Artdink


Artdink Corporation is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1986 and based in Tsukishima, Tokyo.
While Artdink had released a large variety of games, they are best known in Japan for the A-Train series. They are closely associated with Sony Computer Entertainment since the PlayStation's early days, and more recently with Square Enix.
WWW Official Site

Overview

The company name comes from "ART" meaning "work" and "DINK" standing for "DI" + "NK", as the company was founded by four people: two starting with the letter N, and two starting with a K. The company name itself remains the same as when it was founded, but the company logo design has been changed once.
The company was founded without any intention of starting a game company. Nagahama, Kawanishi, and others were developing assemblers for Motorola CPUs as a hobby. They tried selling these assemblers and gained popularity, so four high school classmates who had previously worked in the film industry, the Defense Agency, and department stores decided to start a business together. While it would have been difficult to sustain the company on that alone, they saw potential for business in the emerging computer game market, and so they decided to work on games. The original A-Train was a product of considerable effort by Kawanishi and others, who were not particularly knowledgeable about games.
Initially, the company was run as a "research laboratory," and there was a time when all employees wore white coats. Sales promotion was mainly through campaigns and magazine advertisements, but TV commercials were aired for A5, Navito, and A-Train DS. During the period when games for the PC-9801 series were the main focus, a demo disc was sent to all registered users.
Since its founding, the company has had offices in Tokyo and around Tokyo Bay on the coast of Chiba Prefecture, and its signature work, the A-Train series, is often modeled after buildings in the Mihama Ward area. Since its 3D release, buildings in the Kaihin Makuhari area have also been used as models. For example, the "D" sign on the department store in the PlayStation version of A-Train 5 is modeled after the D Mart at Inage-kaigan Station in Mihama Ward, where the company's headquarters were located at the time of development. This is because it was adjacent to the head office building and was frequented by many employees at the time.

Games

;1988–1989
;1990–1999
;2000–2009
;2010
;2011
;2012
;2013
;2014
;2015
;2016
  • Macross Delta Scramble
  • Neo Atlas 1469
  • A-Ressha de Ikou 3D NEO
  • A-Train PC Classic
;2017
;2018
  • Neo Atlas 1469
;2019
  • A-Ressha de Ikou Exp. +
  • Sword Art Online: Lost Song
;2020
  • Witch Spring 3 Re:Fine -The Story of the Marionette Witch Eirudy
;2021
;2022
;2024
;2025

Related Topics

  • Studio Artdink - A former affiliated company that provided contract development and debugging services for game software. On July 24, 2018, ITL Holdings acquired all of Studio Artdink's outstanding shares and made it a group company, resulting in the dissolution of the partnership with Artdink. On April 1, 2024, the company name was changed to G Choice Co., Ltd.