Lightweight (company)

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

Lightweight (company) - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable, independent, third-party sources. (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lightweight Co., Ltd
Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Founded	November 22, 1995
Headquarters	Ebisu, Shibuya^[1]
Key people	Hideo Ooishi (president)
Products	Bushido Blade series Kengo series
Parent	Bergsala Holding (2012-2017)
Website	www.lightweight.tokyo

Lightweight Co., Ltd (株式会社ライトウェイト), formerly Bergsala Lightweight (バーグサラ・ライトウェイト) is a developer of video games. While the company developed innovative fighting games with samurai themes, such as the Bushido Blade series and the Kengo series, it is known for its Hello Kitty games.^[2]

History

The company was founded on November 22, 1995 in Meguroku, Tokyo under managing director Tetsuo Mizuno. The developer Square Co., Ltd. initially had a 40% stake in Lightweight. Lightweight cut its ties with Square in 1998, and in March 1999, Naotaka Ueda was appointed as CEO and director of the company. The following month, developer Genki acquired a 40% stake in the company. In March 2001 Lightweight became a wholly owned subsidiary of Genki, but dissolved this connection on March 31, 2006 when Lightweight was bought by Index Visual & Games, Ltd. Ueda retired in his position in November 2008.

The company was renamed Bergsala Lightweight after it was acquired by Bergsala Holding. On November 3, 2017, the company was sold and promptly renamed Lightweight.^[3]

In July 21, 2023, video game developer M2 announced that it purchased the rights of all NEC Avenue and NEC Interchannel games published on TurboGrafx-16 owned by Lightweight, including CD titles. Despite this, Lightweight only started the process of transferring the rights of those games to M2 on March 31, 2023.^[4]^[5]

Games

Bushido Blade (1997) PlayStation
Bushido Blade 2 (1998) PlayStation
Kengo: Master of Bushido (2000) PlayStation 2
Kabuki Warriors (2001) Xbox
Kengo 2: Legacy of the Blade (2002) PlayStation 2
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003) PlayStation 2
Kengo 3 (2004) PlayStation 2
Hissatsu Urakagyou (2005) PlayStation 2
Eco Creatures: Save the Forest (2007) Nintendo DS
Sky Diving (2008) PlayStation 3
Hello Kitty Kruisers (2014) Wii U
Excave II: Wizard of the Underworld (2014) Nintendo 3DS
Excave III: Tower of Destiny (2015) Nintendo 3DS
Drive Girls (2017) PlayStation Vita
Baku + Neko (2022) Android, iOS

References

^ "LightWeight Company Profile". www.lightweight.tokyo. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
^ "Past Products". www.lightweight.tokyo. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
^ "News". www.lightweight.tokyo. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
^ "「PCエンジン用ゲームソフト」に関する権利譲渡のお知らせ" [Notice of transfer of rights regarding "PC engine game software"] (in Japanese).
^ "「PCエンジン用ゲームソフト」に関する権利譲渡のお知らせ | お知らせ | ニュース". ライトウェイト,Lightweight Co., Ltd. (in Japanese). Retrieved August 26, 2024.

External links

Official website
"LightWeight Company Profile". IndexVG.co.jp. Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
"Bergsala Lightweight - Bergsala". www.bergsala.se. Retrieved December 9, 2015.

Categories:

Hidden categories: