1985), the company ventured into the market of home console video games, which would eventually become its main business. īeginning with a Nintendo Entertainment System port of 1942 (published in Dec. Starting with Commando (late 1985), Capcom began licensing their arcade games for release on home computers, notably to British software houses Elite Systems and U.S. The successful 1985 arcade games Commando and Ghosts 'n Goblins have been credited as the products 'that shot to 8-bit silicon stardom' in the mid-1980s. Starting with the arcade hit 1942 (1984), they began designing games with international markets in mind. It released its first real arcade video game, Vulgus (May 1984). Ĭapcom's first product was the coin-operated arcade game Little League (1983). 'Capsule' alludes to how Capcom likened its game software to 'a capsule packed to the brim with gaming fun', and to the company's desire to protect its intellectual property with a hard outer shell, preventing illegal copies and inferior imitations.

The name Capcom is a clipped compound of ' Capsule Computers', a term coined by the company for the arcade machines it solely manufactured in its early years, designed to set themselves apart from personal computers that were becoming widespread. merged with Sanbi Co., Ltd., resulting in the current Japan branch. for the purpose of taking over the internal sales department. On June 11, 1983, Tsujimoto established Capcom Co., Ltd. The two companies underwent a name change to Sanbi Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., both of which were devoted to the manufacture and distribution of electronic game machines. The original companies that spawned Capcom's Japan branch were I.R.M. He worked concomitantly in both companies until leaving the former in 1983. Corporation, was founded on by Kenzo Tsujimoto, who was still president of Irem Corporation when he founded I.R.M.

5.2 Companies founded by ex-Capcom employeesĬapcom's predecessor, I.R.M.

Pokemon phoenix rising