Gamtec

Gamtec Corporation三協資訊股份有限公司
Logo.
Origin	Taichung, Taiwan
Years	1989-present
Consoles	Famicom, Mega Drive, PC (confirmed) Arcade, Game Boy, Game Boy Color (Unconfirmed) Gamate, Super Famicom, A'can, Game Boy Advance (claimed)
Sounds used	TwinBee 3 (Famicom), Shi Kin Jou (Mega Drive), Wonderboy III (Mega Drive), Whip Rush(?) (Mega Drive), High Seas Havoc(?) (Mega Drive)
Games published by	Bit Corp., Ka Sheng
Related companies	AV Artisan, City Man Technology Co., Ltd. Chuanpu, Huang Jia Technology Co. Jumbo Team, Ming Super Chip Electronic Co., Ltd., Sintax, SKOB, Sun Mixing, Sun Team, Super Game, Unite Lucky Technology, Vast Fame

Gamtec (Chinese: 三協資訊 pinyin: sān xié zī xùn) is a game developer and publisher based in Taichung City, Taiwan that was established in June 1989.

The company developed a number of Mega Drive, NES/Famicom and PC games. They claimed to have developed for the Gamate, Super A'Can, arcade, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. It often acted as a contract developer for other companies so it is frequently not credited in games it worked on.

Gamtec has had a notable presence in Taiwan's gaming industry not only for being one of the most notable Tawianese Mega Drive developers, many of their members have either formed or joined other Taiwanese developers such as AV Artisan, Chuanpu Technology, Lonaisoft, Super Game and Vast Fame. Much of their contract work has been done under a number of notable publishers; including possibly Bit Corp., Ka Sheng, Sintax, Sun Mixing, and SKOB.

History

When Gamtec started off, their Famicom/Mega Drive games appeared to have been all self-published. Their early output mainly consisted of simple games and/or clones of existing games. One of their earlier titles, Bomboy, was a pack-in game for the Dynacom Megavision; a clone released in Brazil. Also around this time, they've appeared to have connections or worked with both Sun Team Electronic Co., Ltd. and Jumbo Team, the former working with them on Dou Zhi Pin Pan - Wisdom Boy while the latter seems to be most of the people who worked on Gamtec's Chao Ji Tan Ke Da Zhan - Super Tank War.

Sometime in 1994, Gamtec seemed to have dropped publishing their own games and have decided to become a contract developer, developing for Ming Super Chip Electronic Co., Ltd. and City Man Technology Co., Ltd.. They've also become associated with Chuanpu Technology and both have released games under the GM-95XXX ID. After Wucom Legend, they dropped the ID and the publishers they originally worked for but kept releasing stuff together. (The publisher they were working for was most likely Huang Jia Technology Co., they published Chuanpu's Feng Shen Ying Jie Zhuan whose manual had a flyer advertising Gamtec games.) They may have also been behind a few arcade games around this time such as Top Shooter and Super Bubble Bobble MD. These machines used modified Mega Drive hardware which made developing for them rather easy. Later in that same year, it looks as if the original Gamtec developers have disbanded; some have gone on to form or join Vast Fame. However, Gamtec itself has still remained although it's unknown what its activities were around that time.

Around 1998-2002, a series of Mega Drive bootlegs were being produced; some of these include Sonic Jam 6, Super Donkey Kong '99, Dragon Ball: Final Bout, and Pocket Monster. Despite using the High Seas Havoc sound driver Chuanpu is known for, the style of the boxes for them seem very similar to Gamtec's (MD Compatible label on the spine, the back of the box just being an assortment of random screenshots). The header for these games are also similar to some of Gametc's other games and some have even used the PCPaint fonts. Some unlicensed/Game Boy Color games have also contained references to Gamtec inside the ROM as well. It's most likely Gamtec was producing these games albeit with a completely new team under their belt using their tools. (Yishen Liao may have still been involved, he's the only composer known to have worked with the High Seas Havoc sound engine). Many of these Mega Drive games have also received Super Famicom ports as well, a console Gamtec has claimed to work for. While it's unknown who worked on the games, the developers themselves may have originated from mainland China. Their activities appear to have ended around 2001-2002, most likely due to Taiwan joining the World Trade Organization in 2002.

Gamtec currently operates the online gaming site Bingo King. As of 2009 it employed 12 people, but none of the staff from the early years of the company still work there.

Staff List

Directors (1989-Present?)

