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indieszero

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indieszero Corporation, Ltd.
Company typePrivate
FoundedApril 21, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-04-21)
HeadquartersKichijoji Hommachi 1-31-11 KS building 7F,
Musashino, Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
Masanobu Suzui (鈴井匡伸)
ProductsVideo games
Brandsmonsteroctopus
Number of employees
52 (April 2024)
Websiteindieszero.co.jp

indieszero Corporation, Ltd. (Japanese: 有限会社インディーズゼロ) is a small video game development company headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded on April 21, 1997, and has developed video games for other video game companies, including Nintendo, SEGA, and Square Enix.

Overview

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The name is a portmanteau, indicating independent video games with a low budget and minimal connections to other developers, which is described as "almost zero".[1]

The philosophy of the company is to make games that are easy to understand and user-friendly.[2][3] The company initially specialized in games for handheld game consoles, but eventually expanded to smartphones.[1][4] It makes licensed trading-card games for popular franchises such as Legend of Mana and Final Fantasy.[5]

The founder Masanobu Suzui commented that the company plans to "make new products that has never been created before". He regards the company as a game developer that "cherishes a creative viewpoint rather than state-of-the-art technology capabilities" and makes games that can be immersed by a long-time video game player but also aimed at what everyone can easily play.[6]

History

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In 1997, at age 24, Masunobu Suzui founded the company along with two members from the fresh graduate discovery project Nintendo & Dentsu Game Seminar (predecessor of the current Nintendo Game Seminar). They were initially tasked with developing for Nintendo's Satellaview peripheral for the Super Famicom. This includes Sutto Hankoku and Cooking Pong!.[7]

The company developed many games for the Nintendo DS such as Electroplankton. Shaberu! DS Oryōri Navi released by Nintendo in July 2006 won the 10th Media Arts Festival Entertainment Division Excellence Award. Oshare Majo: Love and Berry was released from Sega in November, with one million copies sold and a special prize in the annual work section of the Japan Game Award 2007.[8][9]

In June 2011, the company released DualPenSports as its first Nintendo 3DS game.[10] It then collaborated with Square Enix on Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, in which Masunobu Suzui reunited with former Bandai producer Ikuro Kuroku. The game was ported to iOS and arcade, and had two independent sequels titled Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call and Theatrhythm Dragon Quest.[10]

The company collaborated with Nintendo EAD for the development of NES Remix for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. During the planning phase, Koichi Hayashida, the Director of Nintendo Tokyo Production Department, who had participated in the Nintendo & Dentsu Game Seminar as a student together with Masunobu Suzui, called Suzui to partner on the game development. Suzui brought a prototype, which Hayashida immediately approved. Development of the Nintendo 3DS Guide Louvre Museum was recently completed, so the company was able to commit to the project. The game was well-reviewed and two sequels in the form of NES Remix 2 and Ultimate NES Remix were developed.[4][11]

The company first mobile game is Grand Marche no Meikyuu, released in September 2016. The game was developed in collaboration with Square Enix, after development of Theatrhythm Dragon Quest.[12] Square Enix announced the game server's closure in November 2017.[13]

During Nintendo's E3 Presentation in 2017, the company was revealed to be co-developing Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido, a strategic action-RPG-puzzle game for the Nintendo 3DS with Nintendo.[14][15] It was ported as the company's first Nintendo Switch game, to be released on the same day as the 3DS version, and revealed in a Nintendo Direct in March 2018.[16][17]

