SNK in the United States Part 1

By Matt Leone - 02/17/00

"SNK CORPORATION, the parent company of SNK CORPORATION OF AMERICA, was originally incorporated under the name SHIN NIHON KIKAKU [which SNK of America’s web site translates as "New Japan Product"] in July of 1978.  The name was not officially changed until April of 1986.  The year 1986 also marked the company’s assertion on the global marketplace with the establishment of SNK CORPORATION OF AMERICA." - from SNK of America’s web site

In the early days, SNK was a company that produced games for arcades and the Nintendo Entertainment System.  The most well known title that was released during this time period was an overhead action game called Ikari Warriors.  Two sequels were released later.  One NES game with an extremely strong cult following is the original Baseball Stars.  Although there are no real teams or players, the control setup and the ability to create players and teams by earning money made the game one of the best titles for Nintendo’s system.  A sequel, Baseball Stars 2, was licensed to another company (Romstar).  Most NES games were released between 1987 and 1990.  SNK also released a number of arcade conversions for the NES such as P.O.W., Athena and Guerrilla War, but with the forthcoming release of the NEO-GEO systems, the term "arcade conversion" was about to take on a whole new meaning.  For the first time in history, a home system game would be exactly as good as the arcade version.

As the NES market was dying down, SNK of America made an immense business change with the release of their NEO-GEO home and arcade systems.  Due to the extremely high prices, the home systems failed to sell many units, and eventually, NEO-GEO systems and games were pulled from pretty much every chain store that carried the products.  Before the systems were taken off the shelves at my local CompUSA, customers would constantly crowd around the playable NEO-GEO machine that was set up with the game Magician Lord.  It was obvious that there were a number of players who desired the system, but the price kept them away.  In arcades, SNK released the "Multi Video System," which is commonly referred to as the MVS.  This arcade system was unique in that it allowed different cartridges to be easily plugged in and pulled out.  The MVS cabinets allowed different games to be selected from the same cabinet as well.  Different versions allowed different numbers of games per machine.  As soon as a new game came out, it was very easy for arcade operators to switch games.  Because of the lack of new hardware that was necessary for every game, new MVS titles were priced substantially less than games from most other companies.  Due to the low cost, the MVS systems have been well distributed across the country, although most arcades tend to shy away from the newer games these days.

Click on either picture for a large version of either side of an early Neo Geo leaflet

Around this time, Chad Okada joined SNK as a customer service, public relations and game counselor representative.  Chad was well known by SNK fans as The Game Lord.  According to Chad: "Shortly after I was hired at SNK, Kent Russell (the Director of Marketing for SNK Home Entertainment Inc.) wanted my title to be more than Game Counselor, since I did a bit more than just answer questions on the SNK Hotline.  He asked that I come up with some names or titles that I could use instead, on an official level.  I submitted several ideas to him and one was The Game Lord.  This title came up because our most popular game at the time was Magician Lord.  My title was The Game Lord and I still use this "title" here at Sony…My current official title is Associate Producer of 989 Studios.  I helped out with Twisted Metal 4, which just released and we look to be ramping up for the PlayStation 2…If you read the credits for any of the SNK games for PlayStation, Cardinal Syn or Twisted Metal, you’ll notice that I am still referred to as The Game Lord.  Anyway, after all those years of being called The Game Lord, many people still call me that and it’s a hard name for me to give up."

The mother base at SNK of Japan has never been focused on international territories.  Anyone can see that the style in SNK’s games has always reflected Japanese culture, but even beyond the games, the business relations between SNK of Japan and SNK of America were very poor.  Chad Okada explains: "SNK Japan did not share information with SNK of the U.S.  Many times we learned things from the release of European products which were identical to the U.S. products, except they were released earlier.  Apparently, sales in Europe were better than sales in the U.S. at the time.  We would have to go out and purchase European products or someone with an import product would inform us of what was going on with our own products.  This, of course, was an incredible way to run a business.  As far as the relationship between the two went, it definitely seemed like Japan could care less about the U.S. division.  I had started work for SNK Home Entertainment, Inc. which was in Torrance, CA, and SNK of America was still in Northern California.  Our division only handled the home system at the time.  At $600 a system, there was no way that we could sell any Home NEO-GEO [systems], thus our division didn't stand to last very long.  After a couple of years, SNK Japan decided to consolidate both divisions moving SNK of America to Torrance.  SNK Home Entertainment, Inc. dissolved into SNK America which then handled all of SNK's dealings in the U.S.  After Samurai Shodown, SNK America didn't see much income and eventually shut down.  The reason I am telling this long and boring story is to point out that the American divisions of SNK weren't exactly successful and from a business standpoint, [so] it's easy to see why SNK Japan treated us like a broken arm." 

Click on either picture for a large, readable version of either side of SNK's fan club newsletter.  The Neo Geo Fan Club sent out periodical mailings with brochures and unique items (move stickers, pins) to fans.

