Native name
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ユニバーサルエンターテインメント |
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Formerly called
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Aruze Corp. |
Industry | gaming, arcade gaming |
Products | pachinko, slot machines, arcade games, video games |
Website | www |
Universal Entertainment Corporation (ユニバーサルエンターテインメント) (formerly known as Aruze Corp. (アルゼ株式会社 Aruze Kabushiki-gaisha?, Japanese pronunciation: [aɽuze]) (JASDAQ: )), is a Japanese manufacturer of pachinko, slot machines, arcade games and other gaming products, and a publisher of video games. Aruze possesses licenses to both manufacture and distribute casino machines in the American states of Nevada, Mississippi and New Jersey. The company's corporate headquarters are in Tokyo. Aruze are also the licence holder of the video game franchise Shadow Hearts. The company owns 21% of Wynn Resorts. On November 1, 2009 Aruze Corporation changed its name to Universal Entertainment Corporation .
Universal Lease Co., Ltd was established in December 1969. It later changed its name to Universal Ltd in Japan and Universal USA in America. Universal Distributing Company opened as a U.S. subsidiary to sell video games direct to operators. Universal's greatest hit game was "Mr. Do!" in 1982, which spawned three sequels in the eventual Mr. Do series: "Mr. Do's Castle," "Mr. Do's Wild Ride" and "Do Run Run." Other games include the hugely influential platform game Space Panic (1980) and the maze game Lady Bug (1981). Cashing-in on the success of laserdisc video games, Universal released Super Don Quix-ote in 1984, on a new standardized laserdisc video game system they called the Universal System 1. A new game was planned every six months for the Universal System 1, including an unreleased laserdisc adventure game based on Mr. Do!, but the company stopped producing arcade games in 1985, and Super Don Quix-ote ended up being the only game released for the system. Universal Distributing of Nevada (UDN) was established to begin selling Universal's first slot machines direct to the gaming industry. In January 2005, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Aruze. Aruze Corporation changed its company name to Universal Entertainment Corporation effective November 1, 2009.