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ACS - Logo

The current logo of ACS, used from 2006 onwards

ACS Visual Entertainment LLC., also known as simply ACS, is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate, video game developer and publishing company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Beyond its video game business, the company also produces and distributes trading cards, light novels and arcade cabinets, among others. In the past, ACS has also distributed pachinko and slot machines up until leaving the pachislot business altogether in 2020. Currently, ACS is one of the largest gaming companies in the world in terms of revenue.

Founded in 1967 as A.C.S. Manufacture Ltd., as a manufacturer of arcade attractions such as kiddie rides, toy cranes and coin pusher games, the company later officially changed its name to ACS Co., Ltd. in 1981 following the company's full-time shift into video game development, eventually renaming the company once again into ACS Computer Entertainment LLC. in 1995, before finally adopting its current name in 2006.

ACS is best known for their various video game franchises, including Fighting Champions, Sentoki, Fight or Die, Code Chronos, Crisis Moon, Arkane Arena (a shared IP with SBEntertainment), Spunky the Squirrel, Blazin' Wheels, To the Beat and Half*Dead, among others. They also currently own the publishing rights to the Bloody Roar franchise, after having bought them from Konami.

ACS currently owns several development studios such as ACS Production Studios Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, as well as Orange Soft (known for developing 2D fighting games), S•T•K Project (the team responsible for the Sentoki series), Digital Revolution (noted for their racing games) and Team Beats (ACS' rhythm game divison). ACS has also acquired several America-based development studios such as Hoodlum Softworks in 2007 (dissolved in 2010) and Headrush Games in 2016.

ACS had previously served as the Japanese distributor for In-Verse games following the success of their crossover fighting game Cross Code: Project Ultimate Versus Battle. In exchange, In-Verse's subsidiary Shiny Star Games distributed some of ACS' games in European regions.

ACS has also made licensed video games, having released games such as the Ring of Honor: Unchained series of wrestling games, based on the Ring of Honor professional wrestling promotion, as well as the Bellator: MMA Fury series, which was licensed by the MMA promotion Bellator MMA. In the past, ACS has also made various licensed sports games under the ACS Sports label.

In 1999, ACS expanded their business model with the introduction of their light novel publishing imprint, DokiDoki Bunko (DDB). Ever since its inception in 1999, DokiDoki Bunko has since published hundreds of popular light novel titles.

Arcade Systems

Besides developing and publishing video games, ACS has also developed proprietary system boards for its arcade games, the latest of which being the nex² System, which was first unveiled in 2020 as the hardware used for Blazin' Wheels SpeedKings.

Proprietary Hardware (1986-2001)

  • ACS Z80 System (2D) (1986-1988)
  • ACS 68000 System (2D) (1988-1990)
  • ACS Hyper-V System (2D scaling) (1989-1994)
  • ACS Supra System (2D) (1989-1995)
  • ACS Supra³² System (2D) (1994-2001)

Sony PlayStation-based (1995-2000)

  • ACS TGX Modeller System (3D) (1995-1998)
  • ACS TGX2 Modeller System (3D) (1997-2000)

Sony PlayStation 2-based (2000-2010)

  • ACS NOVA System (2D/3D) (2000-2010)
  • ACS NOVA-II System (2D/3D) (2003-2008)

PC-based (2006-)

  • ACS System 201 (2D/3D) (2006-2013)
  • ACS System 202: ENDYMION (2D/3D) (2009-2017)
  • ACS System 203: ATLANTIS (2D/3D) (2013-2020)
  • ACS nex System (2D/3D) (2016-2023)
  • ACS nex² System (2D/3D) (2020-)
  • ACS n3x System (2D/3D) (2024-)

Games

A comprehensive list of titles published and developed by ACS through the years.

