T&E Soft

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Daikokuya Global Holding Co., Ltd
Native name
大黒屋グローバルホールディング株式会社
Kabushiki-Gaisha Daikokuya Gurōbaruhōrudingu
FormerlyT&E Soft Co. Ltd. (1982-2002)
D Wonderland Co. Ltd. (2002-2012)
Company typeKabushiki gaisha
IndustryRetail
FoundedOctober 14, 1982[1]
HeadquartersKōnan, Tokyo
SubsidiariesDaikokuya
Websitewww.tes.co.jp (archived)
daikokuya-ghd.jp
T&E Soft Co., Ltd.
Native name
株式会社ティーアンドイーソフト
Kabushiki-Gaisha Tīandoīsofuto
IndustryVideo games
PredecessorDigital Golf Co., Ltd.
FoundedJanuary 21, 2008
DefunctJanuary 2013
FateMerged into Spike Chunsoft
SuccessorSpike Chunsoft
Headquarters
Nagoya
,
Japan
ParentGames Arena
Websitewww.tandesoft.co.jp (archived)

T&E Soft is a brand used by two former video game development companies.[2] The original incarnation, T&E Soft Co. Ltd.[a] have made games with a wide variety of genres, they are primarily known for their action role-playing, golf and puzzle video games.[3]

The original company still exists today under the name of Daikokuya Global Holding Co., Ltd but is not currently engaged in game development.[4] A company named Deep Co., Ltd. acquired T&E Soft's trademark rights on April 22, 2005, with a new company being established in 2008 to continue game development which would go on until January 2013 when it was merged into Spike Chunsoft.

History

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Original company

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Founded in 1982, T&E Soft Co., Ltd was initially named after the founder's older brother Toshiro Yokoyama and his younger brother Eiji Yokoyama, but later changed the abbreviation to "Tri & Exciting" and eventually "Technology & Entertainment".

T&E Soft started activities by selling games for NEC's PC-6001 series. Beginning in 1983, it developed games for multiple models other than the PC-6001. In December 1983, T&E Soft published its own magazine to promote its products and by January 1985 launched its newsletter that would last until July 1990. In October 1990, Xtalsoft was merged with T&E Soft and became T&E SOFT Osaka Development Department.

The company became famous for its 8-bit personal computer games including the Hydlide series. It entered the home video game console in March 1986 with the in-house development of the Family Computer software Hydlide Special which was released by Toshiba EMI. Since the success of the Super Famicom software Harukanaru Augusta, released in April 1991, T&E Soft gradually moved away from personal computers to focus on its titles for video game consoles. At some point, Square founder Masafumi Miyamoto was the majority shareholder of T&E Soft.[5]

In May 2002, T&E Soft Corporation changed its name to D Wonderland Inc.[2]

The company was renamed to its current name to serve as a holding company in 2015; its subsidiary Daikokuya, which was acquired by D Wonderland in 2006, operates a retailer chain of the same name.[6] The company privatized in 2010.

New company

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In April 2005, Deep Co., Ltd. acquired the trademark rights of the T & E Soft name. In January 2006, Digital Golf Co., Ltd. absorbed Deep Co., Ltd. and established a game development branch in Nagoya under the brand name of T&E Soft.

The development department of Digital Golf in Nagoya was eventually split off into its own company T&E Soft Co., Ltd on January 21, 2008. The following week on January 30, Games Arena Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Dwango Co., Ltd.) announced that it would acquire all issued shares of T&E Soft Co., Ltd.

This incarnation of T&E Soft was less prolific than the original, though they had a closer relationship with Nintendo and worked on some of their games, including True Swing Golf and You, Me & the Cubes.

Chunsoft and Spike, which Games Arena had both previously acquired on individual basis, merged in April 2012 to form Spike Chunsoft. The new T&E Soft Co., Ltd was absorbed and merged with Spike Chunsoft in January 2013. (Games Arena had itself dissolved in June 2012).

On March 4, 2019, D4 Enterprise announced that it has acquired the intellectual property rights of products released under T&E Soft.[7]

Games published

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3DO

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Computers

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Game Boy

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Mega Drive/Genesis

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MSX

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PlayStation

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Super NES/Super Famicom

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Virtual Boy

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Games developed

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3DO

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Game Boy

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Genesis/Mega Drive

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MSX

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Famicom/NES

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Nintendo 64

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Nintendo DS

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PC

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PlayStation

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PlayStation 2

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Saturn

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Super NES/Super Famicom

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Virtual Boy

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References

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  1. ^ "T&E Soft Company Overview". Archived from the original on February 2, 1999.
  2. ^ a b Kyodo News International, Inc. (April 1, 2002). "Insider trading complaint filed over Disney software deal". TheFreeLibrary.com. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  3. ^ "T&E Soft Games". IGN. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  4. ^ "会社情報 | 大黒屋グローバルホールディング - Daikokuya Global Holding 公式サイト".
  5. ^ "Disney, T&E in online games tieup". January 16, 2001.
  6. ^ "会社情報 | 大黒屋グローバルホールディング - Daikokuya Global Holding 公式サイト" (in Japanese). Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "株式会社D4エンタープライズ、地位継承済ゲームソフトウェア・コンテンツのご案内". D4エンタープライズ. March 4, 2019.
  8. ^ Koyama, Yusuke (June 2, 2023). History of the Japanese Video Game Industry. Springer Nature. p. 35. ISBN 978-981-99-1342-8.
  1. ^ 株式会社ティーアンドイーソフト, Kabushiki-Gaisha Tīandoīsofuto
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