syn Sophia

syn Sophia, Inc. (株式会社シンソフィア, Kabushiki Gaisha Shin Sofia), formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game development studio located in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan founded on June 19, 1995. The company is most well known for its popular wrestling games in the late 1990s and early-mid-2000s, starting with the release of Virtual Pro-Wrestling in 1996. The title was the first entry in the Virtual Pro Wrestling series.

syn Sophia, Inc.
syn Sophia
Native name
株式会社シンソフィア
Kabushiki Gaisha Shin Sofia
Formerly
  • The Man Breeze
  • AKI Corporation
Kabushiki gaisha
IndustryVideo games
GenreVideo game development
FoundedJune 19, 1995 (1995-06-19) in Tokyo, Japan
Headquarters
Musashino, Tokyo
,
Japan
Key people
  • Shuji Yoshida (CEO)
  • Tamura Oya (Director)
Number of employees
70 (2016)
Websitewww.syn-sophia.co.jp

The company's take on World Championship Wrestling proved successful in the late 1990s with the release of several games, culminating in WCW/nWo Revenge for the Nintendo 64. As a result, the World Wrestling Federation ended their twelve-year relationship with Acclaim Entertainment and partnered with THQ/AKI in 1999. The relationship would continue AKI's reputation for quality wrestling games, which ended with the release of WWF No Mercy.[1]

History

The company went public in 1998 and on April 1, 2007 was renamed syn Sophia, Inc.[2] The first game developed under that name was Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary for the Nintendo DS in 2007. However, they used their previous name in some of their future titles until 2008 with the release of Style Savvy for the Nintendo DS. Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution would be developed under the name AKI Corporation USA.

Games

Developed under The Man Breeze
Year Name Platform Notes
1996 Virtual Pro-Wrestling PlayStation Released only in Japan
1997 WCW vs. the World PlayStation

Developed under AKI Corporation
Year Name Platform Notes
1997 Tactics Formula Sega Saturn Released only in Japan
WCW vs. nWo: World Tour Nintendo 64
Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 Nintendo 64 Released only in Japan
1998 WCW/nWo Revenge Nintendo 64
1999 WWF WrestleMania 2000 Nintendo 64
2000 Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Oudou Keishou Nintendo 64 Released only in Japan
Animastar Dreamcast Released only in Japan
WWF No Mercy Nintendo 64
2001 Animastar GB Game Boy Color Released only in Japan
World Fishing PC Released only in Japan
2003 Def Jam Vendetta PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube
Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation Nintendo GameCube
2004 Def Jam: Fight for NY PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Galactic Wrestling: Featuring Ultimate Muscle PlayStation 2
2006 Kinnikuman Muscle Generations PlayStation Portable Released only in Japan
Def Jam: Fight for NY: The Takeover PlayStation Portable
Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix Arcade Released only in Japan
Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix MAX PlayStation 2 Released only in Japan
Mawashite Tsunageru Touch Panic Nintendo DS Released only in Japan
2007 Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2 Arcade Released only in Japan
SimCity DS Nintendo DS formerly published by Nintendo
2008 SimCity DS 2 Nintendo DS
Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2 Tokumori PlayStation 2 Released only in Japan
2009 Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution Wii Developed under AKI Corporation USA

Developed under syn Sophia, Inc.
Year Name Platform Publisher
2007 Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary Nintendo DS
2008 Style Savvy Nintendo DS Nintendo
2009 Cross Treasures Nintendo DS
Ganbaru Watashi no Osaifu Ouendan Nintendo DSi
2010 Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō PlayStation Portable
Pretty Rhythm: Mini Skirt[3] Arcade
2011 Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream[4] Arcade
2012 Kurohyō 2: Ryū ga Gotoku Ashura Hen PlayStation Portable
Pretty Rhythm: Dear My Future[5] Arcade
Style Savvy: Trendsetters Nintendo 3DS Nintendo
2013 Pretty Rhythm: My Deco Rainbow Wedding Nintendo 3DS
Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live[6] Arcade
Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live Duo[7] Arcade
Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live: Kirakira My Design Nintendo 3DS
2014 Pretty Rhythm: All Star Legend Coord Edition Arcade
The Golden Hour Android, iOS
PriPara[8] Arcade
2015 PriPara & Pretty Rhythm: PriPara de Tsukaeru Oshare Item 1450! Nintendo 3DS
Style Savvy: Fashion Forward Nintendo 3DS Nintendo
2017 Style Savvy: Styling Star Nintendo 3DS Nintendo
Idol Time PriPara[9] Arcade
2018 PriPara: All Idol Perfect Stage! Switch
Kiratto Pri☆Chan Arcade

Unreleased games

A version of WWF No Mercy for the Game Boy Color was in the works and planned for release alongside the Nintendo 64 version. The game was originally planned to utilize the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak accessory to unlock special content in each version of the game. This feature was later scrapped, however, with the extra content in each version instead being unlocked via gameplay. After further developmental woes, the game was shifted to Natsume, developers of the previous WWF game for Game Boy Color, before finally being canceled in late December 2000. Screenshots of this game at one point existed, but the websites which had them up were forced to remove them following the game's cancellation.

A sequel to WWF No Mercy was in the early stages of development when it was shelved in early 2001 as Nintendo began to phase out the Nintendo 64 console. However, Sanders Keel mentioned in a podcast with Pro Wrestling X producer Dave Wishnowski that the AKI-THQ relationship had deterioirated when AKI requested to no longer develop for the Nintendo systems following the release of the Nintendo 64, proving the No Mercy sequel as a rumor.

A sequel to Electronic Arts' WCW Mayhem titled WCW 2000 and later, WCW Mayhem 2 was going to be developed by AKI and was planned for a PlayStation 2 release. There were even some screenshots in Issue #33 (May 2000) of the Official PlayStation Magazine. However, it was also shelved in 2001 after the World Wrestling Federation bought World Championship Wrestling. The engine of this game would later be recycled for Def Jam Vendetta.

A puzzle video game spinoff of the Dreamcast game Animastar, titled Animastar Puzzle, was announced in early 2000 but was later cancelled, presumably due to the sudden demise of the Dreamcast console.

Mikke! was an action game announced for the Nintendo DS console in early 2008. It was later cancelled for unknown reasons.

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References
  1. McLaughlin, Rus IGN Presents the History of Wrestling Games IGN (November 12, 2008). Retrieved on 2-03-11.
  2. syn Sophia Inc Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "プリティーリズム・ミニスカート". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  4. "プリティーリズム・オーロラドリーム". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  5. "プリティーリズム・ディアマイフューチャー". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  6. "プリティーリズム・レインボーライブ". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  7. "プリティーリズム・レインボーライブデュオ". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  8. "プリパラ". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  9. "アイドルタイムプリパラ". Syn Sophia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-02.
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