Irem Software Engineering, Inc.

Overview

Based in Hakusan, Japan, Irem was founded 1974 under the name IPM (International Playing Machine). The company initially manufactured, sold, and rented arcade hardware cabinets. Their first arcade game was IPM Invader (1978). Later they shifted the focus to console game development, their most popular series being R-Type. During mid-1990's sales became increasingly poor, eventually leading to the company's dissolution. However, on April 15, 1997 Nanao re-founded the company, which became its wholly owned subsidiary. Irem continued to develop games exclusively for home consoles.

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Also Known As

Irem Corp. (from 1974 to 1997)
IPM (from 1974 to 1979) -- Former company name

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Trivia

Irem originally stood for "International Rental Electronics Machines", however in the mid-1980s they changed the abbreviation to mean: "Innovations in Recreational Electronic Media"

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