One business aspect that SNK is respected for is the excellent packaging that many home NEO-GEO games have used.  It is worth noting that this packaging is not currently produced by SNK of America.  Chad Okada explains: "Originally, during the Kent Russell era (Kent Russell was the Director of Marketing for SNK Home Entertainment, Inc. in the beginning), we had planned to package and market all of the NEO-GEO games released to the U.S.  We designed the NEO-GEO System box and we also designed the sleeves on the NEO-GEO Cartridges.  The dog logo with [the] Bigger, Badder, Better [slogan] was also designed by us as well as the instruction manuals, cartridge stickers and many other things.  Early on, Japan decided to try to save money by releasing the home cartridges in "cardboard" box[es].  At this time, we decided to keep the original boxes and had to have them manufactured for the U.S. market.  It was all our dreams at SNK Home Entertainment, Inc. to completely separate ourselves from the Japanese products and become independent of our mother company…After a year or so, things started to go downhill fast.  Obviously, we couldn't sell product at that price and SNK Japan had pretty much given up on the consumer market.  All of the packaging, sleeves, etc. was done in Japan from then on.  About the only thing I did (packaging-wise) at this time was [writing] the instruction manuals and the text on the sleeves of the boxes.  SNK Japan made the European cartridges and the U.S. cartridges identical to save money since both would be produced in English."

After many years of producing games for the NEO-GEO home and MVS systems, SNK decided to release a NEO-GEO CD console.  This system played CD versions of mostly the same games as the home and MVS platforms, although there are certain games that have only been released for one or two of the systems.  When the rumors of a NEO-GEO CD system first surfaced, most people thought that the system would either be an add-on peripheral or a more powerful stand alone system, so it was a surprise when it was revealed that the system would play the same game titles as the home and MVS platforms.  Chad Okada explains that the released version (there were actually three versions of the system in Japan, but only one in the U.S.) of the NEO-GEO CD was not the only design considered: "Sony and SNK had many talks about making a CD-ROM for the NEO-GEO.  This was after Nintendo and Sony couldn't make a deal for Nintendo's CD-ROM.  Eventually, Sony opted out of the deal with SNK and the rest is history…Although the details were never ironed out, it was possible that it [would have been] an add-on.  Realistically, there [weren't] enough home system owners to warrant an add-on and most designs for the CD system were stand-alone, hence, the CD systems that did come out."  In Japan, SNK released two different single speed NEO-GEO CD systems and the double speed CDZ console.  Officially, only the second single speed NEO-GEO CD system was released in the U.S., although by that point, it was as easy for U.S. consumers to buy the Japanese systems as it was to find the U.S. systems, so the official U.S. release had a very small impact.  Chad Okada explains why SNK of America had to release a single speed system: "I was still employed by SNK at the time of the NEO-GEO CD release.  This was one of the last "knives" that I ever had to feel.  By this time, I had already felt that SNK Japan had given up on our office as a whole.  We released the single speed NEO-GEO CD a year after the Japanese release, which wasn't going to help our office.  Only a month before the announcement of the double speed NEO-GEO CD in Japan, we were asked to release the single speed system to the U.S.  SNK Japan had decided they needed to move out all the old single speeds so that they could start rolling out the new double speeds.  SNK America was the office in which they dumped all the single speed units."

Although most SNK fans could care less about the Neo Print sticker machine, it needs to be mentioned.  After many companies experienced success with photograph/sticker booths in Japan, SNK decided to try this type of machine in the U.S.  Since the middle of 1997, SNK has been selling Neo Print sticker machines.

One of SNK’s biggest worldwide mistakes was the release of the Hyper Neo Geo 64 (HNG64) arcade system in 1998.  The idea was to create a new interchangeable arcade system like the MVS that would allow three dimensional games.  Three cabinets were created: One for driving games, one for gun games and one for fighting games (or any game that could be controlled with a joystick).  Many people complained about the quality of HNG64 games; the main complaint was that the HNG64 hardware was not up to the standards of the time.  A number of notable games were released, although most people have never played them.  Two polygon-based Samurai Shodown games, a wrestling game called Buriki One (where the buttons move the characters and the joystick attacks) and the 3D Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition were released for the fighting game cabinet.  A few racing games such as Road’s Edge and Xtreme Rally came out for the driving cabinet, and Beast Busters: Second Nightmare (a sequel to an early arcade game) was the only title for the gun cabinet.

Along with the "high powered" HNG64, SNK entered the portable game market with the Neo Geo Pocket (NGP).  After a less than successful release of the original black and white version in Japan, SNK of America quietly offered the system for sale through its web site.  This system made little impact on the U.S. market because most consumers knew that a color version of the system was coming out soon.  Loyal SNK fans had either bought the Japanese version or they were waiting for the color system.  Only a small number of black and white games were released in Japan, and SNK of America offered only a fraction of those titles.  The most well known games for the black and white NGP are The King of Fighters Round 1, Baseball Stars and Samurai Shodown.

Shown publicly even before the NGP was released was the Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC).  This new color version of the system was made to play all of the existing black and white games as well as new color titles.  Initially, SNK claimed that the black and white system would play all color titles (in shades of black and white), but recent color games such as SNK vs. Capcom: Match Of The Millennium do not play on the black and white system at all.  The NGPC has received a heavy amount of support from SNK of America, with the system making its way into many chain stores after an initial online only release.  According to a company overview put together by SNK’s public relations company (The Bohle Group): "Known as the world’s most talented and prolific creator of fighting games, SNK has now expanded its efforts in software development to include driving titles, RPGs and other original games."  With the NGPC, SNK has finally been releasing a good number of non-fighting game titles such as Sonic Pocket Adventure, Biomotor Unitron and SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash.  Before the release of the NGPC, there were a few years where almost all SNK games released in the U.S. were fighting games.

Go to part 2