Difference between revisions of "Westone"

Latest revision as of 10:21, 30 July 2023

Westone

Founded: 1986-05^[1]^[2]

Defunct: 2014-09-24^[2]

Headquarters:

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Westone Bit Entertainment (ウエストンビットエンタテインメント), founded as Escape, and later known as simply Westone, was a Japanese video game developer which often did uncredited contract work for publishers such as Sega and Hudson Soft. The company is most notable for developing a number of entries in the Wonder Boy series.

Company

The Tokyo-based developer was founded in May 1986 as Escape (referring to a computer keyboard's Esc key.) Because it was felt that name didn't reinforce the image of a reliable company, it was later changed to Westone, a contraction derived from the first characters of founders Ryuuichi Nishizawa (西澤龍一) and Michishito Ishizuka's (石塚路志人) names: Nishi, meaning West, and Ishi, meaning stone.^[2] It was created as an original equipment manufacturer for both arcades and home consoles.^[3]

Softography

System 1

Wonder Boy (1986) (as Escape)

System 2

Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987) (as Westone)

System 16

Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988) (as Westone)
Riot City (1991) (as Westone)

Master System

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) (as Westone)
Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (1992) (as Westone)
Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate (1993) (as Westone)

Mega Drive

Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991) (as Westone)
Mega Bomberman (1994) (as Westone)
Monster World IV (1994) (as Westone)

Game Gear

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1992) (as Westone)

Mega-CD

Dungeon Explorer (1995) (as Westone)
The Space Adventure (1995) (as Westone)

Saturn

Kekkon: Marriage (1995) (as Westone)
Willy Wombat (1997) (as Westone)
Sotsugyou III Wedding Bell (1998) (as Westone)
Sotsugyou Album (1998) (as Westone)

External links

Official website (Japanese)

References

↑ http://www.westone.co.jp/ir.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-07-08 20:42)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment
↑ Sega Consumer History, Enterbrain, page 90

NEC Retro has more information related to Westone

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20130708204234.2Fhttp:.2F.2Fwww.westone.co.jp.2Fir.html-1] ttp://www.westone.co.jp/ir.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-07-08 20:42)

[http:.2F.2Fgdri.smspower.org.2Fwiki.2Findex.php.2FWestone_Bit_Entertainment-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment

[:File:Sega_Consumer_History_JP_EnterBrain_Book.pdf_p90-3] Sega Consumer History, Enterbrain, page 90

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Company
+{{CompanyBob
 | logo=Westone_logo.png
-| width=
+| founded=1986-05{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20130708204234/http://www.westone.co.jp/ir.html}}{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment}}
-| founded=1986
+| defunct=2014-09-24{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment}}
-| defunct=
-| tseries=
 | mergedwith=
 | mergedinto=
-| headquarters=Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
+| headquarters=[[wikipedia:Sumida, Tokyo|Sumida, Tokyo, Japan]]{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment}}
 }}
-'''Westone Bit Entertainment''' is a Mukoujima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan-based development company originally established in May 1986 as Escape  (as in the escape key on computer keyboards). Since that name didn't exactly reinforce the image of a company to be relied upon, it was later changed to Westone. The company's name was changed yet again to Westone Bit Entertainment in April 2000. The company is best known for developing [[Sega]]'s ''[[:Category:Wonder Boy|Wonder Boy]]'' series.
+{{stub}}'''Westone Bit Entertainment''' (ウエストン ビット エンタテインメント), founded as '''Escape''', and later known as simply '''Westone''', was a Japanese video game developer which often did uncredited contract work for publishers such as [[Sega]] and [[Hudson Soft]]. The company is most notable for developing a number of entries in the ''[[:Category:Wonder Boy|Wonder Boy]]'' series.
-The Westone name is derived from the first characters of the names of company founders Ryuuichi Nishizawa (西澤龍一) (Nishi = West) and Michishito Ishizuka (石塚路志人) (Ishi = Stone).
+==Company==
+The [[wikipedia:Tokyo|Tokyo]]-based developer was founded in May 1986 as Escape (referring to a computer keyboard's [[wikipedia:Esc key|Esc key]].) Because it was felt that name didn't reinforce the image of a reliable company, it was later changed to Westone, a contraction derived from the first characters of founders Ryuuichi Nishizawa (西澤龍一) and Michishito Ishizuka's (石塚路志人) names: Nishi, meaning West, and Ishi, meaning stone.{{ref|http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Westone_Bit_Entertainment}} It was created as an [[wikipedia:Original equipment manufacturer|original equipment manufacturer]] for both arcades and home consoles.{{fileref|Sega Consumer History JP EnterBrain Book.pdf|page=90}}
 ==Softography==
+{{CompanyHistoryAll|Westone Bit Entertainment|Westone|Escape}}
-===[[Sega System 2]]===
+==External links==
-* ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster Land]]'' (1987)
+* [http://www.westone.co.jp/ Official website] (Japanese)
-===[[Master System]]===
+==References==
-* ''[[Wonder Boy]]'' (1987)
+<references />
-* ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster Land]]'' (1988)
-* ''[[Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap]]'' (1989)
-* ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster World]]'' (1993)
-===[[Sega System 16A]]===
+{{NECRetro}}
-* ''[[Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair]]'' (1988)
+[[Category:Third-party software developers]]
-===[[Sega System 16B]]===
-* ''[[Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair]]'' (1988)
-* ''[[Aurail]]'' (1989)
-* ''[[Riot City]]'' (1991)
-===[[Mega Drive]]===
-* ''[[Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair]]'' (1990)
-* ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster World]]'' (1991)
-* ''[[Monster World IV]]'' (1994)
-* Games known to use Westone's sound driver:
-** ''[[Mega Bomberman]]'' ([[Hudson]]; 1994)
-===[[Game Gear]]===
-* ''[[Wonder Boy]]'' (1991)
-* ''[[Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap]]'' (1992)
-===[[Mega CD]]===
-* ''[[Dungeon Explorer]]'' (1995)
-===[[Sega Saturn]]===
-* ''[[Kekkon -Marriage-]]'' (1995)
-* ''[[Sotsugyou III Wedding Bell]]'' (1997)
-* ''[[Willy Wombat]]'' (1997)
-* ''[[Sotsugyou Album]]'' (1998)
-===[[Dreamcast]]===
-* ''[[Akihabara Dennou-gumi Pata Pies!]]'' (1999)
-* ''[[Reel Fishing: Wild]]'' (2001)
-* ''[[Di Gi Charat Fantasy]]'' (2001)
-* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion -Ayanami Ikusei Keikaku-]]'' (2002)
-===[[PlayStation 2]]===
-* ''[[SEGA AGES 2500 Vol.29: Monster World Complete Collection]]'' (2007)
-==External Links==
-* [http://www.westone.co.jp/ Westone Bit Entertainment] - Official Website
-[[Category:Third-Party Development Companies]]