was a Japanese video game developer and publisher based headquartered in
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a Core cities of Japan, core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a populat ...
. Also known as "Tecno Soft", the company was founded in February 1980 as Sasebo Microcomputer Center, before changing its name to Technosoft in 1982. The company primarily dealt with software for Japanese personal computers, including graphic toolsets and image processing software. Technosoft's first venture into the video game market was ''Snake & Snake'', released in 1982, before seeing success with titles such as ''
Thunder Force
is a series of shooter video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft and published by Sega. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gameplay, graphics, and synthesizer-based chiptune music soundtracks.
There are s ...
'' (1983) and ''Plasma Line'' (1984).
Technosoft became largely profitable during the late-1980s and early-1990s, largely in part due to the widespread popularity of their ''Thunder Force'' and ''Herzog'' franchises. However, later in the decade, Technosoft began to largely diminish as profits began to slump, before ultimately being acquired and folded into Japanese pachinko manufacturer Twenty-One Company in late 2001. Twenty-One began to release products in 2008 under the Technosoft brand, and sold the entirety of its video game library to
Sega
is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
in 2016. The Technosoft name continues to be in use in the present day as the name for Twenty-One's research and development division, and as a brand name for various products such as soundtrack albums.
History
Some staff members left Technosoft to start the game development companies
Arsys Software
Arsys Software (アルシスソフトウェア), later known as Cyberhead (サイバーヘッド), was a Japanese video game software development company active from 1985 to 2001.
Overview
The company was founded as Arsys Software by former Tec ...
in 1985 (founded by Kotori Yoshimura, creator of ''
Thunder Force
is a series of shooter video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft and published by Sega. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gameplay, graphics, and synthesizer-based chiptune music soundtracks.
There are s ...
'' and ''Plazma Line''), CAProduction in 1993, and
Ganbarion in 1999.
In 2006, the URL for Technosoft was registered and updated. However, no updates other than "We will restart soon! Please wait for a while." and "THUNDERFORCE is a registered trademark." have been added to the website. In 2008, The Technosoft brand was revived by Twenty-One company. Technosoft licensed merchandising and music of the brand's past titles. The copyright for Technosoft's intellectual properties were not registered under Technosoft nor Twenty-One Company, but to Kazue Matsuoka.
Sega revealed that ''
Thunder Force III
''Thunder Force III'' (サンダーフォースIII) is a 1990 Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters, scrolling shooter game developed by Technosoft for the Sega Genesis. It is the third chapter in the Thunder Force series. It was then retooled into an ...
'' will be part of
Sega 3D Classics Collection, and on September 17, 2016, at the Tokyo Game Show, Sega announced that they acquired the intellectual property and development rights to all the games developed and published by Technosoft. When questioned about future Technosoft releases, Sega would look into re-releasing ''
Thunder Force IV
known in North America as ''Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar'', is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Sega Genesis, Mega Drive in 1992. It is the fourth installment in Technosoft's ''Thunder Force'' ...
'', ''
Thunder Force V
is a horizontal-scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Sega Saturn. The game was released in 1997, with the PlayStation port released in 1998. It is the fifth installment in the '' Thunder Force'' series and ...
'' and ''
Herzog Zwei
(; ) is a real-time strategy video game developed by Technosoft and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. An early real-time strategy game, it predates the genre-popularizing '' Dune II''. It was released first in Japan in 1989 and worl ...
''.
In September 2016, there was a total of 21 registrations made by Sega Holdings. These registrations revised the copyright of Technosoft intellectual properties from Kazue Matsuoka to Sega Games Co, Ltd thus completing the acquisition. As of 2016, the digital soundtrack rights for the ''Thunder Force'' series will still be handled by Twenty-One Company through the Twenty-One Technosoft division.
Factors that influenced the acquisition included the former Technosoft president stating that they did not want the Technosoft brand to desist, and so handing over the intellectual properties to Sega was the only other option. Sega and Technosoft also had an established collaboration during the Genesis/Mega Drive era and so this pre-established relationship was also a factor when acquiring the brand rights to Technosoft titles.
Notable releases
''Thunder Force''
The company's most commercially successful franchise was the
''Thunder Force'' series. It was a series of
scrolling shooter
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre 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 character m ...
video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s. The series began with the original ''
Thunder Force
is a series of shooter video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft and published by Sega. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gameplay, graphics, and synthesizer-based chiptune music soundtracks.
There are s ...
'' in 1983. The games are known by fans of the genre for their hardcore appeal, pleasing graphics, and generally well composed
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
-based
chiptune
Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...
music soundtracks.
