{{Short description|Publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan}} {{About|the company|the American Standard Code for Information Interchange|ASCII}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox company | name = ASCII Corporation | former_name = ASCII Publishing Co., Ltd. (1977—1982) | type = Subsidiary | logo = SVG ASCII logo.svg | native_name = 株式会社アスキー | native_name_lang = ja | romanized_name = Kabushiki-gaisha Asukī | industry = Video games | fate = Merged with MediaWorks | successor = {{Unbulleted list|Microsoft Japan|ASCII Media Works}} | founded = {{Start date and age|1977|05|24}} | founder = {{ubl|Kazuhiko Nishi|Akio Gunji|Keiichiro Tsukamoto}} | defunct = {{End date and age|2008|03|31}} | hq_location = Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan | area_served = Japan | key_people = {{ubl|Kiyoshi Takano (president)|Tatsuo Sato (chairman)}} | products = {{unbulleted list|''Derby Stallion'' series|''RPG Maker'' series|''Monthly ASCII''|MSX}} | revenue = {{yen}}433 million | revenue_year = 2006 | num_employees = 197 | num_employees_year = 2006 | parent = {{unbulleted list|Sega (1997—2004)|Kadokawa Group Holdings (2004—2008)}} | subsid = {{unbulleted list|Astro Arts|Soft Wing}} | website = {{URL|ascii.jp}}

{{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20080314034903/http://ascii.jp/|ascii.jp (archived) }} | footnotes = {{cite web |title=Company Profile |url=http://www.ascii.co.jp/top/corpinfo/corpinfo01.php |publisher=ASCII Corporation |access-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217011157/http://www.ascii.co.jp/top/corpinfo/corpinfo01.php |archive-date=February 17, 2008 |language=ja |date=2006 |url-status=dead}} }} {{nihongo foot|'''ASCII Corporation, Ltd.'''|株式会社アスキー|Kabushiki kaisha Asukī|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded in 1977, originating as the Japanese sales office of Microsoft, though its partnership with the company ended in 1986 upon the formation of Microsoft Japan.

The company then became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works.<ref name="merger">{{cite web |url=http://www.kadokawa-hd.co.jp/topics/20070927.pdf |script-title=ja:子会社の合併に関するお知らせ |publisher=Kadokawa Group Holdings |access-date=December 8, 2007 |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108130823/http://www.kadokawa-hd.co.jp/topics/20070927.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ANN-merger">{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-10-02/kadokawa-group-to-merge-ascii-mediaworks-subsidiaries |title=Kadokawa Group to Merge ASCII, MediaWorks Subsidiaries|publisher=Anime News Network|date=October 2, 2007|access-date =March 30, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080407054723/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-10-02/kadokawa-group-to-merge-ascii-mediaworks-subsidiaries| archive-date= April 7, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> The company published ''Monthly ASCII'' as the main publication. ASCII is best known for creating the ''Derby Stallion'' video game series, the MSX computer, and the ''RPG Maker'' line of programming software.

==History== ===1977–1990: Founding and first projects=== ASCII was founded in 1977 by Kazuhiko Nishi, Akio Gunji and Keiichiro Tsukamoto. The name was taken from the ASCII code that was referred to a computer character set.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nishi |first=Kazuhiko |date=2020-09-19 |title=伝説的ベンチャー「アスキー」を生み出した“大喧嘩”とは？ |url=https://diamond.jp/articles/-/249161?page=5 |access-date=2025-06-08 |website=ダイヤモンド・オンライン |language=ja}}</ref> Originally the publisher of a magazine with the same name, ''ASCII'', talks between Bill Gates and Nishi led to the creation of Microsoft's first overseas sales office, '''ASCII Microsoft''', in 1978.<ref name="Allan">{{cite book | last = Allan | first = Roy A. | title = A History of the Personal Computer | publisher = Allan Publishing | year = 2001 | pages = 31, 65 | url = https://archive.org/details/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer | isbn = 0-9689108-0-7 }}</ref><ref name='MNG'>Quote from Bill Gates' ''The Road Ahead'', found in {{cite book | last = Lessem | first = Ronnie | title = Management development through cultural diversity | publisher = Routledge | year = 1998 | pages = 160–161 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=D7QQAGFmJhIC | isbn = 0-415-17875-4 }}</ref> In 1980, ASCII made 1.2 billion yen of sales from licensing Microsoft BASIC. It was 40 percent of Microsoft's sales, and Nishi became Microsoft's Vice President of Sales for Far East.<ref>{{Cite book|title=100万人の謎を解く ザ・PCの系譜|publisher=コンピュータ・ニュース社|year=1988|isbn=4-8061-0316-0|editor-last=コンピュータ・ニュース社|pages=45|language=ja|chapter=「パソコン産業史」年表}}</ref> In 1983, ASCII and Microsoft introduced the MSX, a standardized specification for 8-bit home computers. In 1984, ASCII entered the semiconductor business, followed by a further expansion into commercial online service in 1985 under the brand of ASCII-NET. As the popularity of home video game systems soared in the 1980s, ASCII became active in the development and publishing of software and peripherals for popular consoles such as the Family Computer and Mega Drive. After Microsoft's public stock offering in 1986, Microsoft founded its own Japanese subsidiary, Microsoft Co., Ltd., traded as Microsoft Kabushiki Kaisha (MSKK), and dissolved its partnership with ASCII.<ref name="Allan"/> At around the same time, the company was also obliged to reform itself as a result of its aggressive diversification in the first half of the 1980s.<ref name='Toda'>{{cite book | last = Toda | first = Satoru (戸田覚) | title = ''A quick map to Information and Telecommunications makrket'' (情報・通信業界早わかりマップ) | publisher = Kō Shobō (こう書房) | year = 1997 | pages = 130–135 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-56-PQAACAAJ | isbn = 4-7696-0606-0 }}</ref> The company went public in 1989.

