As much as we like to think of ourselves as free thinkers and immune to corporate advertising, there\u2019s no denying that brand names have found their way into pretty much every facet of our daily lives. Many North Americans routinely use \u201cKleenex\u201d in place of the word tissue; in the UK it\u2019s not unusual to hear people say that they\u2019re about to \u201choover up\u201d when referring to running a vacuum cleaner; and in its heyday pretty much any portable gaming device was casually referred to as a Gameboy.<\/p>\n The likes of Nintendo and Sony have been household names for years, but did you ever wonder where these names come from and what they might mean in their native language? Author of\u00a0Japanmanship<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and game developer James Kay sheds some light on\u00a0the origins of the names Japan\u2019s biggest video game companies<\/strong>\u00a0use, from Capcom to SNK, and has generously shared a few snippets of info with RocketNews24 for our enjoyment and nerdy enlightenment.<\/p>\n Find out where those world-famous names really come from after the jump.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Game Informer<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Seeegaaa<\/em>~!<\/em>\u00a0Ah, memories. In school yards across the Western world during the early \u201990s, thousands of kids were vehemently swearing allegiance\u00a0to either the house that made Mario or the company that brought us the world\u2019s fastest blue hedgehog, not to mention ports of arcade classics like\u00a0Altered Beast<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Space Harrier<\/em>. Few of those little video game zealots would have fought quite so hard to maintain Sega\u2019s seemingly \u201ccool\u201d public image, though, had they known that the company name is actually just the first two letters of its positively snore-inducing original moniker, \u201cService Games\u201d.<\/p>\n The American company (Service Games was founded in Hawaii and later moved to Tokyo to become a major arcade cabinet importer) merged with its largest competitor during the 1960s, at which point the name was shortened to that which appears during the loading screens of our Master System and Mega Drive favourites. And thank goodness for that\u2013\u201dStaaaandard Gaaaames\u201d doesn\u2019t have quite the same ring to it, does it?<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Shoryuken<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The guys who brought us the\u00a0Street Fighter<\/em>,\u00a0Mega Man<\/em>\u00a0and even\u00a0Resident Evil<\/em>\u00a0series, their name has to mean something cool, right? Perhaps they borrowed it from NASA\u2019s own \u201ccapsule communicator\u201d capcom in an effort to sound adventurous and space-age? Afraid not. The name of one of the world\u2019s most well-known video game companies is actually derived from the merging of the words \u201cCapsule Computers\u201d, its original name and one that sounds like something you\u2019d see printed on a t-shirt the kid who spent summer at computer camp made the mistake of wearing to school. Could be worse\u2013imagine if the company had originally been called Wang Computers.<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Giotech<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Nintendo\u2019s name may always appear in Roman characters when displayed in games, on packaging and even on its English websites, but did you know that during most of its corporate dealings here in Japan the company writes its name in kanji for pretty much everything? Formed of the characters \u4efb\u00a0nin<\/em>\u00a0(responsibility\/obligation), \u5929\u00a0ten<\/em>(heaven\/sky), and \u5802\u00a0dou<\/em>\u00a0(temple\/great hall), the name Nintendo, or rather \u4efb\u5929\u5802, has existed since 1889. That\u2019s not a typo\u2013Fusajiro Yamauchi, the father of late CEOHiroshi Yamauchi<\/a>, set up the business as a\u00a0hanafuda<\/em>\u00a0playing card manufacturer long before the existence of video games, famously going on to operate a chain of love hotels and even a taxi service for a short period.<\/p>\n Nintendo\u2019s name is often translated as meaning \u201cleave luck to heaven,\u201d but some would argue that it is not intended to be taken quite so literally. And quite frankly if we\u2019d have ridden in one of Nintendo\u2019s taxis back in the day we\u2019d rather not know that all responsibility was being left to the gods rather than the driver\u2026<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Touch arcade<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n What could the name belonging to the company that brought us such classics asSpace Invaders<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Bubble Bobbl<\/em>e possibly mean? Something grand, no doubt? Well, that\u2019d be half right. The company name actually comes from two Japanese words \u5927tai<\/em>\u00a0(big) and \u6771\u00a0tou<\/em>\u00a0(east), the latter also being the same kanji character that appears in the likes of Tokyo (\u6771\u4eac) and Touhoku (\u6771\u5317), incidentally. So hats off to the Big Eastern company that created some of the game industry\u2019s most iconic titles!<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Wikipedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Now also known as Tecmo-Koei Games, Koei may not be quite as well-known as Nintendo et al in the West, but in Japan the company is still kind of a big deal. Koei has produced an enormous catalogue of games, spanning genres including RPGs, neo-romance and real-time strategy, and is perhaps best known in recent years for its tactical action series,\u00a0Dynasty Warriors<\/em>.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s name actually has quite a\u00a0sweet story behind it, as it is believed to be a simple anagram of \u201cKeio\u201d, after Tokyo\u2019s prestigious Keio University, which also just happens to be where the company\u2019s (now married) founders, Yoichi and Keiko Erisawa, met. Aww.<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0Redbubble<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n It may go by the brand name SNK Playmore these days, but old-school gamers will always know the company that brought them\u00a0Ikari Warriors<\/em>,\u00a0Metal Slug<\/em>,\u00a0The King of Fighters<\/em>, and of course the\u00a0Neo Geo<\/a>\u00a0itself, simply as SNK, which actually stands for Shin Nihon Kikai, or \u201cnew Japan project.\u201d Now aren\u2019t you glad so many of these video game companies use abbreviations and acronyms!?<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0JScustom<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Last but not least, it\u2019s the people who made\u00a0Pac-Man<\/em>,\u00a0Galaga<\/em>,\u00a0Ridge Racer<\/em>\u00a0andTekken<\/em>. Namco joined forces with plastic model and video game developer\/publisher Bandai in 2005, and is often referred to by the somewhat inelegant nickname \u201cBamco\u201d. Namco\u2019s original name, however, comes from plain-old \u201cNakamura Manufacturing Company\u201d, which started out as an arcade cabinet manufacturer, proving once and for all that the Japanese really do love mashing words together to make new ones!<\/p>\n \u201cJapanmanship: The Blog 2006-2009\u2033 is an e-book featuring posts from James Kay\u2019s original blog and the material that led to his fully fledged\u00a0paper and e-book<\/a>\u00a0guide to breaking into the Japanese video game industry. It is available to download now viaGumroad<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Source:\u00a0Japanmanship: The Blog 2006-2009<\/a> <\/p>\n Related articles from RocketNews24:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Acronyms](\"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Acronyms-and-in-jokes-The-origins-of-your-favourite-Japanese-video-game-companies\u2019-names.jpg\")
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\n<\/em>Paper Mario image\u00a0ContinueOnline<\/a>\u00a0edited by RocketNews24<\/em><\/p>\n\n