NEC Avenue

Japanese music and video game publisher
NEC Avenue
Company typeDivision
IndustryMusic, Video games
Founded1987
DefunctJanuary 29, 1999
FateDissolved
HeadquartersChiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki, Japan
Number of employees
50 (1994)[1]
ParentNEC

NEC Avenue, Ltd. (NECアベニュー株式会社, NEC Abenyū Kabushiki-gaisha) was a Japanese music and video game publisher.

History

NEC Avenue was founded in 1987 as a record label within NEC. NEC Avenue eventually got involved with video games, and secured licenses to produce console versions of arcade titles from Sega and Taito. Toshio Tabeta, the employee responsible for the Sega deal, would later learn that the Sega employee that gave NEC Avenue permission to make arcade ports was scolded.[2] Video game records represented about 10% of NEC Avenue's business in 1994.[1] In October 1995, its game division was spun-off into a new NEC subsidiary named NEC Interchannel. NEC Interchannel took over NEC Avenue's music and game operations in October 1997, then acquired its music subsidiary, NEC Avenue Music Publishing (NECアベニュー音楽出版, NEC Abenyū Ongaku Shuppan), in March 1998.[3][4] NEC Avenue was dissolved on January 29, 1999, and NEC Avenue Music Publishing became IC Avenue Music Publishing after Interchannel split from NEC in 2004.[5][6]

Artists

  • DOME
  • Joe Hisaishi
  • Junko Yagami
  • Katsuhiko Nakagawa
  • Monday Michiru
  • Nobukazu Takemura
  • Shinji Harada
  • Takako Ōta

Video games

The publishing rights of all NEC Avenue titles across the HE System family have been owned by M2 since July 2023.[7][8]

PC Engine
PC Engine SuperGrafx
CD-ROM²
  • Jūōki (1989)
  • Hyper Dyne Side Arms Special (1989)
  • Super Darius (1990)
  • ROM² Karaoke Vol. 1 (1990)
  • ROM² Karaoke Vol. 2 (1990)
  • ROM² Karaoke Vol. 3 (1990)
  • ROM² Karaoke Vol. 4 (1990)
  • ROM² Karaoke Vol. 5 (1990)
  • Quiz Avenue (1991)
  • Download 2 (1991)
  • Hellfire S (1991)
  • Splash Lake (1991)
  • Daisenpū Custom (1991)
  • Quiz Avenue II (1991)
  • Might & Magic (1992)
  • Rainbow Islands (1993)
  • Space Fantasy Zone (Canceled)
Super CD-ROM²
Arcade CD-ROM²
PC-98
  • Tanjou Debut (1993)
  • Mercurius Pretty (1994)
PC-FX

References

  1. ^ a b "Edge UK Edition Issue ten: NEC Avenue". Edge. Future Publishing. July 1994. pp. 38–39.
  2. ^ "Gaming Life in Japan: Toshio Tabeta". IGN. 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  3. ^ "インターチャネルのあゆみ". Interchannel. Archived from the original on 2004-10-21. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  4. ^ "The History of NEC Interchannel". Interchannel. Archived from the original on 2004-08-15. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  5. ^ "@fun STAGE". Interchannel. 2004-07-23. Archived from the original on 2004-07-23. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  6. ^ "@fun STAGE". Interchannel. 2004-08-28. Archived from the original on 2004-08-28. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  7. ^ https://www.mtwo.co.jp/blog/2023/07/21/pr230721/
  8. ^ http://www.lightweight.tokyo/news/?id=20230721