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Data East Declares Bankruptcy

Posted by simoniker on from the bad-dudes-versus-financial-insolvency dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for reporting the news that Japanese developer/publisher Data East has officially been declared bankrupt. According to the article, "Data East has been in financial trouble since 1999, when the company requested a settlement in the district court in order to reorganize its finances because of a 3.3 billion yen ($28 million) debt." The company was renowned for a massive backcatalog of '80s and '90s arcade and home games, including BurgerTime, Karate Champ, Karnov, and the brilliantly named Bad Dudes Vs. Dragon Ninja, as well as the addictive Magical Drop puzzle game series for Neo Geo and other consoles.

6 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Karnov.. by August_zero · · Score: 5, Funny

    So much for my hopes for "Karnov: Online"

    --
    On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
    1. Re:Karnov.. by edwdig · · Score: 4, Funny

      You'll just have to settle for Dance Dance Karnov then.

      http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=142

  2. How sad. by handsomepete · · Score: 5, Informative

    Burgertime is one of my favorite arcade games of all time. Tomorrow I'll throw some pepper at my eggs in mourning.

    They also made some pretty decent pinball games including Star Wars, Simpsons and Rocky and Bullwinkle themes.

  3. Investors.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you a BAD ENOUGH DUDE to RESCUE DATA EAST?

  4. Hardest Game Ever by jeblucas · · Score: 3, Interesting
    As soon as I read the headline I thought of two games: Burgertime on the NES and Karnov on the NES. Burgertime was about the worst arcade-to-console translation ever. SUCH a pile. The controls were terrible--I would repeatedly miss ladders and shoot pepper in the wrong directions. HATED IT.

    Karnov was INSANELY difficult. I remember jumping really high and landing on bad guys that killed me about 12 seconds after the start of every game. Mind you, Metroid was out at the time--that was a little bit better. The only game harder that I played was that psycho Konami Rush'n Attack. I made it to Level 2 about 4 out of a million times and the dog+sniper combo always erased me. Maybe that Donkey Kong guy should take a crack at that bad boy.

    --
    blarg.
  5. Shadowrun by Oakey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They also made Shadowrun for the SNES (or published it, they were responsible in some way). This game was brilliant. Such a shame they never made a sequel.

    --
    "Dre don't get as high as me.... I'm Cheech and Chong" - Snoop Dogg