Legendary game company “Sun Electronics” NES developers “Laughing Roundtable”…!

If you publish a game, you are in the black

Why did Sun Denshi enter the NES market in the first place?

Kaoki Shimizu (former programmer): “ Originally, we were making communication devices, so we had technical capabilities in the electronics field. Thanks to that, we were able to sign a contract with Nintendo at an early stage. Since we also made arcade games, we were able to predict that home video game consoles would also sell well.

Did you actually make money?

Shimizu: “ Atlantis” was made by two programmers in three months and sold several hundred thousand copies (laughs). (Laughs.) The NES was profitable as long as it was released. At that time, we received a “closing bonus” for the fiscal year ending in March, and it was like everyone buying a new car.

Sakai: “ Sometimes the bonus was 1 million yen for each year of service. I may have had a better time than other company employees of my generation. But the president was worried that if he gave a lot of money to young people, they might spend it all, so he forced me to accumulate time deposits (laughs).

Takeuchi: “ I was so busy developing games every day that I didn’t have much time to feel the boom.

Sakai “ What made me feel the boom was when I was unloading. All the games made at the factory were taken to the company once and then sent to wholesalers by truck. The amount of cardboard boxes was amazing. There was no end to the number of trucks coming in and out of the factory. There was no one around, so as I was loading the games onto the trucks (laughs), I was also impressed by the sheer volume of cardboard.

What do you think of the NES software boom at the time?

Shimizu: “ Games back then were created with passion by a few developers within the constraints of time and capacity. I think they were a little different from mere industrial products, as they were content that reflected the strong feelings of individuals. Perhaps this individuality is now being illuminated once again.”

After the announcement of the revival, Sunsoft received many welcoming comments. To be honest, I didn’t expect the response to be so strong. I realized how much it is loved by fans all over the world,” said Sunsoft’s public relations manager.

The passion of the Showa era has been revived in Reiwa. Why don’t you come and experience the games of that time?

The new “Ikki Danshitsu,” nostalgic yet new

The new “Ikki Unity,” which has been a big hit on SNS, is an online game that can be played by up to 16 players. The game has been improved while maintaining the quality of the NES version, which can be clearly seen on the screen. The controls and rules are simple, and the game is said to be enjoyable even for online game beginners. The game is scheduled to be released within the year, and the company aims to sell a home console version in the future. When I tried playing our software on the NES we had in the company, I found it to be interesting even today. We believe that we need to continue to actively work on retro titles” (Sunsoft PR).

From the September 16, 2022 issue of FRIDAY