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[jaypah]

I've read that SNK had criminal ties that were gangsta as fuck but I still feel like it was SEGA.

 

[Tempy]

Was expecting some sort of trolling or whining thread... wasn't expecting this.

Worst thing is, can definitely believe it all.

Today's console wars look ultra tame in comparison

This story might be new, but sega/yakuza-related stories/rumors have existed for quite a while now. It's very fascinating stuff. Someone should make a movie about it. Directed by Michael Bay.

 

[Mr.Galahad]

Does anybody think this could be Sony? They're a Japanese company too, after all. And this story happened about twenty years ago around the time the PlayStation came out......

Most likely not, but you never know.

The Playstation came out more or less that time but so did the Saturn. Sony never did arcades.

 

[maquiladora]

[REDACTED] hired some gangsters to do it.

 

[Illucio]

"In Japan, you have these evil companies that always crop up, and unlike the West, in Japan there's a perception that "play" is bad, the opposite of hard work. So amusement-oriented industries inevitably become infested with evil companies and ties to the underworld. Take arcades, for example. In legal terms, they're covered under laws regarding the entertainment and amusement trades. So they're managed under the same laws that regulate the adult, or "pink", industry. Because of that, the underworld gets involved. The only companies that have been able to do business while staying clean are probably Nintendo and Namco."

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

 

[Instro]

Probably SEGA, although I imagine a few arcade companies were not happy with Nintendo controlling the home console market and pulling devs in that direction.

 

[Brazil]

Oh Sega, that's low man

 

[Pancake Mix]

This is a lot worse than the countless months I lost sleep thanks to this Sega monster.

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

Only thing I could kind of sorry

But seriously if true that is TERRIBLE holy shit :O

 

[Phocks]

Game deving in the 90s would be an awesome fucking manga.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Konami had ties with gangsters. Has to be Konami ?

Konami had huge ties with Nintendo back then. It had to be one of the console competitors, ie Sega.

 

[nullset2]

It was an inside job.

Bravo

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Namco? They were pretty pissed at Nintendo in the early 90s.

 

[sfried]

All these Nintendo (would be) employee kidnappings remind me of that one StarFox 64 promotional video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBF3X3ZaS2Q

 

[Pancake Mix]

Namco? They were pretty pissed at Nintendo in the early 90s.

From the interview:

The only companies that have been able to do business while staying clean are probably Nintendo and Namco.

 

[kuroneko0509]

:O

 

[mclem]

so this was 100% SEGA then

I think I remember playing that substory

 

[FStop7]

Is this really a rumor if there are first hand quotes from the person who claims to have been involved? It's an accusation.

 

[Miracle]

Sega making those Yakuza games suddenly make sense!

Than again it's also like saying Rockstar are suspicious because of those GTA games.

 

[Netto-kun]

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

You blow my mind.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

 

[ElTopo]

The company is either Konami (ha) or Sega (most likely).

 

[stump sock]

that book is full of some really crazy anecdotes, it's nuts to think that some of that shit is totally verifiable.

wow.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

In Diggin' the carts that in Ep 1 Junko Ozawa said at 5:00 "At the time [early 80s], there were companies that copied games illegally and we were told not to show we were doing development on the company sign. They said that if I told anyone I did development at Namco, I'd be kidnapped and that they'd ask for a new game plan instead of a ransom. I wasn't sure if it was true or a lie"
Though of course that could be the 80s in general given how credits rarely had real names.

Going through the article I had to pause at this point.

I don't know how much you know about [REDACTED]

I was crushed the next 3 words not being "(I'm an expert)" but the fact it ended with

[REDACTED] didn't just lose a lawsuit over this, they completely tarnished their image. Nobody wanted to buy games from a company like that. It became a major social issue. Like this article, about [REDACTED] being sued for the quarantine room and issuing a public apology.

Was like now this sounds really similar

 

[astrogamer]

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

The Game Corner is basically a casino, with it having slots and roulette.

 

[budpikmin]

If the company runs arcades and didn't want people doing business with Nintendo then it's pretty obvious who it is

 

[Takao]

Why not just say it is Sega?

How many Japanese game companies had "game machines"? Hudson Soft and NEC?? We know it is not Nintendo. I don't think we need to speculate too much.

In the context of this post that means arcade cabinet. Plenty of Japanese companies made arcade machines. I imagine fewer of them operated their own arcade businesses.

