Hacker International
Encyclopedia
Hacker International was a Japan
ese video game company that developed and published games from 1990 to 1994 for the Nintendo
Famicom (including Famicom Disk System
) and NEC
PC Engine (including PC Engine CD) consoles. The company was known for its play-for-porn
approach to gaming, with such games as AV Pachi-Slot (Hot Slots) and Soap Panic (Bubble Bath Babes) featuring female nudity
as a reward for skilful playing. These games were usually distributed through mail-order and sold approximately 30,000 to 50,000 copies each. Many of their games were developed by Taiwan
ese companies and were released in non-pornographic form elsewhere in the world; however three of were released in the USA for the Nintendo Entertainment System
with pornography intact (albeit sometimes modified to "Westernise" the girls' features) by another Taiwanese company, Panesian.
The Hacker name was first used by Satoru Hagiwara, an entrepreneur and former music producer, for a monthly PC magazine. Hacker International was founded by Hagiwara as an outlet for its writers' ideas; its first product was the Hacker Junior, an upgrade for Famicom systems that provided composite video output and turbo controllers, for which they were sued by Nintendo and eventually settled out of court. The company was also known for the Disk Hacker software which allowed users to copy Famicom Disk System
disks using only an ordinary Disk System (as opposed to the official method of using Nintendo's authorised Disk Writer units, which were placed only in game stores and charged 500yen to copy a selected game to a customer's disk). Several versions were released to combat successive anti-piracy measures introduced by Nintendo.
None of Hacker's games were licensed by the respective console manufacturer
s; Hiroshi Yamauchi
personally opposed pornographic content in Famicom games, believing they would tarnish Nintendo's reputation. When Tokuma Shoten
's Family Computer magazine published advertisements for Hacker's games, it felt its relationship with Nintendo—which it relied on for preview materials—was so threatened that five of Tokuma's top executives travelled to Nintendo to apologise to Yamauchi in person. However, NEC was more tolerant of Hacker's PC Engine releases (under the Games Express brand) and actually thanked Hacker for helping console sales. Hacker became a licensee for the PlayStation under the name Map Japan, releasing 15 games, but eventually closed in 2001 due to competition from other publishers and Hagiwara's own loss of interest in gaming.
Hacker's relationship to other Japanese adult console game producers of the era, such as Super Pig and MIMI Pro, is debated. For example, in the case of Super Pig, some claim this is merely a pseudonym under which Hacker published Disk System games while others maintain it is an entirely separate company that only occasionally worked with Hacker.
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 video game company that developed and published games from 1990 to 1994 for the 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....
Famicom (including Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
) and NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
PC Engine (including PC Engine CD) consoles. The company was known for its play-for-porn
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
approach to gaming, with such games as AV Pachi-Slot (Hot Slots) and Soap Panic (Bubble Bath Babes) featuring female nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
as a reward for skilful playing. These games were usually distributed through mail-order and sold approximately 30,000 to 50,000 copies each. Many of their games were developed by Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese companies and were released in non-pornographic form elsewhere in the world; however three of were released in the USA for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
with pornography intact (albeit sometimes modified to "Westernise" the girls' features) by another Taiwanese company, Panesian.
The Hacker name was first used by Satoru Hagiwara, an entrepreneur and former music producer, for a monthly PC magazine. Hacker International was founded by Hagiwara as an outlet for its writers' ideas; its first product was the Hacker Junior, an upgrade for Famicom systems that provided composite video output and turbo controllers, for which they were sued by Nintendo and eventually settled out of court. The company was also known for the Disk Hacker software which allowed users to copy Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
disks using only an ordinary Disk System (as opposed to the official method of using Nintendo's authorised Disk Writer units, which were placed only in game stores and charged 500yen to copy a selected game to a customer's disk). Several versions were released to combat successive anti-piracy measures introduced by Nintendo.