The series' first game, ''
Thunder Force
is a series of shooter video games developed by the Japanese software company Technosoft and published by Sega. The franchise is recognized for its distinctive gameplay, graphics, and synthesizer-based chiptune music soundtracks.
There are s ...
'', appeared in 1983 on a variety of Japanese computers, such as the
Sharp X1
The , sometimes called the Sharp X1 or CZ-800C, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It is based on a Zilog Z80 CPU.
The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen ...
,
NEC PC-8801 mkII, and
FM-7
The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...
. Technosoft also released a
level editor
A level editor (also known as a map, campaign or scenario editor) is a game development tool used to design Level (video games), levels, maps, campaigns and virtual worlds for a video game. An individual involved with the development of game levels ...
, or
game creation system, entitled ''Thunder Force Construction'', for the original game on the
FM-7
The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...
computer in 1984. Since ''
Thunder Force II
is a scrolling shooter developed by Technosoft. It was first released in Japan on October 15, 1988 for the X68000 computer. A year later, it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game console and released in Japan (under the name ''Thunder ...
'', the majority of installments in the series appeared on the
Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
console, where the series gained much of its popularity. The most recent entry was released on
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
.
''Plazma Line''
''Plazma Line'' (
プラズマライン) is a
first-person space
racing game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...
released by Technosoft for the
NEC PC-8801
The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan.
The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the four major Japane ...
and
FM-7
The FM-7 ("Fujitsu Micro 7") is a home computer created by Fujitsu. It was first released in 1982 and was sold in Japan and Spain. It is a stripped-down version of Fujitsu's earlier FM-8 computer, and during development it was referred to as th ...
computers in 1984. It is notable for being the first computer game, and home video game in general, with 3D polygon graphics.
The objective of the game is to race through
outer space in a first-person view while avoiding obstacles (rendered in
3D polygons) along the way. It also featured an
automap
A mini-map or minimap is a miniature map HUD element that is often placed at a screen corner in video games to help players in orienting themselves within the game world. They are often only a small portion of the screen and must be selective ...
radar to keep track of the player's position.
The game was created by Kotori Yoshimura,
who also created the original ''Thunder Force''.
Yoshimura later left the company in 1985 to start the development studio
Arsys Software
Arsys Software (アルシスソフトウェア), later known as Cyberhead (サイバーヘッド), was a Japanese video game software development company active from 1985 to 2001.
Overview
The company was founded as Arsys Software by former Tec ...
along with fellow Technosoft member Osamu Nagano.
In March 1985, ''Plazma Line'' was ranked number five on the
''Beep'' list of best-selling Japanese computer games.
''Herzog''
''
Herzog
(; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to ...
'' (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
: "
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
") is a
strategy video game
Strategy video game is a major Video game genres, video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success.
Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy ...
released by Technosoft in Japan for the
MSX
MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...
and
NEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...
PC-88
The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan.
The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the four major Japane ...
computers in 1988. It was a
real-time tactics
Real-time tactics (RTT)(Article at IGN discussing their perception of RTS and related genres as of 2006. RTT is discussed as a new and not yet established genre from the publisher's perspective, so currently all RTT possible titles are still con ...
and
tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a Video game genre, sub-genre of First-person shooter, first- and third-person shooters, associated with using strategy, planning, and Military tactics, tactics in gameplay, as well as the realistic simulations of ballisti ...
game with real-time strategy elements.
The series' best known entry is the
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
(Genesis) title ''
Herzog Zwei
(; ) is a real-time strategy video game developed by Technosoft and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. An early real-time strategy game, it predates the genre-popularizing '' Dune II''. It was released first in Japan in 1989 and worl ...
'' (1989), which is sometimes regarded as the world's first
real time strategy game. Although released two years after ''
Nether Earth'', it was the first game with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of the real-time strategy genre, predating the genre-popularizing ''
Dune II
''Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty'' (titled ''Dune II: Battle for Arrakis'' in Europe and ''Dune: The Battle for Arrakis'' in North America for the Mega Drive/Genesis port, respectively) is a 1992 real-time strategy game developed by Westwoo ...
''.
The producers of ''Dune II'' acknowledged ''Herzog Zwei'' (meaning "Duke 2" in German) as an influence on the game.
Releases
Notes
References
External links
*
Archived version of official website from 1998
{{Authority control
Companies based in Nagasaki Prefecture
Video game companies established in 1980
Video game companies disestablished in 2001
Defunct video game companies of Japan
Video game development companies
Japanese companies established in 1980
Japanese companies disestablished in 2001