartridge slot compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color (GBC) games. When plugged into the controller's expansion port, it allows for the transfer of data bet ...

accessory to unlock special content in each version of the game. This feature was later scrapped, however, with the extra content in each version instead being unlocked via gameplay. After further developmental woes, the game was shifted to Natsume, developers of the previous WWF game for Game Boy Color, before finally being canceled in late December 2000. Screenshots of this game at one point existed, but the websites which had them up were forced to remove them following the game's cancellation. A sequel to ''WWF No Mercy'' was rumored to have been planned. However, Sanders Keel, producer of various AKI wrestling titles, confirmed in an interview that this rumor was false. A sequel to

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

' '' WCW Mayhem'' titled ''WCW 2000'' and later, ''WCW Mayhem 2'' was going to be developed by AKI and was planned for a PlayStation 2 release. There were even some screenshots featured in Issue #33 (May 2000) of the '' Official PlayStation Magazine''. However, it was also shelved in 2001 after the

purchased

. The engine of this game would later be recycled for ''

Def Jam Vendetta ''Def Jam Vendetta'' is a 3D professional wrestling fighting video game developed by AKI Corporation and EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It was released for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in April 20 ...

''. A

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

spinoff of the Dreamcast game ''Animastar'', titled ''Animastar Puzzle'', was announced in early 2000 but was later cancelled, presumably due to the sudden demise of the Dreamcast console. ''Mikke!'' was an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, rhythm games and ...

announced for the Nintendo DS console in early 2008. It was later cancelled for unknown reasons. In 2019,

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...

journalist Imran Khan reported on numerous games that were cancelled mid-development for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

due to the commercial failure of ''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey''. Among those named was an entry into the ''Style Savvy'' series.

References

External links

* * (Website Currently Unavailable.) (AKI Corporation USA) {{Authority control Amusement companies of Japan Software companies based in Tokyo Video game companies established in 1995 Japanese companies established in 1995 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies