Koei


 * This article uses content from the wikipedia article.

Koei Company, Limited (株式会社コーエー Kabushiki-gaisha Kōē), formerly 光栄 (Kōei)) (TYO: 9654) is a Japanese video game publisher and developer founded in 1978. The company is best known for its historical simulation games based on the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as well as simulation games based on historical events.

The company has also found mainstream success in a series of loosely historical action games, the flagship titles of which are Dynasty Warriors (真・三國無双 (Shin-Sangoku Musō)) and Samurai Warriors (戦国無双 (Sengoku Musō)), the Musō (無双) series. Koei also owns a division known as Ruby Party, which focuses in dating sim games.

A running trend in all of their games is having one of their characters say, "It is a glorious honor" or "It is a honor" (光栄です, Kōei desu), at one point in the game's script.

History
Koei was established in July 1978 by Yoichi Erikawa and Keiko Erikawa. Yoichi was a student at Keio University, and when his family's rural dyestuffs business failed he decided to pursue his interest in programming. The company to this day is located in the Hiyoshi area of Yokohama along with Erikawa's alma mater, and the company's name is simply a spoonerism of the school's.

Kō Shibusawa and Eiji Fukuzawa, whose names are supposed to have made up the name of the company, do not really exist and are names used by the company to avoid giving credit to individual contributors, effectively acting as alter-egos for Erikawa.[citation needed]

The company initially focused on personal computer sales and made-to-order business software. In 1983 it released Nobunaga's Ambition (信長の野望 Nobunaga no Yabō), a historical strategy game set during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. The game went on to receive numerous awards, and Koei produced several more such games set against the backdrop of world history, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms, set during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, and Uncharted Waters (大航海時代 Dai Kōkai Jidai; lit. Great Navigation Era), set in Portugal during the Age of Exploration.

In 1988, Koei established a North American subsidiary, Koei Corporation, in California. This subsidiary localized Koei games for export to all territories outside of Japan, as well as producing original games and concepts with the leadership of designer Stieg Hedlund, like Liberty or Death, Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye, Gemfire and Saiyuki: Journey West. After Hedlund's departure, this subsidiary ceased game development in 1995, focusing instead on localization, sales and marketing.

A Canadian subsidiary, Koei Canada, Inc. was established in early 2001, and a European subsidiary, Koei Limited was established in early 2003 in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Koei also maintains subsidiaries in mainland China, Korea, Taiwan and Lithuania. Recently, Koei created a Singapore branch for game development such as Sangokushi Online.

Koei's Ruby Party division specializes on games labeled as Neoromance: GxB dating sims, usually with extra side-quests. Out of the three Neoromance series, the best known is Angelique, which has been in production since 1994. Harukanaru Toki no Naka De is a newer Neoromance hit, with many sequels and an anime TV series based on it. The newest game in the series, Kin'iro no Corda, is gaining popularity partially because the manga series it was based on, has been recently licensed by Viz for English language publishing. It gaining more popularity though, and an anime TV series based on it began airing in October 2006. A sequel was also released on the Sony Playstation 2 in March 2007.

On September 4, 2008, Koei announced that it was in talks to purchase ailing competitor Tecmo. They have agreed in November 2008 to merge on April 1, 2009 to form Tecmo Koei Holdings. On January 26, 2009 the two companies approved the merger, the holding company will form on April 1, 2009 as planned. On March 18, 2010, Koei-Techmo won the 3rd FOST award for utilizing extensive research in their products and making them appealing to contemporary audiences.

For the Japanese voices, Koei prefers to cast from Aoni Production and they are often credited in many of their newer titles.

One of the Koei-Tecmo buildings got a spot of scandalous media attention when it was found to be marked with graffiti on March 30, 2011. According to the Terrafor, the negative words were written above the company's entrance in red spray paint. A user on 2chan took photographs and reported they saw plenty of angry words such as "divine punishment", "cowards", "shit", "shitty game", "die, shit". No one knows who did it or why at the moment. 2chan users wonder why someone was compelled to write such a thing in the first place, speculating over which of the company's video games caused the person to snap. The article can be seen here; the image included in the article is a representation of the event and not the actual graffiti.

Games Created by Koei
Koei has built a large base of franchises, and has developed on various consoles and computers. Below is a list of game series developed by Koei.

Historical sims

 * Simulation game Kawanakajima no Tatakai
 * Nobunaga's Ambition series
 * Romance of the Three Kingdoms series
 * Genghis Khan series
 * Bandit Kings of Ancient China (has a few different expansions in Japan)
 * L'Empereur
 * Rise of the Phoenix
 * Liberty or Death
 * Genpei Kassen

Rekoeition

 * Kamikami no Daichi ~Kojiki Gaiden~
 * Progenitor
 * Ishin no Arashi series (維新の嵐)
 * Uncharted Waters (大航海時代 Dai Kōkai Jidai; lit. Great Navigation Era)
 * Taikou Risshiden （太閤立志伝）
 * Inindo: Way of the Ninja 伊忍道 打倒信長
 * Söldnerschild Special
 * Eiketsuden series

Strategy games

 * Bandit Kings of Ancient China
 * Gemfire
 * Royal Blood II ~Denarle Oukokunen Daiki~
 * Teitoku no Ketsudan (PTO: Pacific Theater of Operations in North America)
 * P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations
 * P.T.O. II: Pacific Theater of Operations
 * P.T.O. IV: Pacific Theater of Operations
 * Operation Europe: Path to Victory
 * Kessen series
 * Dynasty Tactics series

Action games

 * Tamashii no Mon ~ Dante no Shinkyoku yori
 * Chris ~Ai no Tabitachi~
 * Croc series
 * Crimson Sea
 * Destrega
 * WinBack
 * Enigma
 * Stop That Roach!
 * Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War
 * Dynasty Warriors series
 * Samurai Warriors series
 * Dynasty Warriors: Gundam
 * Warriors Orochi series
 * Mystic Heroes
 * Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage
 * Ni-Oh
 * Bakumatsu Musou - minor announcement but no follow up

Executive Series

 * Top Management
 * Riding Company
 * Winning Post series
 * Aerobiz
 * Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation

Ren'ai games

 * Angelique (アンジェリーク)
 * Yakusoku no Kizuna (約束の絆)
 * Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (遙かなる時空の中で, translates to From a Faraway Time)
 * Kiniro no Corda (金色のコルダ, translates to Golden Corda)
 * LoveφSummit - game novel

RPGs

 * Dungeon
 * Time Empire
 * Monster Race series
 * Brandish (Super NES port)
 * Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye
 * Inindo: Way of the Ninja (for Super NES) Also part of Rekoeition series
 * Eiketsuden series
 * Fengshen Yanyi series
 * Saiyuki: Journey West
 * Zill O'll series
 * Metamode
 * Opoona
 * Opoona Redemption - minor announcement but no known follow up

Sports games

 * Golf Taikai
 * The Pa 2001
 * Winning Post series
 * Pennant Race
 * G1 Jockey series
 * Horse Breaker
 * Yanya Caballista: City Skater

Adventure games

 * Life is Music
 * Band-kun
 * Emit
 * Dark Hunter
 * Nanatsu no Hikan
 * Saihai no Yukue

Music games

 * Gitaroo-Man (As well as a PlayStation Portable version called Gitaroo Man Lives!)

Online games

 * Apsaras
 * Nobunaga no Yabou Online
 * Uncharted Waters Online
 * Sangokushi Online - services discontinued as of August 5, 2010
 * Dynasty Warriors Online/BB

Games developed by Tecmo Koei Canada

 * Warriors Orochi (PSP port)
 * Warriors Orochi 2 (PSP port)
 * Fatal Inertia
 * Prey the Stars
 * Warriors: Legends of Troy

Games published by Koei in Europe

 * Disgaea series
 * La Pucelle: Tactics
 * Atelier Iris series
 * Phantom Brave
 * Makai Kingdom
 * Colosseum: Road to Freedom
 * Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES

Divisions

 * Omega Force
 * Ruby Party

Potential Mascots
One of these five characters may potentially become the mascot for Koei-Tecmo's Japanese website. Most of these characters are sponsored by a video game review company, whose logos are spotted underneath each mascot's profile. On the voting website, these mascots are candidates for "mayor of Gamecity" and the voting is part of a pseudo election. Voting is solely available to members of Koei-Tecmo's official fanclub (Japanese website).