Cing
Encyclopedia
was an independent
video game developer
based out of Fukuoka
, Japan
. The company, a small development house employing only 29 people, was founded in April 1999, and was run by Takuya Miyagawa, who served as President and CEO. Miyagawa also acted as the producer on all of Cing's titles. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 1, 2010. Their webpage, formerly at http://www.cing.co.jp/, no longer exists.
Since releasing a PS2 title (Glass Rose) in 2003 and a handful of mobile titles in 2004 (all released in Japan Only), Cing had enjoyed a close working relationship with Nintendo
. Two projects were created in cooperation with the publisher for their Nintendo DS
handheld system, and a sequel to one of these was developed for Nintendo's home console, the Wii
. Cing also partnered with Town Factory to bring about the critically acclaimed Little King's Story
for the Wii.
's Glass Rose
, an adventure title for Sony
's PlayStation 2
. Unfortunately, despite having Masahiro Matsuoka
's likeness (from the popular Japan
ese pop group Tokio
) for its main character, the title failed to prove successful at retail and was never localized in North America
, but did see a European release. Following this, Cing went on to create five separate titles for mobile phones in Japan, including an adaptation of the popular farming simulation series, Harvest Moon.
In early 2005, Cing released the adventure title Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory in North America) for the DS, which marked their first project produced with Nintendo. The game made extensive use of the various unique capabilities of the DS, and proved to be a fairly moderate success. The studio's next project, Hotel Dusk: Room 215
, was another adventure title making specific use of the DS functionality, including holding the system sideways to play (similar to Nintendo's Brain Age titles).
On March 13, 2007, Cing announced their next-generation video game title for the Nintendo Wii
, titled Little King's Story
(Ousama Monogatari). This was a collaboration between MMV and TownFactory, two Japanese video game developers. The game was released in Australia and Europe in April 2009, in North America on July 21, 2009, and in Japan on September 3, 2009. In November 2009, Cing announced Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215
for Nintendo DS. It was released on January 14, 2010 in Japan and September 17, 2010 in Europe. There has been no official announcement regarding whether or not Last Window will be released in North America; there has also been no news of the name being registered for copyright in North America.
Cing filed for bankruptcy in Japan on March 1, 2010. The company was reportedly suffering from liabilities of 256 million yen (USD 2.9m/EUR 2.1m).
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
based out of Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The company, a small development house employing only 29 people, was founded in April 1999, and was run by Takuya Miyagawa, who served as President and CEO. Miyagawa also acted as the producer on all of Cing's titles. The company filed for bankruptcy on March 1, 2010. Their webpage, formerly at http://www.cing.co.jp/, no longer exists.
Since releasing a PS2 title (Glass Rose) in 2003 and a handful of mobile titles in 2004 (all released in Japan Only), Cing had enjoyed a close working relationship with Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. Two projects were created in cooperation with the publisher for their Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
handheld system, and a sequel to one of these was developed for Nintendo's home console, the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
. Cing also partnered with Town Factory to bring about the critically acclaimed Little King's Story
Little King's Story
is a life simulation/role-playing video game co-developed by Cing and Town Factory for the Wii. The game was published by Rising Star Games in PAL regions on April 24, 2009, by Xseed Games in North America on July 21, 2009, and by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on September 3, 2009.The player...
for the Wii.
History
Founded on April 2, 1999, Cing was created as a means of providing gamers with new and unique video game experiences. The studio's first project was providing the core production for CapcomCapcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
's Glass Rose
Glass Rose
is a survival horror adventure video game developed by Cing and published by Capcom. It was released in Japan on , and later in Europe, however it did not have a North American release.-Plot:...
, an adventure title for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. Unfortunately, despite having Masahiro Matsuoka
Masahiro Matsuoka
is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is a member of Tokio, a Johnny Entertainment musical group. His nicknames are Mabo and Maa-kun. He starred as Shinichi Ozaki in Godzilla: Final Wars., and comedy series Yasuko to Kenji.- As an artist :...