===1989–2000: Satellites and later projects=== ASCII's revenue in its fiscal year ending March 1996 was 56&nbsp;billion yen, broken down by sectors: publications (52.5% or 27.0&nbsp;billion yen), game entertainment (27.8% or 14.3&nbsp;billion yen), systems and semiconductors (10.8% or 6&nbsp;billion yen) and others.<ref name="Toda"/> Despite its struggles to remain focused on its core businesses, the company continued to suffer from accumulated debts, until an arrangement was made that CSK Corporation would execute a major investment into ASCII in 1997.<ref>{{cite news | title=Ascii to join CSK group | date=December 25, 1997 | url =http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn19971225a8.html | work =The Japan Times | access-date = April 22, 2009 }}</ref>

In the mid-1990s, ASCII acquired the company Something Good, and renamed it to '''ASCII Something Good''', through which it developed three Sega Saturn games: ''AI Shogi'' (1995), ''AI Igo'' (1997), ''AI Shogi 2'' (1998). thumb|270x270px|Controller for the PS1 releases of Beatmania, released by ASCII Corporation in 1998 In 1998, ASCII signed an exclusive agreement with Konami to produce third-party controllers for the PlayStation releases of the arcade rhythm game Beatmania. The controllers, known as the '''ASC-0515BM''' were often bundled alongside the game. With Konami's official controller for the game, the '''DJ Station Pro''' positioned as a more premium option.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Consolevariations - Ascii PlayStation Beatmania Controller |url=https://consolevariations.com/collectibles/ascii-playstation-beatmania-controller |access-date=2026-05-16 |website=Consolevariations |language=en}}</ref>

ASCII originally used the name '''Nexoft''' on early American releases. In 1991, it renamed Nexoft to '''ASCII Entertainment''', although releases around this time used the '''Asciiware''' name. To focus on supporting the interactive entertainment channel in America, startup company Agetec (for "Ascii Game Entertainment Technology") was spun off as an independent corporation in 1998 and later became a fully independent publisher one year later. Co-founder Tsukamoto had left ASCII to create a company of his own in 1992, named '''Impress'''.<ref>[http://en.impressholdings.com/ Impress Holdings website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216142904/http://en.impressholdings.com/ |date=February 16, 2009 }}</ref>

===2000–2008: Ownership changes and dissolution=== On November 26, 2001, CSK Corporation and Unison Capital Partners L.P. announced the approval of transferring the control of its subsidiary ASCII to Unison Capital Partners L.P., effective on March 30, 2002, as part of a strategy to focus CSK's operations on B2B enterprises.<ref>{{cite news|title=CSK Corporation to Transfer ASCII to Unison Capital Partners L.P. |date=November 26, 2001 |publisher=CSK |url=http://www.csk.com/press_e/his/2001/1176784_1712.html |access-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201190727/http://www.csk.com/press_e/his/2001/1176784_1712.html |archive-date=December 1, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=アスキーの経営権取得に関する基本合意書締結について | date=November 26, 2001 | url=https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000003nt-att/nr_8_jp.pdf | archive-date=April 25, 2012 | access-date=November 12, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425160605/https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000003nt-att/nr_8_jp.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> The transfer was approved on December 21, 2001.<ref>{{cite news|title=CSK Corporation Formalizes Contract to Transfer ASCII to Unison Capital Partners L.P. |date=December 21, 2001 |publisher=CSK |url=http://www.csk.com/press_e/his/2001/1176786_1712.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201183005/http://www.csk.com/press_e/his/2001/1176786_1712.html |archive-date=December 1, 2008 }}</ref> As a part of deal, ASCII's outstanding debt owed to CSK was forgiven, and under Unison's control, the ASCII's Enterbrain and IT publishing divisions would maintain autonomy, while ASCII was restructured to concentrate on PC and IT publishing businesses.