 

[liquidtmd]

Thank you, but your sister is in another castle

Spoiler

Jesus christ

 

[FZZ]

I feel like the Yakuza would actually be scared of Nintendo tbh

Them Nintendo ninjas

 

[foxuzamaki]

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

This all makes sense now...

 

[FireBeaver]

Nintendo actually has a pretty cool past. They made Hanafuda cards, which were basically gambling back then and also ran love hotels.

 

[L Thammy]

And I thought Yamauchi was the yakuza. Seriously though, this is in Gizmondo territory in terms of how fucked up it is.

 

[DieH@rd]

Konami had ties with gangsters. Has to be Konami ?

Not really. It could easily be SEGA.

 

[L Thammy]

Is this why Team Rocket's base is located in the basement of the Game Corner?

I'm pretty sure that the yakuza had well known ties to gambling (i.e. pachinko) at one point, so yes, that's entirely true.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

SEGATA SANSHIRO???

 

[daTRUballin]

Video games. Serious business.

Spoiler

Literally.

 

[radioactivez0r]

Why is it redacted and not named? Is that a cultural thing?

 

[L Thammy]

Why is it redacted and not named? Is that a cultural thing?

So that Sega (or whoever) does not retaliate. Or do you mean that they should have come up with fake name for the company?

 

[Umibozu]

Namco? They were pretty pissed at Nintendo in the early 90s.

Namco had good relations with nintendo, it was nintendo of america that namco hated.


edit: it also makes sense why the developers used pseudonyms, other than poaching

 

[KingJ2002]

SEGA does what Nintendon't

Spoiler

thats pretty crazy

Yep... easily Sega.. back then only a few companies had that much clout in the arcade and home space and for them to kidnap someone so they dont go to Nintendo... when the companies has internal issues.

Sega.

(or SNK)

 

[funkystudent]

Read the thread title.

Immediately my mind went to "Thats totally Sega"


But these days its probably harder to name a Japanese publisher that doesnt have a bunch of mob connections.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

So Sega and Death Row Records were one in the same?

Hmm...interesting...

In Diggin' the carts that in Ep 1 Junko Ozawa said at 5:00 "At the time [early 80s], there were companies that copied games illegally and we were told not to show we were doing development on the company sign. They said that if I told anyone I did development at Namco, I'd be kidnapped and that they'd ask for a new game plan instead of a ransom. I wasn't sure if it was true or a lie"
Though of course that could be the 80s in general given how credits rarely had real names.

Going through the article I had to pause at this point.

I was crushed the next 3 words not being "(I'm an expert)" but the fact it ended with

Was like now this sounds really similar

Well if their words are true then it couldn't of been Sega. Or maybe it was, and that's why MegaDrive wasn't so popular around in Japan (aside from Nintendo's monopoly practices).

Of course they could've just forgotten about it once Saturn came out because that did much better in Japan.

 

[Maou]

Nah, Sega would have been seriously attempting to punch above their weight if it were them. The "Sega vs. Nintendo" rivalry never existed in Japan, and Nintendo didn't give a damn about them---they were no threat whatsoever locally, however well they did abroad. The various Sega-run Joypolis game centers are the only interesting angle. But Nintendo wasn't a rival in the arcades, so that's probably bunk.

I'd love it if it were someone odd...like Hudson.

 

[Skelter]

Not only that, they were notorious assholes when it came to preventing developers and publishers from making games for Sega consoles.

No way Nintendo was "clean" back then.

This particular story, if true, is most likely Sega though.

I miss dirty Nintendo.

 

[wheeplash]

Kutaragi?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rSLInBkY9I

 

[Lunar15]

We've known about this kind of stuff forever:

EDIT: Damn, I was beaten!

 

[akira28]

All I need to read is the title.

It's Konami isn't it?!

They're a health club company. They run health clubs.

 

[plasmawave]

I strongly doubt this, what with Nintendo running Love Hotels at some point after all.

The Nintendo seal of quality.

 

[sörine]

There's another story about Toaplan hiring thugs to intimidate the illegal copier groups in the book. Evidently it was more effective than going after them legally.

The interview subject said this sort of stuff (kidnappings, assaults, threats, etc and usually involving organized crime) was commonplace and pretty much everyone but Namco and Nintendo engaged in it.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

I strongly doubt this, what with Nintendo running Love Hotels at some point after all.

The love hotels was a business stint that barely lasted a few years after Nintendo branched outside playing cards, they were not underground mob quarters.