Data East
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| Public | |
| Industry | Video games, engineering |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | April 20, 1976 |
| Founder | Tetsuo Fukuda |
| Defunct | June 25, 2003 |
| Headquarters | Suginami, Tokyo, Japan |
| Products | List of games released by Data East |
| Website | dataeast-corp.co.jp/index_e.html |
Data East Corporation (株式会社データイースト Dēta Īsuto Kabushikigaisha?) also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo, The American subsidiary, Data East USA, had been headquartered in San Jose, California.
Data East was founded by Tetsuo Fukuda (福田 哲夫 Fukuda Tetsuo?) on April 20, 1976 as an electronic engineering company which focused on integrating interchangeable tapes inside arcade game devices, allowing video games operators to replace a game from a machine without having to replace the cabinet itself. Realizing the money that could be made within the interactive content, Data East developed in 1977 its first arcade game Jack Lot. This was followed in 1978 by Super Break, a clone of Atari's Breakout and Space Fighters, a clone of Taito's Space Invaders. In 1979, Data East released its first original game, Nice On, which was released exclusively in Japan. Data East established a U.S. division in 1979, after its chief competitors Sega and Taito had already established a market presence. In 1980, Data East published Astro Fighter which became its first major arcade title. While making games, Data East released a series of interchangeable systems compatible with its arcade games, notably the DECO Cassette System and the Multi Conversion Kit, but these products soon became infamous among its users due to its numerous technical problems.
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