On May 28, 2002, Unison Media Partners announced ASCII became a fully owned subsidiary of via share exchange, and ASCII would be delisted, effective on October 1, 2002.<ref>{{cite news| title=株式会社アスキーとの株式交換契約締結について| date=May 28, 2002| publisher=Unison| url=https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000003xh-att/nr_11_jp.pdf| access-date=November 12, 2011| archive-date=March 4, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104605/https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000003xh-att/nr_11_jp.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref> On November 18, 2002, the Astroarts subsidiary was renamed to ASCII, while ASCII was renamed to MediaLeaves.<ref>{{cite news | title=アスキーが社名変更| date=November 18, 2002 | url=http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/0211/18/njbt_11.html}}</ref> The former Astroarts subsidiary would inherit the publishing business of the former ASCII. On January 29, 2004, Unison Capital Partners, L.P. announced the sale of ASCII's parent company MediaLeaves to Kadokawa Group Holdings, to be completed in March 2004.<ref>{{cite news| title=株式会社メディアリーヴス株式の公開買付への応募について| date=January 29, 2004| publisher=Unison| url=https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000004bx-att/nr_17_jp.pdf| archive-date=April 25, 2012| access-date=November 12, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425160641/https://www.unisoncap.com/jp/news/imgjs300000004bx-att/nr_17_jp.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=''Kadokawa buys ASCII'' (アスキー、角川が買収へ) | date=January 29, 2004 | url =http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/0401/29/news058.html | work =IT Media, Inc. | access-date = April 22, 2009 | language = ja | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090327183745/http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/0401/29/news058.html| archive-date= March 27, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

On September 27, 2007, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced the merger between subsidiaries MediaWorks and ASCII under the name ASCII Media Works, effective on April 1, 2008.<ref name="merger"/><ref name="ANN-merger"/> The merger was approved in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kadokawa-hd.co.jp/topics/20080228_2.pdf|script-title=ja:子会社の合併に関する経過のお知らせ|publisher=Kadokawa Group Holdings|access-date=February 8, 2008|language=ja}}</ref> On January 10, 2010, the formerly named ASCII company MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain, dissolving the last of the ASCII entity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medialeaves.co.jp/ |title=MediaLeaves, Inc. announcement |language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028104044/http://www.medialeaves.co.jp/ |archive-date=October 28, 2010 }}</ref>

== Products ==

===MSX=== {{main|MSX}} MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII on June 16, 1983.<ref>{{cite book|last=Laing|first=Gordon|title=Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer|year=2004|publisher=Ilex Press|isbn=9781904705390|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=967VdXdc5w4C&q=msx+announced&pg=RA1-PT101}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|year=1983|title=ASCII Express : 新しいホームパーソナルコンピュータ仕様 MSX|journal=ASCII|publisher=ASCII|volume=7|issue=8|issn=0287-9506}}</ref> It was conceived and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-president at Microsoft Japan and director at ASCII Corporation. Nishi conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period.<ref>{{cite news |title=MSX: The Japanese are coming! The Japanese are coming! |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/27/feature_30_years_of_msx/ |work=The Register |date=June 27, 2013}}</ref><ref>[http://www.enotes.com/topic/Kazuhiko_Nishi Kazuhiko Nishi - eNotes.com Reference<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> MSX systems were popular in Japan and several other countries. It is difficult to determine how many MSX computers were sold worldwide, but eventually, 5&nbsp;million MSX-based units were sold in Japan alone. Despite Microsoft's involvement, few MSX-based machines were released in the United States.<ref>[http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n8/198_Faceoff_will_MSX_be_a_su.php Faceoff: will MSX be a success in the United States<!-- Bot generated title -->].</ref> Before the great success of Nintendo's Family Computer, MSX was the platform for which major Japanese game studios such as Konami and Hudson Soft produced video games. The ''Metal Gear'' series, for example, was first written for MSX hardware.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/english/history.html|title=Kojima Productions|publisher=Konami.jp|access-date=June 22, 2011}}</ref>

==See also== *List of magazines published by ASCII Media Works

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080314034903/http://ascii.jp/ Archived ASCII Corporation page] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Kadokawa Dwango}} {{Sega Sammy Holdings}} {{RPG Maker series}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascii (Company)}} Category:ASCII Media Works Category:Book publishing companies in Tokyo Category:Video game companies of Japan Category:Former Kadokawa Corporation subsidiaries Category:Magazine publishing companies of Japan Category:MSX Category:Defunct video game companies of Japan Category:Publishing companies established in 1977 Category:Publishing companies disestablished in 2008 Category:Mass media in Tokyo Category:Japanese companies established in 1977 Category:Japanese companies disestablished in 2008 Category:Video game companies established in 1977 Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2008 Category:Video game development companies Category:Video game publishers