Ultra Games
Parent Konami of America | | |
| Company type | Parent Konami Ltd. (UK) | |
|---|
Ultra Software Corporation was a shell corporation and publishing label created in 1988 as a subsidiary of Konami of America, in an effort to get around Nintendo of America's strict licensing rules in place at the time for the North American market. One of these rules was that a third-party company could only publish up to five games per year for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US.[1]
This was hardly convenient for Konami, which had begun releasing more than ten games a year for both the
Disk System add-on in Japan. With a greater library than it was allowed to localize, Konami formed the Ultra Games brand to extend its annual library to ten games a year.[1]
History
Ultra's first NES game was were also published under the Ultra branding.
After the North American launch of the
World Circuit Series
, both released in March 1992.
In
Parodius and Crackout. Palcom also released Super NES games that were published in America by Konami itself. In contrast, some games that were released under the Ultra name in North America, such as Metal Gear and Snake's Revenge, were published under the regular Konami brand in Europe. The European subsidiary lasted longer than Ultra Games, until it was closed down in early 1994.[1]
Games published
All games were developed by Konami, except where noted.
Ultra Games
NES
- 1988)
- 1988)
- 1989)
- 1989)
- 1989)
- Beam Software)
- 1989; developed by Rare)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1991)
- 1991)
- 1991; developed by Rare)
- Beam Software)
- 1992; developed by Interplay)
Game Boy
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1991)
- 1991)
- 1992; developed by Visual Concepts)
- 1992)
- 1992)
IBM PC (DOS)
- 1989; developed by Unlimited Software)
- 1990; developed by Banana Development)
Commodore 64
- 1990; developed by Unlimited Software)
- 1990; developed by Unlimited Software)
Palcom Software
NES
- 1990)
- 1990)
- 1991)
- 1991; developed by Rare)
- Beam Software)
- 1991)
- 1991)
- 1992)
- 1992)
- 1992)
- 1992)
- 1993)
- 1993)
- 1993)
Game Boy
- 1991)
- 1991)
- 1992)
- 1992)
- 1993; developed by Visual Concepts)
- 1993)
Super NES
- 1993; developed by NCS Corporation)
- 1993)
- 1993)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Konami's Cheat to Get Around a Silly Nintendo Rule".
- ^ "NINTENDO Software" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. Vol. 7, no. 5. August 1988. p. 13.
External links
- Ultra Games profile on MobyGames
- Palcom profile on MobyGames
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