TaitoCorporation, one of the first Japanese video game companies to export its games, is gearing up to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Taito first rose to prominence in the world of video games with a steady stream of arcade titles through the 70s and 80s, with iconic titles like Space Invaders and Arkanoid among its burgeoning stable of properties.
Taito's history is complex. The company has the odd distinction of being the first to produce vodka in Japan, a business venture it abandoned in 1955 in the face of stiff competition to focus on its vending machine business. Taito then began refurbishing defective jukeboxes it purchased in the US, which bore fruit as it rose to become one Japan's leading jukebox companies. In the 60s, Taito started manufacturing electro-mechanical games. After the success of Atari's Pong, Taito moved towards capitalizing on what it viewed as the "next big thing" with video games. Atari recently celebrated its 50th anniversary - a new kid on the block when compared to Taito, despite setting the trend with Pong.
To celebrate its 70th anniversary, Taito has revealed a teaser website and a new Twitter account for the occasion. For now, the company is offering Japanese fans exclusive 70th-anniversary memorabilia for collecting stamps in a partnership with Pico Crepe. Rewards include stickers, 70th anniversary pins, and branded eco bags. This is just the start; there will likely be many other promotions and celebrations leading up to August 24th, 2023, which will mark 70 years since the company was founded in 1953. 2023 also marks Taito's arcade hit Space Invaders' 45th anniversary.
Taito may not be as familiar to modern audiences as the likes of Sega and Konami, which it predates by seven and 15 years respectively, but in its 70 years of existence it has certainly left its mark on the gaming industry. Taito is trying to make inroads in the home console market, having released a handful of games for various platforms in recent years. Some of its newer games include Touhou Spell Bubble, Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, and Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party, all released on the massively popular Nintendo Switch, which has become a haven of sorts for indie games and seems to lend itself well to arcade-style games which happen to be Taito's forte.
Taito's upcoming Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! will release on the Nintendo Switch platform some time in 2023. The company had also partnered with the ill-fated Square Enix Montreal, which was shuttered in August 2022 following its acquisition by Embracer Group, to develop an untitled augmented reality game based on the Space Invaders franchise. It is unknown whether the game is still in development.
Source: Famitsu (via Siliconera)