Ludography
Namco Open cover

Video game

Namco Open

Nintendo exclusive

Japanese video game developer

Released
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Platforms
SNES
Genres
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Developers
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Publishers
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About

Tose Co., Ltd. (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game developer based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's Game & Watch Gallery series, various Dragon Ball games, as well as contract work or assistance to other developers. Tose has developed or co-developed thousands of games since the company's inception in 1979, but is virtually never credited in the games themselves. It is considered the largest non-publishing game developer in the world.

Tose maintains a policy of having no creative input in the games it works on, going so far as to refuse to put the studio's name in the credits and employees using pseudonyms in its early days. As such, Tose has gained a reputation for being a "ghost developer." Representatives of the company have described it as a "ninja developer," because it works in the shadows, as well as the "unsung hero" of the video game industry. When talking to the press, representatives of the company ask not to be identified by name. Exceptions to this include Game & Watch Gallery 4 and The Legendary Starfy series, as Tose shares the copyright with Nintendo.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

, Ltd. At the time, Toa Seiko had a contract to produce arcade cabinets for Space Invaders, but its other clients complained about being associated with the gaming industry. It began as an arcade cabinet manufacturer with only five employees. Its first game was the arcade game Sasuke vs.

Commander for SNK in September 1980. It released Vanguard, a side-scrolling shooter, in March 1981. Vanguard II, a top-down sequel was made in three years later. By 1982, the company transitioned to software development.

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.