None of Hacker's games were licensed by the respective console manufacturer
Console manufacturer
A console manufacturer is a company that manufactures and distributes video game consoles. It is also known as a first-party video game publisher...
s; Hiroshi Yamauchi
Hiroshi Yamauchi
is a Japanese businessman. He was the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949 until stepping down on May 31, 2002, to be succeeded by Satoru Iwata. Yamauchi is credited with transforming Nintendo from a small hanafuda card-making company in Japan to today's multi-billion dollar...
personally opposed pornographic content in Famicom games, believing they would tarnish Nintendo's reputation. When Tokuma Shoten
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
's Family Computer magazine published advertisements for Hacker's games, it felt its relationship with Nintendo—which it relied on for preview materials—was so threatened that five of Tokuma's top executives travelled to Nintendo to apologise to Yamauchi in person. However, NEC was more tolerant of Hacker's PC Engine releases (under the Games Express brand) and actually thanked Hacker for helping console sales. Hacker became a licensee for the PlayStation under the name Map Japan, releasing 15 games, but eventually closed in 2001 due to competition from other publishers and Hagiwara's own loss of interest in gaming.
Hacker's relationship to other Japanese adult console game producers of the era, such as Super Pig and MIMI Pro, is debated. For example, in the case of Super Pig, some claim this is merely a pseudonym under which Hacker published Disk System games while others maintain it is an entirely separate company that only occasionally worked with Hacker.
Famicom ROM cartridge
| Date | Title | Alternate versions (pornographic) | Alternate versions (non-pornographic) | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Idol Shisen Mahjong | Tiles of Fate (American Video Entertainment American Video Entertainment American Video Entertainment was a San Jose, California–based software development company that developed unlicensed video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The company developed two games on its own, Krazy Kreatures and Trolls on Treasure Island in 1990, and published 19 games... , USA); Zhan Guo Si Chuan Sheng (C&E, Taiwan) |
C&E | |
| 1990 | AV Poker (On-screen title Poker) | Peek A Boo Poker (Panesian, USA); Pu Ke Jing Ling (Idea-Tek, Taiwan) | Idea-Tek | |
| 1990 | Pyramid | Pyramid (Sachen, Taiwan/American Video Entertainment, USA) | Sachen | |
| 1991 | AV Dragon Mahjang | Mahjong Block (Idea-Tek/TXC, Taiwan) (On-screen title Majohn Block); Poke Block (Idea-Tek/TXC, Taiwan); Stakk'M (American Video Entertainment, USA) | Idea-Tek | |
| 1991 | Miss Peach World (On-screen title Miss Peach World I: Super LA Cop) | Mr. Assy (unreleased prototype) | Menace Beach Menace Beach Menace Beach is a video game that was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Color Dreams in 1990... (Color Dreams, USA); Sunday Funday (Wisdom Tree Wisdom Tree Wisdom Tree is an American manufacturer and distributor of unlicensed Christian video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, PC, Mac, and Sega Genesis, headquartered in unincorporated Pima County, Tucson, Arizona, United States... , USA) |
Color Dreams Color Dreams Color Dreams was a company that developed video games for the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System . While most companies that developed NES games obtained an official license from Nintendo to produce game cartridges, Color Dreams was unusual in that it developed NES games without an official license... |
| 1991 | AV Pachislot: Big Chance | Hot Slots (Panesian, USA) (On-screen title Hot Slot: Big Chance) | ||
| 1991 | Soap Panic | Bubble Bath Babes (Panesian, USA); Magic Bubble (C&E, Taiwan) | Mermaids of Atlantis (American Video Entertainment, USA) | C&E |
| 1991 | AV Mahjong Club | AV Mahjong Club (C&E, Taiwan) | C&E | |
| 1991 | AV World Soccer (On-screen title AV Soccer) | Ultimate League Soccer (American Video Entertainment, USA); Soccer (Magexa, Europe); Futebol (Milmar, Brazil) | C&E |
Famicom Disk System
- Bodyconquest I (Credited on-screen to Indies Soft)
- Bishoujo SF Alien Battle
Super Pig games
- Sexy Invaders
- Bishoujo Sexy Derby
- Bishoujo Sexy Slot
- Moero Yakyuuken
- Gal's Dungeon: Yakyuuken Part II
PC-Engine HuCard
All games branded Games Express.- 1992 - Lady Sword
- 1993 - Strip Fighter II
- 1993 - Bodyconquest II
PC-Engine CD
All games branded Games Express, require Games Express System Card.- 1994 - Hi-Leg Fantasy