Released from 1979

Released from 1980-1989

  • Starblazer (Shoot 'em Up) (1980; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Arcadia 2001, SG-1000, Casio PV-1000, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Sharp X1, Apple II, Atari 8-Bit PC, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Sord M5)
  • Mr. Wurmy (Snake Game) (1981; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, IBM PC, Apple II, Atari 8-Bit PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum)
  • Jungle Barry (Vertical Scrolling Game) (1981; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, IBM PC, Atari 8-Bit PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum)
  • Milky n' Cheese (Maze Game) (1982; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Commodore 64)
  • Starblaster (Shoot 'em Up) (1982; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), MSX, IBM PC, Apple II, Atari 8-Bit PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC)
  • Firefighter Fred (Breakout Clone) (1983; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 8-Bit PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC)
  • Rev & Ride (Racing Game) (1983; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware)
  • Mr. Wurmy Plus (Snake Game) (1983; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware)
  • Hoppy (2D Platformer) (1984; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Atari 2600, Intellivision, MSX, Sharp X1, PC-8801, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC)
  • Milky n' Cheese II (Maze Game) (1984; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware)
  • Starbreaker (Shoot 'em Up (1984; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Sega Master System, MSX, Sharp X1, PC-8801)
  • Firefighter Fred Jr. (Breakout Clone) (1985; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware)
  • Rally Racer (Racing Game) (1985; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), MSX, Commodore 64)
  • Dragon's Fist (Beat 'em Up) (1985; Arcade (Dedicated Hardware), Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Sharp X1, Apple II, Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC)
  • Kumite (2D Fighting Game) (1986; Arcade (ACS Z80 Hardware), Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum)
  • Jungle Barry Returns (Vertical Scrolling Game) (1986; Arcade (ACS Z80 System), TurboGrafx-16)
  • Odysseus (Shoot 'em Up) (1986; Arcade (ACS Z80 System), Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, Sharp X68000, PC-8801, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC)
  • Aslan Warrior (Beat 'em Up) (1987; Arcade (ACS Z80 System), TurboGrafx-16, Sharp X68000)
  • Kinta no Daibouken (2D Platformer) (1987; Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX)
  • Mr. & Mrs. Wurmy (Snake Game) (1987; Arcade (ACS Z80 System)
  • Starblazers (Shoot 'em Up) (1987; Arcade (ACS Z80 System), TurboGrafx-16, Sharp X68000, PC-9801)
  • Hard-Boiled Cops (Run n' Gun Platformer) (1988; Arcade (ACS 68000 System), Nintendo Entertainment System)
  • Kick Off (Soccer Game) (1988; Arcade (ACS 68000 System)
  • Kinta no Daibouken 2 (2D Platformer) (1988; Nintendo Entertainment System)
  • Odysseus II (Shoot 'em Up) (1988; Arcade (ACS 68000 System), Nintendo Entertainment System, TurboGrafx-16, MSX2, Sharp X68000, PC-9801, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS)
  • Home Run (Baseball Game) (1989; Arcade (ACS 68000 System)
  • Kurokage (Beat 'em Up) (1989; Arcade (ACS Supra System), Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX2, FM Towns, Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS, Game Boy)
  • Terry the Treasure Raider (2D Platformer) (1989; Nintendo Enterntainment System)
  • Top Speed GP (Racing Game) (1989; Arcade (ACS Hyper-V System)

Released from 1990-1999

Released from 2000-2009

Released from 2010-2019

Released from 2020-present

Mobile Games

Compilations and Remasters

ACS Arcade Anthology

  • ACS Arcade Anthology Vol. 1 (1997; PlayStation)
    • Contains Jungle Barry, Milky n' Cheese, Mr. Wurmy, Starblaster and Starblazer.
  • ACS Arcade Anthology Vol. 2 (1998; PlayStation)
    • Contains Dragon Fist, Firefighter Fred, Odysseus, Rev & Ride and Starbreaker.
  • ACS Arcade Anthology Vol. 3 (1999; PlayStation)
    • Contains Aslan Warrior, Hard-Boiled Cops, Kumite, Rally Racer, Starblazers and Tesseract.
  • ACS Arcade Anthology: Greatest Hits (2004; PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube)
    • Contains Fighting Champions, Future Fighters, Kurokage, Milky n' Cheese, Mr. Wurmy, Peacekeepers, Odysseus, Rune Panic, Starblazer, Top Speed GP, Urban Warriors and Warlands: 1941.
  • ACS Arcade Anthology: Extra Play (2005; PlayStation Portable)
    • Contains Dead Raiders, Fighting Champions, Jungle Barry, Kurokage, Mr. Wurmy, Peacekeepers, Odysseus, Rune Panic, Starblazer, Top Speed GP, Urban Warriors and Warlands: 1941.

