SNK
More info
- Creator
- Eikichi Kawasaki
- Released
- 1978
- Type
- Games company
The arcade maker whose Neo Geo let you take home the exact same game that stood in the bar — at a price to match.
SNK was founded in 1978 in Osaka by Eikichi Kawasaki. After early arcade titles came the masterstroke of 1990: the Neo Geo, where the MVS arcade system and the AES home console used identical cartridges. An arcade machine's game could run unchanged at home — if you could afford it, which few could. SNK became known for 2D fighting games like Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown and The King of Fighters, plus Metal Slug.
The handheld Neo Geo Pocket lost to the Game Boy, and SNK went bankrupt in 2001. The rights were bought back by the founder and live on under the SNK name, now under Saudi ownership. The company spent decades competing with Sega, Namco and Taito.