• Zhongxi Yang (楊忠溪) - The CEO (and possibly founder?) of Gamtec although he had a hand in several games, dealing with directing, testing or their story.
• Guozhe Yang (楊國哲) - Director, was also credited as a supervisor for Squirrel King and Shi Zi Wang II. He also received a Special Thanks credit in Wu Kong Wai Chuan.
• Yongzhang Lin (林永章) - Supervisor, was also credited for being a tester in Wu Kong Wai Chuan and Squirrel King. He was also listed under Special Thanks in the Famicom version of Thunderbolt II.
• Zhang Jingbo (張靜波) - Director although he was not credited in any known Gamtec game.

Original Team (1992?-1996)

Notable Members (1992?-1996)

• Jimin Hong (洪吉民) (Alternate Romanizations: Ye Min Horng, Jemin Horng, Jemin Horng) - He programmed much of Gamtec's earlier library before taking on a director/technical guidance role in the later games. He established Lonaisoft in 1996 and continues to work on mobile games to this day.
• Cuie Lin/Janet Lin (林翠娥) - One of Gamtec's main programmers and would later form Vast Fame in 1996. She was also credited as a planner for Adventurous Boy. She also made sound effects of some games.
• Jinglong Yang/James Young (楊景隆) (May also be "Koko" in Tiny Toon Adventures 3's ROM) - Programmer for Gamtec who worked on the earlier Mega Drive titles. In the ROM header of the games he worked on, he would often leave some form of credits. He appeared to have left the company around 1995/1996 and joined Super Game's Taiwanese division.
• Peijun Cai/Candy Tsai (蔡佩君) - Another programmer for Gamtec although his most notable work seems to include both versions of Thunderbolt II. (He also had a Script credit in the Famicom version as well). He received a Special Thanks credit for Adventurous Boy and was credited as a tester for Wu Kong Wai Chuan.
• Zhenxin Zhu/Jen Shih (朱貞信) (Alternate Names: Jenshin Ju, Ryohga Ju) - One of the main artists at Gamtec. She took on a testing role instead for Wu Kong Wai Chuan - Wucom Legend. She received a Special Thanks credit for Di Guo Wang Chao: Ya Se Chuan Shuo Pian which was by Chuanpu and would later join Vast Fame. She may have also had a hand with Gowin's Fire Dragon, as "Rhyoga Ju" is credited there.
• Qiongyi Ceng/Amanda Jen (曾瓊儀) - Artist whose most notable work was on Adventurous Boy, having done the story and art for that game, and 777 Casino. She is also credited in Wu Kong Wai Chuan for being a tester.
• Yanping Wu (吳嫣萍) - Artist for Gamtec whose notably work was for planning and graphics for Wu Kong Wai Chuan. He also worked on the art for 777 Casino.
• Jiaren Zhang (張嘉仁) - Artist for Gamtec whose notable work was for planning and graphics design on Wu Kong Wai Chuan. He also worked on the art for the Mega Drive version of Thunderbolt 2.
• Baoyi Huang (黄寶儀) - Tester for Squirrel King and Shi Zi Wang II. She's the only tester in Squirrel King with a caricature in the credits and reappeared in another game.

Jumbo Team / AV Artisan-related members (1992)

Chao Ji Tan Ke Da Zhan - Super Tank War's credits seem to be a mix of Gamtec's team members as well as members who worked for AV Artisan and Jumbo Team. It's unknown if these members worked for Gamtec before forming those other companies or Jumbo Team collaborated with Gamtec for the game.

• Wei Lu Cheng/Tony Zheng (鄭維禄) - The director for Chao Ji Tan Ke Da Zhan. He also did the sound effects.
• Xuerue Song/Sam Song (宋學仁) - Worked on the graphics for Chao Ji Tan Ke Da Zhan.

Chuanpu-related members (1995 / 1996?)

Meng Huan Shui Guo Pan - 777 Casino's appears to be mostly a Gamtec production but it also mention a few Chuanpu members in the credits.

• Bizhi Lin (林碧智) - Director for Meng Huan Shui Guo Pan. He also made sound effects to Barver Battle Saga - Tai Kong Zhan Shi.
• Hulian Wu (巫慧蘭) - Programmer for Meng Huan Shui Guo Pan.

Freelance Composers

Gamtec's composers don't seem to work for just Gamtec but for multiple Taiwanese game developers that were in Taichung, most likely being commissioned to work on the soundtracks for their games. Either one (or both) may have helped with Super Game's music, as their music was outsourced to Gamtec.

• Yishen Liao/Hanmin Liao (廖益伸/廖漢民) (Alternate romanizations: Hanmin Lu, Hanming Liao, Han Min Lioa) - Yishen worked with Twinbee 3's sound engine for the Famicom, as well as Shi Kin Joh's sound engine, Wonderboy III's sound engine and High Seas Havoc's sound engine for the Mega Drive (However, for Gamtec he did not use the High Seas Havoc sound engine). The fact he's the only known composer to have used High Seas Havoc''s sound engine may imply he was also responsible for composing the unconfirmed post-1996 Gamtec titles. He also composed for Chuanpu, Jumbo Team and Vast Fame.
• Yamin Xu (許雅民) (Alternate romanizations: Hsu Ya-Ming, Ya-Min Hsu) - Yamin worked with Twinbee 3's sound engine as well as Shi Kin Joh's sound engine and Wonderboy III's sound engine for the Mega Drive. He also worked for AV Artisan.

