AM Press: SNK moves to Atomiswave

March 1, 2004 issue
Last updated on February 24, 2004

Special news

SNK Playmore has decided to change its game software development from “Neo Geo” to “Atomiswave.”

The Supreme Court has ruled that racehorse names can be used freely without the owner's consent.

Overseas

Jukeboxes downloaded from the Internet are becoming popular in the United States, and lawsuits are also becoming more active.

Registered attendance at ATEI04 in the UK increased by 3% and ICE by 14%.

Domestic

Aruze has applied for a provisional injunction to stop SNK Playmore from selling pachislot machines.

In the three quarters ending in the third quarter, Namco showed strong performance, while Capcom showed declining profit margins for home use.

News Digest of March 1, 2004 issue

The photo above shows Sammy Europe's booth at ATEI in the UK (from left), with Sammy's Managing Director Yoshiharu Suzuki, President Osamu Satomi, and Research and Development Office Manager Kenkichi Yoshida. Below is a view of the Sega Amusement Europe booth.

Main news from 10 years ago

Kansai Seiki Seisakusho has closed its operations, ending its 36-year history. South Korean prosecutors have arrested two businesses, including JK Trading, which sold copy circuit boards for the Capcom “Street Fighter II” series. Mr. DeNuno, known as Italy's copying king, has reached a settlement with the US company Midway, which had sued him. Data East's US commercial subsidiary has consolidated its operations in Chicago. (March 1, 1994 issue).

Main news from 20 years ago

Taito President Mikhail Kogan died at a hospital on the West Coast of the United States. The Osaka District Court also issued a ruling recognizing the copyright of TV game programs. NAO appealed for the banning of Porn Video Box. Mr. Bushnell, who had been chairman of Pizza Time Theater of the United States, resigned to concentrate on Cente, and Mr. Keenan became chairman. (March 1, 1984 issue).

Copyright ©Amusement Press Inc. 2004 · Game Machine, Amusement Press, and Amusement Communication are registered trademarks. It is illegal to reprint articles in this newspaper without permission or otherwise infringe on Amusement News Agency's intellectual property rights.

[News Digest]

1. Since acquiring SNK's intellectual property rights in October 2001, SNK Playmore has continued to develop game software for SNK's Neo Geo, but after this spring's release of Samurai Shodown Zero Special, the company has decided to move on to developing game software for Sammy's Atomiswave (AW). It has already been 14 years since SNK shipped the Neo Geo in April 1990, and more than 1 million units have been used around the world, making it an easy target for copyers overseas. To this end, technical and legal countermeasures against copying have been used with some success, but it appears that they have almost reached their limits. Through this partnership, SNK Playmore will license to Sammy the game software for the AW, including “King of Fighters NEOWAVE”, “King of Fighters 2004”, “Samurai Shodown AW”, and “Metal Slug 6” (all tentative names), and will be commissioned by Sammy to develop the game software. A business partnership between the two companies was announced at Sammy's booth at AOU Expo 04, but the products themselves have not been exhibited.

２．「In a lawsuit in which six lawyers and 13 owners of horses sought damages against Tekmo, the Supreme Court's Second Judicial District Court (Takasaki Manchu) on February 13 dismissed the petition by overturning one or two judgments, stating that "it is not possible to grant publicity rights without a statute of limitations on the horse's name". The lower court also dismissed the horse owner's complaint about the Askey (now Media Revs) home game software "Derbystallion". For the first "Derbystallion", neither jury allowed the publicity of the race horse. However, for the subsequent "Gallop racer", one or two judges allowed the publicity rights. Techmo paid the use fee to the agreed horses, but this is understood to avoid conflict. And I've been reluctant to accept the new rights, and I've been reluctant to accept the new rights.。

３．On February 6, Alze announced that it had applied for a temporary restraining order for the manufacture of SNK Playmoor's patchwork "Metal Slug". According to Alze, this was based on Alze's patent, number 3056742, which Alze had given a large amount of funding to SNK Playmoor's "predecessor" SNK, and provided the know-how for the development of Patchino Patchwork, but nevertheless uninterruptedly implemented Alze's patent. SNK Playmoor has not infringed the Z patent, but has filed a temporary dismissal petition in an interim judgment in a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit filed by SNK Playmoor. It is believed that the company has lost its full claim for revenge or harassment against the release of "Metal Slug". It's not a corporation. It's a corporation.。

４．Namco announced the consolidation results for the three quarters (February 12, third quarter and third quarter) of the year. The previous year's quarterly financial statements were not comparable, but the fourth quarter's sales were 134,649 million yen, the earnings per share were 13,860 million yen, and the net income was 6,617 million yen. So, sales of 37,530 million yen, operating profit of 6,688 million yen, operating of the gaming arena in the country, the existing stores are doing well, sales of 59,443 million yen, operating profit of 5,487 million yen, restaurant sales of 3,220 million yen, operating profit of 112 million yen, film business sales of 7,737 million yen, operating profit of 44 million yen, etc.。

５．Capcom reported consolidation results for the three quarters (February 13 to December 4), with sales of 39,130 million yen decreasing by 3.9% compared to the same period the previous year, operating profit of 9,2% increased by 2,805 million yen, net profit of 1,472 million yen, and recovery from the previous year's deficit due to loss in property valuation. The company's operating profit was 7,156 million yen, and operating profit was 1,674 million yen, and royalties revenue was 2,370 million yen, and operating profit was 507 million yen.。

6. Juicy boxes for downloading songs from the net are attracting attention as new business in the United States, but touchtune music and e-cast are litigating and on December 18th, the Federal District Court issued a summary of the surrendering that E-cast violates the patent of Touchtune, but touchtune is a patent by the E-cast partner NSM Music Group, which is still the fight for both companies. TouchTune Music is a net-juke business, and the e-cast has been improving and chasing the technology. On the other hand, Rocco Rising and e-cast have developed the net-juke E-lock, which is also introduced to the market.

7.The number of participants in the United Kingdom ATI/ICE04 was 14,777 and 14,6 percent of the same ICE was 7,322, with a total of 6.8% increase of 22,099. These types of data were also available, but the UK accounted for 58.9% by country, including Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the United States, Austria and Ireland. Japan-based companies that participated in the Casino Equipment ICE include Asahi Seiko Europe, Konami Australia, Matsui Gaming, Universal Distribution of Nevada, etc.

◎ Since 1974, the industry magazine "Game Machine" has been reporting industry news on commercial amusement machines, including TV game machines, amusement facilities, etc. twice a month, but the print publication was discontinued at the end of June 2002.