Series Compilations

  • Fighting Champions: Battle Gallery (2006; PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable)
    • Contains Fighting Champions, Fighting Champions II, Fighting Champions II MAX, Fighting Champions III, Fighting Champions III Revenge and Soul of the Fighter: Fighting Champions IV.
  • Odysseus: Super Star Saga (2007; PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable)
    • Contains Odysseus, Odysseus II, Odysseus III, Odysseus Forze, Odysseus Type-V, Odysseus SX and Odysseus Luckyburst.
  • MetaBurst Anthology (2008; Wii, PlayStation Portable)
    • Contains MetaBurst: Cyber Defense Force, MetaBurst 2 and MetaBurst 3.
  • Fight or Die Anthology (2009; Wii, PlayStation Portable)
    • Contains Fight or Die, Fight or Die II: As Daylight Dies and Fight or Die III: Fatal Vengeance.
  • Yuureki Tantei Complete (2010; Nintendo Wii)
    • Contains Spirit Detective: Reiki Yuuki, Spirit Detective Chronicles: Reiki Yuuki and Spirit Detective Secrets: Reiki Yuuki
  • Spunky the Squirrel: The Complete Fur-Tastic Trilogy! (2012; PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)
    • Contains Spunky the Squirrel's Fur-tastic Journey!, Spunky the Squirrel II: Back Fur the Second Time! and Spunky the Squirrel 3: Furred Time's the Charm.
  • fade.: Recollection (2015; PlayStation 4, Xbox ONE, Samsung Zeo)
    • Contains remastered versions of fade. and fade.II.
  • Spirit Detective Trilogy HD: Reiki Yuuki (2021; PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC)
    • Contains remastered versions of Spirit Detective: Reiki Yuuki, Spirit Detective Chronicles: Reiki Yuuki and Spirit Detective Secrets: Reiki Yuuki

Supra HomeCade

Main article: Supra HomeCade

The Supra HomeCade is a home arcade console developed by ACS, first announced in December 13, 2020. The console is an arcade stick, pre-loaded with a selection of 22 arcade titles originally released for the Supra System and Supra³² System.

Crossover Apperances

ACS and its various franchises and characters have also crossed over with other companies and properties throughout its many years of existence.

Other Ventures

DokiDoki Bunko

DokiDoki Bunko (ドキドキ文庫) is ACS' flagship light novel publishing imprint, aimed primarily at a male young adult audience. It was introduced in 1999 by ACS to tackle the rising market of light novels. DokiDoki Bunko's first published title is the fantasy novel series Ketsuraku no Fantasia: Densetsu no Cavalier, a short spin-off light novel series based on the Fantasia of the Forbidden series of RPGs, known in Japan as Ketsuraku no Fantasia (欠落のファンタジア; missing fantasia).

Originally an imprint focusing on spin-off novelizations and side material for established ACS franchises, DokiDoki Bunko published its first original story with Kai Dokuro's The Butterfly Halls, in 2001, and later found breaktrough success with MUGEN Voltage, written by Kenta Sayama, in 2002. Since its inception in 1999, DokiDoki Bunko has published thousands of light novel titles.

DokiDoki Bunko's works are primarily aimed at a young male audience. Its spinoff imprint, DokiDoki-G's (ドキドキ-G's), was introduced in 2003, and is aimed more towards young females. Works from the DokiDoki Bunko and DokiDoki-G's imprints are serialized in their respective bimonthly magazines, DokiDoki Magazine and DokiDoki-G's Magazine.

