BootlegGames Wiki
Advertisement

Bit Corp. (普澤) was a developer and publisher from Taiwan which developed numerous games for the Atari 2600, Famicom/NES and Gamate. Bit was one of the first Taiwanese console manufacturers[1] and game developers.

Overview[]

During their lifetime, they made numerous unlicensed games and consoles. Their games were unlicensed (although this was standard for Atari 2600 games) and their Atari 2600 games were released in Europe with both English and German titles.

Their Famicom/NES games were published by various companies in PAL regions, especially Australia and Brazil, and all were published by themselves in Taiwan. At this time, they were also releasing several famiclones known as the Bit-xx series which were originally made up of Atari and Colecovision clones. The famiclones also came with exclusively pirated games and none of Bit's original games.

Notably, the Bit-72 was planned to be rebranded as the ironically named Pirate MKII for release in the United States of America. Indicated by the text, "PIRATE MKII WILL ACCEPT CARTRIDGES MADE TO OPERATE WITH TH NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM™." and "NINTENDO AND NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM ARE TRADE MARKS OF NINTENDO AMERICA INC. The Bit Corp mascot was also changed to a pirate. Though it seems that they instead released it in Mexico distributed by a company known as Promotora Mine, S.A. De C.V. If the system were to of actually hit US store shelves, then Nintendo would of likely taken legal action against the company.

Bit Corp. went out of business in 1992 officially due to competition from Hong Kong and Chinese clone manufacturers.[1]. The real reason for their closure might actually be related to the Gamate. Due to the console being a commercial flop that created several financial difficulties that later lead to the company having to sell the rights to a company known as Hengshen Electronics Co., Ltd. which became a subsidiary of UMC.

International Activities[]

Bit Argentina Ad

Back label advertising Bit Argentina.

In the early 90's, Bit Corp. created a subsidiary in Argentina called Bit Argentina. They were importing all kinds of Famicom games from Taiwan and sold them in South America. Bit Argentina outlived Bit Corp. For example, they had the time to import and release non original copies of Street Fighter II.

Bit Argentina distributed consoles through Bitgame Club. [2]In 1992, Nintendo entered Argentina thanks to H.Briones Argentina SA, which became the representative of this company. Looking at the huge wave of piracy in the form of the many famiclones, Nintendo got along with Bit and the company became an official distributor of Nintendo products in Argentina.[3]

Games Developed by Bit Corp.[]

Atari 2600[]

Name Released [1] Description Cartridge No.
32 in 1 Sold with Bit Corp Creator 30, clone with a Famicom style design.  R-320
4 Game in One (C432) With Cat Trax, unreleased game of UA Limited. C-432
Bobby is Going Home 1983 PG-206
Dancing Plate 1982 PG-205
Hockey, Hockey 1982 PAL version of Hockey, Hockey (Activision) PG-210
Mission 3,000 A.D. 1982 PG-207
Mr. Postman 1983 PG-209
Open, Sesame! 1982 PG-204
Phantom Tank 1982 Published by ZIMAG as Tanks But No Tanks. PG-203
Phantom UFO Hack of Spider Fighter (Activision) PG-212
Sea Monster 1982 PG-201
Snail against Squirrel 1983 AKA Snail on Squirrel PG-208
Space Tunnel 1982 PG-202

ColecoVision[]

Name [2] Region Released Description / Notes Cartridge No.
Cosmic Crisis Europe 1983 Published later by Telegames in 1986.
Meteoric Shower Europe 1983
Strike It! Europe 1983 Published later by Telegames in 1986.
Tank Wars Europe 1983 Published later by Telegames in 1986.

