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Hudson Soft Company, Ltd.

Moby ID: 1360

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Hudson Soft Company was a Japanese game developer and publisher. They also developed video game peripherals and mobile content, and recorded music.

The company was founded on May 18th, 1973, by the brothers Yūji and Hiroshi Kudō. The company was named after Hudson locomotives due to its founders' love of trains. It was initially a shop called CQ Hudson, which sold radio telecommunications devices and art photographs. In September 1975 Hudson began focusing on computer-related products, and in March 1978 they started developing computer games. Most of their early titles had little success, but things changed with the release of Bomberman (1983), which eventually became one of their flagship series. Among their other popular franchises are Adventure Island, Bonk's Adventure, and Tengai Makyō series (developed in cooperation with RED Company).

The company was well-known for its shoot 'em ups, for which it arranged tournaments called carnivals each year. Albeit a strong supporter of Nintendo's Famicom, the company went on to develop the PC Engine together with NEC. In later years, the company has once more had strong bonds to Nintendo, developing a long series of titles in the Mario franchise.

By 2005, 54 percent of the company was owned by the Japanese games company Konami. In January 2011, Konami took a 100 percent stake and it closed the US publishing division Hudson Entertainment in February 2011.

On March 1, 2012, the company was officially merged with Konami Digital Entertainment and ceased to exist as a separate entity, only retaining its brand name.

Credited on 503 Games from 1982 to 2012

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Tetris: Axis (2011 on Nintendo 3DS)
Elemental Monster: Online Card Game (2011 on PlayStation 3)
Nikoli's Pencil Puzzle (2011 on Nintendo 3DS)
Deca Sports Extreme (2011 on Nintendo 3DS)
Tetris Party Live (2010 on Nintendo DSi)
Deca Sports: Freedom (2010 on Xbox 360)
Oops! Prank Party (2010 on Wii)
Deca Sports 3 (2010 on Wii)
My Aquarium 2 (2010 on Wii)
Lost in Shadow (2010 on Wii, Wii U)
16 Shot! Shooting Watch (2010 on Nintendo DSi)
Tetris Party Deluxe (2010 on Nintendo DS, Wii)
Knights of the Phantom Castle (2010 on iPhone, iPad)
Walk It Out! (2010 on Wii)
Job Island / Games Island (2010 on Wii)
Sudoku Sensei (2009 on Nintendo DSi)
High Stakes: Texas Hold'em (2009 on Nintendo DSi)
Deca Sports DS (2009 on Nintendo DS)
My Zoo (2009 on Wii)
Calling (2009 on Wii)

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History +

April 11, 2005

Konami becomes the new majority stockholder as they up their shares from 45% to 54%.

April 11, 2005

Becomes a subsidiary of Konami Corporation.

November 2003

The company establishes Hudson Entertainment, Inc. as a wholly-owned subsidiary in San Francisco, CA.

July 2002

The company announces the release of an animated cartoon show for it flagship character Bomberman. The program, called "Bomberman Jetters", will air beginning in October. The venture is a collaboration with Konami and Konami group member Takara Co.,Ltd., who will promote the program with marketing initiatives.

June 2002

Hudson's i-mode service starts in Taiwan with Pin-up Girl standby pictures.

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Trivia +

Hudson Soft was the very first third-party developer and publisher for the Nintendo Famicom (NES). They produced the game programming system Family Basic, which was published by Nintendo in June 1984, and soon after published the first Famicom games not produced by Nintendo, Nuts & Milk and Lode Runner, in July 1984.

Interestingly, Hudson also produced the very last licensed release for the Famicom as well, Takahashi Meijin no Bōkenjima IV.

Company address (2009):

Hudson Soft Company, Ltd.

9-7-2 Akasaka

Minato-ku

Tokyo 107-8446

Japan

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