Notable DokiDoki Bunko titles

  • Ketsuraku no Fantasia: Densetsu no Cavalier (Fantasy) (1999-2002; Written by Shintaro Hiramatsu)
  • The Butterfly Halls (Horror) (2001-2005; Written by Kai Dokuro)
  • MUGEN Voltage (Action) (2002-2014; Written by Kenta Sayama)
  • Gakuen Hearts (Harem) (2003-2008; Written by Kumiko Sumitomo)
  • Ciel (Yuri) (2004-2007; Written by Shotaro Ishida)
  • Tokyo Mahou Kyousou (Fantasy) (2005-2016; Written by Hideharu Toshiba)
  • Futari no Ai (Romantic Comedy) (2006-2011; Written by Genji Kanemoto)
  • Kessenju DD (Adventure) (2007-2012; Written by Hideaki Terasaki)
  • Smasher★S (Sports/Badminton) (2007-2015; Written by Otoya Tsuji)
  • Alive (Horror) (2008-2019; Written by Yutaro Ishida)
  • Harley & .44 (Girls with Guns) (2008-2013; Written by BAKKYUN Kawada)
  • Hatsukoi?! (Romantic Comedy) (2009-2021; Written by Shotaro Ishida)
  • Tokimeki GALS (Idol Genre) (2009-2021; Written by Kumiko Sumitomo)
  • Fragment:Chaos (Cyberpunk) (2010-2018; Written by Akihiko Hori)
  • SWORD×SHIELD (Isekai) (2010-2016); Written by Satoru Kashiwagi)
  • Kiku-Ichimonji: Tales of Shinsengumi (Historical fantasy) (2011-; Written by Isamu Mori)
  • Kanpeki Bowl (Sports/Bowling) (2011-; Written by Dosu Aoyama)
  • Boku ga Zokushite Inai Kono Sekaide Wa (Isekai) (2012-; Written by Ichiro "Ichi1" Nohara)
  • Crisis Moon Alternate (Vampire Fiction) (2012-2017; Written by Katsuyuki Tabata)
  • Kaiten High School Mystery Club (Supernatural) (2013-; Written by Mitsuo Shigehara)
  • Tokimeki GALS splendor (Idol Genre) (2013-; Written by Kumiko Sumitomo)
  • Erase (Psychological Thriller) (2014-; Written by Takenori Kaida)
  • Datenshi no Koko Tousou (Comedy) (2014-2017; Written by Touma Nomoto)
  • AirBorn!! (Sports/Aggressive Inline) (2015-; Written by Kenta Sayama)
  • Tokimeki B-SIDE (Idol Genre) (2015-; Written by Kumiko Sumitomo)
  • NakaGei! (Slice of Life) (2016-2020; Written by Taiji Katsu)
  • Golden Run (Sports/Track & Field) (2016-; Written by Minami Hatanaka)
  • Kawaii Streamer Girl Asuka-chan! (Slice of Life) (2017-; Written by Yuya Masuda)
  • Chosha! Ore no Toukei ni Mondai ga Arimasen!! (Isekai) (2018-; Written by Jin Horie)
  • SERVICE!!!!! (Slice of Life) (2018-; Written by Touma Nomoto)
  • Crisis Moon: Øriginal Sin (Vampire Fiction) (2019-; Written by Katsuyuki Tabata)
  • Tokyo Mahou Kyousou ν (Fantasy) (2019-; Written by Hideharu Toshiba)
  • Arkane Chronicles (Action) (2020-; Written by Luis Petrizzo Rengel)
  • Iro Harada's Colorful Life (Slice of Life) (2020-; Written by Kenta Sayama)
  • Naze Kakuge wa Totemo Muzukashi No Desu Ka?! (Slice of Life) (2021-; Written by Saiki Suzaku)
  • Puppeteer-Man (Action) (2021-; Written by Ryoki Tanabe)
  • Chalk (Horror) (2022-; Written by Kai Dokuro)
  • Tokimeki GALS golden (Idol Genre) (2022-; Written by Kumiko Sumitomo)
  • 4: Killer Must Die (Crime Fiction) (2023-; Written by Tatsuro Hongo)
  • Kabutomushi to Shite no Ore no Heikin-Tekina Tsuitachi (Isekai) (2023-; Written by Oyabun)