Famicom / NES[]

Name System Released Description Cartridge No.
Crime Busters Famicom / NES 1989 Published in Brazil (NES) by Dismac and Gradiente. 7300
Duck
Duck Maze
Famicom / NES
NES PAL (AUS)
1987 First Taiwanese commercial unlicensed port.
Published in Brazil (NES NTSC) by Dismac.
In Australia by HES (NES PAL).
7002
Jackpot
Shui Guo Li
NES PAL
Famicom
1989 Published by HES in Australia as Jackpot. 7100
Othello Famicom
NES PAL
1988 Published by HES in Australia. 7103
Sheng Hen Pao Famicom 1989 AKA Twin Loud Cannon (cartridge) 7102

Gamate (incompleted)[]

Name [3] Release Description [4] Cartridge No. [5]
4 in 1 1991 Cube-Up / Minigolf / Vindicators / Brick Blaster C1-401
Baseball 1992 AKA Super Baseball C1-048
Bomb Blaster 1990 AKA Bomb Blast C1-031
Boom! 1991 C1-043
Box Forum 1991 Sokoban clone. C1-003
Brick Blaster 1990 C1-029
Cosmic Fighter 1990 C1-032
Cube-Up 1990 Tetris clone. C1-001
Devil Castle 1991 C1-017
Dino Ball 1991 C1-019
Dino Bibo 1991 C1-013
Enchanted Bricks 1990 Arkanoid Clone. C1-005
Fist of Thunder 1991 C1-033
Flipuzzle 1991 C1-026
Flying Goblin 1991 C1-042
Fortune 'n Luck 1992 AKA Fortune and Luck C1-047
Galaxy Invaders 1990 C1-007
GP Race
Jewel Riss
Kiki Inland
Kill Shot
Kung-Fu Fighter
Legend of Dragon Knight
Magic Jigsaw
Marauder
Mars Voyage
Mighty Tank 1990 Battle City clone. C1-004
Mini Golf
Money Maze
Money Maze
Monster Pitfall
Myth of Asamia
Nightmare of Santa Claus
Pharaoh Revenger
Pipemania
Punk Boy
Snowman Legend
Tennis
Time Warrior
Tornado
Treasure Hunter
Vindicators
Volcano Panic 1991 C1-016
Witty Apee 1991 Lode Runner clone. C1-002

Hardware[]

Clones[]

  • Amigo/賓果遊樂器 (Bingo Game Console) - Atari 2600 clone
  • 創造者30 (Creator 30) - Atari 2600 clone
  • 創造者50 (Creator 50) (aka Dina 2-in-1, Telegames Personal Arcade) - Combined SG-1000 and Colecovision clone
  • 創造者70 (Creator 70) - Famicom clone
  • 創造者100 (Creator 100) - Famicom clone

Computers[]

  • Bit-60 - Compatible with Atari 2600 games
  • Bit-90 - Compatible with ColecoVision games, has built in BASIC
  • Bit-70 - Compatible with Famicom games. Released by Mastergames in Mexico
  • Bit-72 - Compatible with NES games. Rebranded as the Pirate MKII and known as the Bit System in Brazil.
  • Bit-79 - Compatible with Famicom games, has built in BASIC

Gamate[]

Gamate

A Gamate.

The Gamate is a handheld console similar to the Game Boy (although not an exact clone) released by Bit Corp in 1990. Released as Super Child Prodigy in China and Super Boy in Taiwan. Around 50 games were published by Bit Corp, but after they went out of business in 1992, UMC continued to produce consoles and games, releasing about 20 further games for the system. Many of its games were developed by Gamtec.

Mascot[]

Bitcorpseal

Bit's seal.

The NES and Famicom releases of Bit Corp.'s cartridges often featured a seal with a drawing of a small, white bearded, old man wearing a red shirt and glasses. It's kind of similar to Pascar which seemed to have some ties to Bit Corp.. This was changed to a pirate for the Pirate MKII

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Asian sources gifts & home products, Volume 11, Issue 12
  2. Action Games n° 12 page 28, Argentina, 1993
  3. Action Games n° 12 page 55, Argentina, 1993

External link[]

Advertisement