Gameography

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Year Title Genre Platform Role
1997 Sutte Hakkun Action Puzzle Super Famicom Programming
1997 Oryouri Pon! Cooking Guide Super Famicom Planning, Script, Programming, Graphics
1998 Denshi no Seirei Chi-bitto Desktop Windows 95/98 Planning, Script, Programming, Graphics
2002 Sakura Momoko no Ukiuki Carnival Internet Simulation Game Boy Advance Planning Support, Graphics, Programming
2003 Mario Party-e Card Game Boy Advance Planning, Script, Programming, Graphics
2005 Sennen Kazoku Simulation Game Boy Advance Total Production
2005 Electroplankton Music Game Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi Programing, Graphics, Localization
2006 Shaberu! DS Oryōri Navi Cooking Guide Nintendo DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2006 Oshare Majo: Love and Berry DS Collection Dance Action Nintendo DS Planning, Direction, 2D Graphics, Programming (SEGA)
2007 Retro Game Challenge Game Collection Nintendo DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2008 DS Calligraphy Training Edutainment Nintendo DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2008 Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? Cooking Guide Nintendo DS Graphics, Programming
2009 GameCenter CX: Arino's Challenge 2 Game Collection Nintendo DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2010 America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking Cooking Guide Nintendo DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2011 DualPenSports Sports Nintendo 3DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2012 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Rhythm Nintendo 3DS, iOS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2013 Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre Guide Nintendo 3DS Graphics, Programming
2013 NES Remix Game Collection Wii U Graphics, Programming[18]
2014 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call Rhythm Nintendo 3DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2014 NES Remix 2 Game Collection Wii U Graphics, Programming[18]
2014 Ultimate NES Remix Game Collection Nintendo 3DS Graphics, Programming[18]
2015 Theatrhythm Dragon Quest Rhythm Nintendo 3DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2015 Real Escape Game X Nintendo 3DS Escape Room Nintendo 3DS Planning, Graphics, Programming
2016 Grand Marche no Meikyuu RPG iOS, Android Planning, Graphics, Programming
2016 Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival Rhythm Arcade Planning, Graphics, Programming
2018 Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido Action Puzzle Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch Planning, Graphics, Programming
2019 Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch Edutainment Nintendo Switch Graphics, Programming[19]
2020 Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory Rhythm Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Epic Games Store Planning, Graphics, Programming
2021 Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain Edutainment Nintendo Switch Graphics, Programming[19]
2023 Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Rhythm Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 Planning, Graphics, Programming
2024 GameCenter CX: Arino no Chousenjou 1+2 REPLAY Game Collection Nintendo Switch Planning, Graphics, Programming
2024 Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition[20] Party Nintendo Switch Planning, Graphics, Programming [21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "大人も子供もファミコン世代も。ファミコンリミックス開発者インタビュー". ニンテンドードリーム. April 2014.
  2. ^ "ゲームデザイン | CEDEC 2011 | Computer Entertaintment Developers Conference". cedec.cesa.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  3. ^ "3DS「タッチ！ダブルペンスポーツ」プレイレポ！ | CC2の楽屋裏". CC2の楽屋裏 (in Japanese). 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  4. ^ a b "任天堂"宮本イズム"伝承者たちが語る「ファミコン黄金時代という高い壁、そして新たな黄金時代のつくり方」 - エンタメ - ニュース｜週プレNEWS［週刊プレイボーイのニュースサイト］". 週プレNEWS［週刊プレイボーイのニュースサイト］ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  5. ^ "Indies Zero: The Draw Of Portable Games - Siliconera". Siliconera. 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  6. ^ "吉祥寺.mag". 亜細亜大学. 10 October 2016.
  7. ^ "『千年家族』開発スタッフインタビューin吉祥寺". www.nintendo.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  8. ^ "『ＤＳ美文字トレーニング』開発スタッフインタビュー[１]". www.nintendo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-03-13.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "CEDEC 2009 | CESA Developers Conference". cedec.cesa.or.jp. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  10. ^ a b "社長が訊く『ニンテンドー3DS』ソフトメーカークリエーター 篇｜ニンテンドー3DS｜Nintendo". 任天堂ホームページ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  11. ^ "大人も子供もファミコン世代も。ファミコンリミックス開発者インタビュー". ニンテンドードリーム. 2014年4月号. April 2014.
  12. ^ "The recipe for Grand Marche no Meikyuu is equal parts fantasy RPG, cooking and anime - Geek.com". Geek.com. 2016-09-11. Archived from the original on 2018-03-14. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  13. ^ "Square Enix's Grand Marche no Meikyū Smartphone Game Shuts Down in November". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  14. ^ "Sushi Striker is a 3DS game about eating hella sushi and flinging empty plates at the haters". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  15. ^ Alexander, Julia (2017-06-14). "Nintendo announces Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido, new 3DS game dedicated to eating sushi". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  16. ^ Alexander, Julia (2018-03-08). "Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido heading to the Switch in June". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  17. ^ "'Sushi Striker' Coming To Switch and 3DS In June". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  18. ^ a b c Co-developed by Nintendo EPD8
  19. ^ a b Co-developed by Nintendo EPD4
  20. ^ "Theatrhythm developer Indieszero is team behind Nintendo World Championships". 11 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Nintendo World Championships ファミコン世界大会/Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition". indieszero (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-07-25.
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