Kessenju

Main article: Kessenju

See also: List of Kessenju video games

Kessenju (決戦獣), known in the US as Kessenju!: Ultimate Battle Beasts, is a trading card game developed and published by ACS. It is part of the larger Kessenju media franchise, which also encompasses several manga and anime series, as well as numerous video game adaptations.

The game was launched by ACS in November, 2000 in Japan and May, 2003 in North America. In North America, the Kessenju trading card game was distributed by Topps up until 2006, when it was discontinued due to declining sales numbers. As of this writing, the North American version of the game is out of print, and the game is now only available in Asia, and only printed in Japanese.

Besides publishing the card game, ACS has also developed and published several video games based around the Kessenju franchise, most of which come in the form of digitized conversions of the card game featuring characters and concepts from the various Kessenju manga and anime series.

Trivia

ACS - Logo (1988-2006)

ACS' old logo, used from 1981 to 2006

  • The name "ACS" is an acronym, which stands for the initials of the company's three founding members: Akitoshi Kinoshita, Cole J. Howard and Satoshi Kinoshita. However, numerous promotional material originating from the 1980s and early 1990s have also utilized the phrase "Amazing Computer Software".
  • The ACS logo used from 1981 to 2006 features the letters "ACS" written on a red background. The updated logo unveiled in 2006 (first seen in Code Chronos) is the same, but with the red box removed, and the text recolored red with a white border. Both logos use the Ethnocentric font.
  • The company's official slogan since 2000 is "Come Join the Fun!", a recurring tagline which appears in various ACS-related products.
  • ACS, and in particular, its Orange Soft division, used to maintain a rather strong working relationship with In-Verse. This bond carried on for years up until In-Verse's bankruptcy in 2017.
  • ACS operates its own proprietary online arcsade service in the form of Amaze.net. Like similar services such as Konami's e-AMUSEMENT, Amaze.net utilizes a specialized card, known as an "AMO Pass", that stores the player's data in order to access special online-based services, from Internet rankings, to exclusive content.
    • The first ACS title to use Amaze.net is Sentoki 3, released in 2003. Since then, Amaze.net has been used for most of ACS' arcade titles.
    • Initially, the Amaze.net service was only available in Japan and select Chinese and Souh Korean arcades. With the release of To the Beat GEN-SYS in 2018, Amaze.net was launched officially in North America.
  • ACS' company mascot is Sofu-tan, a bubbly and cheerful girl wearing a red shirt with the ACS logo that bares her midriff, white shorts and red sneakers. Sofu-tan appears in most Japanese advertisements for ACS products, and even stars in her very own Japan-exclusive arcade quiz game: Sofu-tan no Kyuyoku no ACS Quiz.
    • Sofu-tan's name comes from ACS' old acronym of "Amazing Computer Software".
    • In most of her appearances, barring her inaugural appearance in a 1994 ACS television commercial, Sofu-tan is usually voiced by Japanese voice actress Noriko Hidaka.
    • It is commonly believed that the character design of Twilight from the Crisis Moon series was created as a tribute to Sofu-tan, mostly because of the two characters' rather identical appearances and color schemes, though this theory is yet to be confirmed or denied
  • Several early ACS games were infamous for their awkward translations. The most notable ones are Fighting Champions (1992), where some of the lines and endings are translated awkwardly, the most prominent examples being Baron von Braun's winquote of "The strong only survive, you are but weakling!", and Fantasia of the Forbidden (1995), where one of the game's main characters was given the name of "Dorosy Arudastone", a heavily butchered transliteration of the character's original name: Dorothy Alderstone.
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