Culture Brain (original) (raw)

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Japanese video game developer and publisher

Culture Brain Excel

Native name 株式会社カルチャーブレーン
Romanized name Kabushiki Gaisha Karuchā Burēn
Industry Video games
Founded October 5, 1980; 45 years ago (1980-10-05)[1]
Headquarters Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan
Total equity ¥192 million (2007)[1]
Website Official website

Culture Brain Inc. (株式会社カルチャーブレーン, Kabushiki-gaisha Karuchā Burēn) is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on October 5, 1980.[1][2] In 2016, it was renamed Culture Brain Excel.[3]

Culture Brain was founded in 1980 as Nihon Game Corporation. In 1981, a subsidiary to handle the sales operations of the company was established. Its first video games were arcades games, with titles such as Shanghai Kid and Chinese Hero that were manufactured under "Taiyo System" trademark. In 1987, it transitioned from arcade to console video games and renamed itself "Culture Brain". The company has also alternatively used the brand "Micro Academy" in the mid-1980s.

In North America, Culture Brain is mostly known for its six video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and its three for the Super NES. Three of those NES games, Baseball Simulator 1.000, The Magic of Scheherazade and Flying Dragon 2, were strongly redesigned from their Japanese source to better appeal North American consumers.[4]

Culture Brain was distinct for its innovative gameplay by incorporating multiple genres in its games,[4] but like many other Japanese video game companies, Culture Brain ceased its operations in the United States in the 1990s. Ever since the demise of Culture Brain USA, video games developed by the parent company have rarely made it in America. An exception of the latter situation is the Nintendo 64 version of Flying Dragon which was published by Natsume Inc. in the United States.

Culture Brain Excel era

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In 2016, the company was renamed Culture Brain Excel and the website's URL was changed to the new name.[3] The longtime Culture Brain logo was instantly dropped with the intent of launching a new logo in the following year.[3]

In September 2021, Culture Brain Excel was renamed as Nihon Game once again, returning to its original name from 1980.[5]

Culture Brain also ran until 2003 a professional school, the Culture Brain Art Institute.[6][7]

Nintama Rantarō series

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Baseball Simulator series

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These baseball titles included some form of "Super League" where pitchers and batters would have special abilities.

Hiryū no Ken series

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Super Chinese series

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In this list are series which were originally released as "Chinese Hero", but became better known as Super Chinese, but with the exception of "Kung-Fu Heroes", these titles were released in North America as the "Ninja Brothers" series.

Oshare Princess series

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A Japan-only series of games for the GBA (with two DS versions) about fashion and dressing up. The games feature a wide range of clothes, shoes, accessories and makeup to be used in different combinations. There are 5 GBA games and 2 DS games.

Ferret/Hamster Monogatari series

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A Japan-only series of games formally about care-taking ferrets, and later about care-taking hamsters. The illustrations of the Hamster Monogatari ones were heavily inspired by Ritsuko Kawai's children's storybook series, Hamtaro.

Konchuu Monster series

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A Japan-only series of games about catching, training and battling insects. First released with Super Chinese Labyrinth both in Volume 3 of Culture Brain's Twin Series, a series of two-in-one Game Boy Advance games.

  1. ^ a b c "カルチャーブレーン会社概要" [Culture Brain Company Overview]. Culture Brain. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Culture Brain USA, Inc. (Company)". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Culture Brain changing name to Culture Brain Excel". 18 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Behind the Screens at... Culture Brain". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 8. Sendai Publications. March 1990. pp. 36–37.
  5. ^ "有限会社日本ゲーム(東京都墨田区)の企業詳細(旧:有限会社カルチャーブレーンエクセル)".
  6. ^ "カルチャーブレーンコンピューターアート学院". ITmedia Gamez. ITmedia. 1999-07-08. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  7. ^ "CBコンピュータアート学院" (in Japanese). カルチャーブレーン. 2007. Archived from the original on 2005-04-03. Retrieved 2016-10-01.