Beijing Dejin Software Technology Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 北京德金软件技术有限责任公司[1]), more commonly known by the brand name Dragon Co., was a Chinese game company that developed and published games for the Famicom and Sega Mega Drive.
Company overview[]
Dragon Co. was formed in 1997 by former Hengmao Electronics employees, a company which produced mainly Gamate and Super A'can games before closing around 1995. Dragon Co. mainly produced games for the Famicom and Mega Drive; according to Hummer Software's website, Dragon Co. reportedly also developed titles for the SNES and Game Boy, though no Dragon-produced games for these platforms have been found. Dragon Co. would be succeeded by Hummer Software in 2005;[2] several Hummer Software-produced titles are based on preexisting Dragon Co. games.
Xie Rong Chun (English name "Tommy Xie") working under the name "Tomsoft" was previously employed as a programmer by Dragon and developed their Famicom SDK in 1996. Later Dragon Co. games were produced without Tomsoft.[3]
A number of ex-Dragon employees would later work for Nice Code Software and took some resources from Dragon Co. with them, which they used to produce a number of games. The majority of these games are graphics hacks of Dragon titles; however, two Nice Code-published games (Titanic and Pikachu5) appear to be based on the coding of canceled Dragon Co. productions. As to if Nice Code actually retained the legal rights to Dragon-produced titles is unclear, though is seemingly unlikely (given the succeeding Hummer Software company).
Games[]
Famicom[]
Note that the release dates for most Dragon Co. titles are unknown, with the exception of Felix the Cat. An asterisk (*) indicates a game that is not 100% confirmed to be a Dragon Co. production.
| Name | Released | Description | Cartridge No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Lion King III: Timon & Pumbaa |
DH1000 | ||
| Wait and See! (aka Nu, pogodi!) |
1997 | DH1001 | |
| Felix the Cat | 1998 | Later hacked by Nice Code to create titles such as The Hacker, Little Blackmask, and Super Hero. | DH1065 |
| The Lion King V: Timon & Pumbaa |
1998 (?) | More updated version of Lion King III. Later hacked by Nice Code to create Howling Killer, Mongoose Story, and Super Warthog. | DH1069 |
| Tom & Jerry 3 | 1998 (?) | Later hacked by Nice Code to create Primitive Man and Primitive Woman. | DH1070 |
| 红楼梦 (Hóng Lóu Mèng) | Self published. Another version was also published by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co., Ltd. A Monopoly-like board game themed around the novel Dream of the Red Chamber. | DJ08002 | |
| 乱世三国 (Luàn Shì Sān Guó) | Self published. Another version was also published by Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co., Ltd. A turn based strategy role playing game. | DJ08003 | |
| Panda Baby | 1997 (?) | A port of Donkey Kong Country featuring a panda instead of the titular gorilla (in similar fashion to The Panda Prince). | DJ08006 |
| Titanic* | Unknown | Published by Shenzen Nanjing Technology in 2005. Later hacked by Nice Code to create Sunken Ship. | N/A |
| International Cricket | 2000-2001 | A bootleg of Brian Lara Cricket for the genesis. Confirmed to be developed by Dragon according to a copyright filing from January 2001.[1] | N/A |
Unconfirmed[]
| Name | Released | Description | Cartridge No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu5* | Unknown | Unknown whether or not Dragon or Nice Code was responsible for this game's development. Later hacked to create titles such as Gardman, Wonder Rabbit, etc. While Gardman did see a Nanjing release, Pikachu5 and it's other hacks are exclusive to Plug & Play consoles. | N/A |
Mega Drive[]
| Name | Released | Description | Cartridge No. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 爆笑三國 (Bào Xiào Sān Guó) | A turn based strategy role playing game. Uses a sound driver that originates from Mega Drive games developed by C&E, although the developers are otherwise unknown. Two revisions of this game are available as ROMs, which use traditional and simplified Chinese font for text respectively. The only original print of this game that is documented uses a Li Cheng shell and features Dragon's logo on the top label. | DJ16001 | |
| 超级大富豪 (Chāo Jí Dà Fù Háo) | Includes the subtitle "Top Billionare" (sic) on the title screen. A Monopoly-like board game. Uses a sound driver that originates from Mega Drive games developed by C&E, although the developers are otherwise unknown. Original cartridge features Dragon's logo on the top label. | DJ16002 | |
| 音樂沙錘 (Yīn Yuè Shā Chuí) | A pack in title for a Mega Drive clone sold by Dragon Co. It came with a controller stylized like a pair of maracas for use with the included game (made by Dragon). |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In addition to its original games, Dragon also released pirate carts of officially licensed games.[4]
- A bootleg of the Neo-Geo game The King of Fighters 2002, titled The King of Fighters 2004: Special Edition, credits a "Dragon Co., Ltd" on the title screen. Despite this credit, no evidence has been found that suggests that this Dragon Co is connected to the company from Xi'an, China that is discussed on this page.
- At some point, Dragon switched from a DH#### cart no. format to DJ##### for self-published games. This change was seemingly made soon before their closure and it's unknown why the change was made.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.ipyear.cn/search/copyright_ap.php?keyword=%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%BE%B7%E9%87%91%E8%BD%AF%E4%BB%B6%E6%8A%80%E6%9C%AF%E6%9C%89%E9%99%90%E8%B4%A3%E4%BB%BB%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080620023859/http://www.hummersoftware.com/introduce.asp
- ↑ http://cah4e3.shedevr.org.ru/dumping_2008.php
- ↑ https://cah4e3.shedevr.org.ru/cartsbase.php
| List of games by Dragon Co. |
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