's likeness (from the popular Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese pop group Tokio
Tokio (band)
Tokio is a Japanese rock/pop band formed by Johnny & Associates that debuted in 1994. It is made up of five men who were signed with Sony Music Entertainment from 1994 to 2001, with Universal Music Japan from 2001 to 2008, and are now signed under J Storm, a label owned by Johnny & Associates...
) for its main character, the title failed to prove successful at retail and was never localized in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, but did see a European release. Following this, Cing went on to create five separate titles for mobile phones in Japan, including an adaptation of the popular farming simulation series, Harvest Moon.
In early 2005, Cing released the adventure title Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory in North America) for the DS, which marked their first project produced with Nintendo. The game made extensive use of the various unique capabilities of the DS, and proved to be a fairly moderate success. The studio's next project, Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215, released in Japan as , is a graphic adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Originally announced on October 5, 2005 as Wish Room, the game made its first public appearance on May 9, 2006 at that year's E3 convention. It was released in North America on January 22, 2007, before...
, was another adventure title making specific use of the DS functionality, including holding the system sideways to play (similar to Nintendo's Brain Age titles).
On March 13, 2007, Cing announced their next-generation video game title for the Nintendo Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, titled Little King's Story
Little King's Story
is a life simulation/role-playing video game co-developed by Cing and Town Factory for the Wii. The game was published by Rising Star Games in PAL regions on April 24, 2009, by Xseed Games in North America on July 21, 2009, and by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on September 3, 2009.The player...
(Ousama Monogatari). This was a collaboration between MMV and TownFactory, two Japanese video game developers. The game was released in Australia and Europe in April 2009, in North America on July 21, 2009, and in Japan on September 3, 2009. In November 2009, Cing announced Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Hotel Dusk: Room 215, released in Japan as , is a graphic adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Originally announced on October 5, 2005 as Wish Room, the game made its first public appearance on May 9, 2006 at that year's E3 convention. It was released in North America on January 22, 2007, before...
for Nintendo DS. It was released on January 14, 2010 in Japan and September 17, 2010 in Europe. There has been no official announcement regarding whether or not Last Window will be released in North America; there has also been no news of the name being registered for copyright in North America.
Cing filed for bankruptcy in Japan on March 1, 2010. The company was reportedly suffering from liabilities of 256 million yen (USD 2.9m/EUR 2.1m).
Nintendo DS
- Another Code: Two Memories (Trace Memory) (Another Code: Futatsu no Kioku) (2005)
- Hotel Dusk: Room 215Hotel Dusk: Room 215Hotel Dusk: Room 215, released in Japan as , is a graphic adventure game for the Nintendo DS. Originally announced on October 5, 2005 as Wish Room, the game made its first public appearance on May 9, 2006 at that year's E3 convention. It was released in North America on January 22, 2007, before...
(Wish Room: Tenshi no Kioku) (2007) - Monster Farm DS (2007)
- Monster Rancher DSMonster Rancher DSMonster Rancher DS, known as Monster Farm DS 2: Yomigaeru! Master Breeder Densetsu in Japan, is a Life Simulation video game developed by Cing and published by UFO Interactive Games for the Nintendo DS...
(Monster Farm DS 2) (2008) - AgainAgain (video game)is an adventure video game developed by Cing and published by Tecmo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan on December 10, 2009 and in North America on April 2, 2010...
(2009) - Last Window: The Secret of Cape West (Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku) (2010)
Wii
- Little King's StoryLittle King's Storyis a life simulation/role-playing video game co-developed by Cing and Town Factory for the Wii. The game was published by Rising Star Games in PAL regions on April 24, 2009, by Xseed Games in North America on July 21, 2009, and by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on September 3, 2009.The player...
(2009) - Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories (2009)
Mobile phones
- Kisekaegokko (2003) (Japan only)
- Moetan Online (2003) (Japan only)
- Kawa no Nushitsuri (2003) (Japan only)
- Gakka wo Tsukuro (2004) (Japan only)
- Bokujo Monogatari: Mobile Life (2004) (Japan only)
External links
- Cing, profile on GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
- Cing, profile on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Cing, profile on IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...