Who founded ASCII Corporation and when was it established?
ASCII Corporation was founded in 1977 by Kazuhiko Nishi, Akio Gunji, and Keiichiro Tsukamoto. The name was taken from the ASCII code, a standardized computer character set.
Questions about ASCII Corporation
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What was ASCII Corporation's relationship with Microsoft?
ASCII served as Microsoft's first overseas sales office, operating as ASCII Microsoft from 1978. By 1980, ASCII generated 1.2 billion yen in sales from licensing Microsoft BASIC, which represented forty percent of Microsoft's total sales. The partnership ended in 1986 when Microsoft established its own Japanese subsidiary, Microsoft Kabushiki Kaisha.
What is the MSX computer standard and how did ASCII Corporation create it?
MSX is a standardized specification for 8-bit home computers announced by Microsoft and ASCII on the 16th of June 1983. It was conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi as a way to create unified standards among home computing manufacturers. Five million MSX-based units were eventually sold in Japan alone, and major studios including Konami and Hudson Soft developed games for the platform, including the original Metal Gear.
What games and software is ASCII Corporation best known for?
ASCII Corporation is best known for creating the MSX home computer standard, the Derby Stallion video game series, and the RPG Maker line of programming software. The company also developed three Sega Saturn games through its subsidiary ASCII Something Good: AI Shogi in 1995, AI Igo in 1997, and AI Shogi 2 in 1998.
When did ASCII Corporation merge and what did it become?
Kadokawa Group Holdings announced on the 27th of September 2007 that its subsidiaries MediaWorks and ASCII would merge under the name ASCII Media Works, effective on the 1st of April 2008. The final remaining ASCII entity, then operating as MediaLeaves, was merged into Enterbrain on the 10th of January 2010.
What was Agetec and how did it relate to ASCII Corporation?
Agetec, short for Ascii Game Entertainment Technology, was spun off from ASCII in 1998 to focus on the interactive entertainment market in the United States. It began as an ASCII division and became a fully independent publisher by 1999.