History Creator / Jaleco

The company was originally founded in 1973 by Yoshiaki Kanazawa under the name '''Ja'''pan '''Le'''isure '''Co'''mpany,[[note]]Because of this, the name can be pronounced as either "JA-leh-co" or "Ja-LEE-co".[[/note]] and produced electromechanical games in its early years. The company produced its first video UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame in 1982, and soon after that shortened its name to Jaleco. In the mid-1980s, Jaleco began releasing home video games on the {{UsefulNotes/MSX}} and [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]], focusing mainly on ports of arcade games, ports and localizations of various Western-developed games, and the ''Moero!!'' series of {{Sports Game}}s. Thus began Jaleco's most prolific period, though many of the games they released on arcades and 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, including original titles, had their developed outsourced to Creator/{{TOSE}}, Creator/{{Natsume}}, Creator/{{Arc|SystemWorks}} and many lesser-known independent companies.

* ''EDF: Earth Defense Force'' (including the {{UsefulNotes/SNES}} version)

* ''Splash Down: Rides Gone Wild'' (Japan-only Jetski arcade game which included Shibayama from ''Arm Champs II'') (port of the North American ''Creator/{{THQ}}'' UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game of the same name)

PCCW sold Jaleco in 2005 to Sandringham Fund SPC, who in 2006 incorporated a new video game company called Jaleco Ltd. so that the shell of the old Jaleco could be converted into a holding company for unrelated businesses. Jaleco's video game releases began to dwindle away, and in 2009, Jaleco Ltd. was sold for one yen to their online partner company Game Yarou (with Game Yarou soon afterwards had to inherit a massive amount of debt thanks to Jaleco's failures). Jaleco eventually ceased to exist in 2014 with the rights to their game assets now currently owned by a Japanese indie company called City Connection.

* ''Arm Champs'' (and its sequel, ''Arm Champs II'')

* ''VideoGame/{{Rampart}}'' (NES version)

* ''P-47: The Freedom Fighter''

* ''Samurai Fighter Shingen''

* ''Pizza Pop!''

* ''64th Street: A Detective Story''

* ''Psychic 5''

* ''Irritating Stick'' (US publisher)

PCCW sold Jaleco in 2005 to Sandringham Fund SPC, who in 2006 incorporated a new video game company called Jaleco Ltd. so that the shell of the old Jaleco could be converted into a holding company for unrelated businesses. Jaleco's video game releases began to dwindle away, and in 2009, Jaleco Ltd. was sold for one yen to their online partner company Game Yarou. Jaleco eventually ceased to exist in 2014 with the rights to their game assets now currently owned by a Japanese indie company called City Connection.

In October 2000, several years after unceremoniously quitting the arcade business, Jaleco was acquired by the Hong Kong company Pacific Century [=CyberWorks=] (PCCW). Then the Japanese division was operated as PCCW Japan before turning back to Jaleco around 2005, while the American division still retain the Jaleco label. Both sides of the Pacific branch of Jaleco at the timej produced some of the most strangely misconceived games for various consoles at the time.

Jaleco is a long-lived but underappreciated Japanese video game company.

In October 2000, several years after unceremoniously quitting the arcade business, Jaleco was acquired by the Hong Kong company Pacific Century [=CyberWorks=]. For the next four years, the Japanese division was operated as PCCW Japan, while the American division became known as Jaleco Entertainment and published of some of the most strangely misconceived games for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} and UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube.

PCCW sold Jaleco in 2005 to Sandringham Fund SPC, who in 2006 incorporated a new video game company called Jaleco Ltd. so that the shell of the old Jaleco could be converted into a holding company for unrelated businesses. Jaleco's video game releases began to dwindle away, and in 2009, Jaleco Ltd. was sold for one yen to their online partner company Game Yarou. Jaleco still exists today, despite only releasing one new game since 2010 and with the rights to their game assets now currently owned by City Connection.

* ''Arm Champs'' (and its' sequel, ''Arm Champs II'')

* ''Pinball Quest''

* ''Rampart'' (NES version)

* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Plus''

* ''World PK Soccer (And its Sequel, V2)''

PCCW sold Jaleco in 2005 to Sandringham Fund SPC, who in 2006 incorporated a new video game company called Jaleco Ltd. so that the shell of the old Jaleco could be converted into a holding company for unrelated businesses. Jaleco's video game releases began to dwindle away, and in 2009, Jaleco Ltd. was sold for one yen to their online partner company Game Yarou. Jaleco still exists today, despite only releasing one new game since 2010.

* ''City Connection''

* ''Momoko 120%''

* ''World PK Soccer (And its Sequel, V2)

* ''EDF: Earth Defense Force'' (including the [[SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] version)