Unknown

• Yuehui Chen (陳月蕙) - He was credited as a tester in Wu Kong Wai Chuan but appears to have no other known role with the games. It's unknown if he was a part of Gamtec's development team or dealt more with business operations like Guozhe Yang and Yongzhang Lin.
• Squirrel King/Shi Zi Wang II credits - These credits feature a number of people who have only shown up once for these games and haven't been involved in any other credited Gamtec games. It's unknown if all of these people were real and may have just been interns or if these were fake names to inflate the credits:
  • JAZZ DARK - Planning for Squirrel King
  • Wenquin Lin (林文欽) - Art for Squirrel King
  • Hongliang Wei (魏宏亮) - Art for Squirrel King
  • Shijie Wei (魏士傑) - Technical Guidance for Squirrel King
  • Jiawei Zhang (張家維) - Testing for Squirrel King
  • Zhiming Fang (方質銘) - Testing for Squirrel King
  • Hansheng Xu (許漢生) - Testing for Squirrel King
  • Duanchang Zhang (張葮菖) - Testing for Squirrel King
  • Xinpei Song (宋欣沛) - Art for Shi Zi Wang II
  • Zi Qin (欽仔) - Art for Shi Zi Wang II
  • Jiabin Liang (梁佳斌) - Testing for Shi Zi Wang II

Confirmed games

These are games where Gamtec is explicitly credited or is otherwise confirmed to have developed them.

Famicom

Name	Released	Description	Cart No.
Wisdom Boy (鬪智拼盤)
Fire Dragon (火龍)
Thunderbolt 2 (雷電II/雷電傳說II)	1996	Gamtec logo and 1993 are buried in the ROM, but the game appears to have been only released in 1996. Gamtec also made a Mega Drive version in 1995[citation needed].
King Tank (坦克風雲)	1993		LD111
The Universe Soldiers (星際飛車)	1993

Mega Drive

Name	Released	Description	Cart No.
Adventurous Boy: Mao Xian Xiao Zi (冒險小子)		Self-published.
Bai Bian Qi Qiao Ban - Magic 7 Block (百変七巧板)		Self-published.
Chao Ji Da Fu Weng (超级大富翁)		Self-published. The slot machine reels contain Gamtec's logo.
Chao Ji Tan Ke Da Zhan - Super Tank War (超級坦克大戰)		Self-published. One of the levels has Gamtec's logo. Credits consist of mainly Jumbo Team/AV Artisan members.
Chao Ji Po Ke - Spuer Poker (松鼠大戰/超级扑克)		Uses the Wonder Boy III sound engine.
Hong Zha Xiao Zi - Bomboy (轟炸小子)	1993	Self-published.
Jiu Ji Ma Jiang II (究極麻將II)		Published by Sun Green Technology Co., Ltd. The ROM header mentions Gamtec; while the year says 1993, this most likely references the engine it uses.	GM-95001
Lei Dian Chuan Shuo - Thunderbolt 2 (雷電傳說II)	1995	Published by Sun Green Technology Co., Ltd.	GM-95201
Ling Huan Daoshi - Super Magican (靈幻道士)	1994	Published by Ming Super Chip Electronic Co., Ltd. The ROM header mentions Gamtec and the back of the box shows an earlier screenshot with Gamtec's name and the year.	GM-95402
Meng Huan Shui Guo Pan - 777 Casino (夢幻水果盤)		Published by City Man Technology Co., Ltd. The credits mention two other Chuanpu members.	GM-95002
San Guo Yan Yi: Huo Shao Chi Bi (三國演義 火焼赤壁)		Uses the Wonder Boy III sound engine.
Shi Liu Zhang Ma Jiang II: Xiang Yan Mei Ren Pian (十六張麻將II 香豔美人篇)		Published by City Man Technology Co., Ltd. Sequel to Jumbo Team's Shi Liu Zhang Ma Jiang II. There's also a second variation of this game that uses box art similar to the first game's box art.	GM-95003
Shi San Zhang Ma Jiang: Zhong Guo Mei Nv Pian (十三張麻將中國美女篇)		Uses the Wonderboy III sound engine but also uses tracks from Squirrel King. One of the new tracks appears in the Super Mario Bros. hack.
Shi Zi Wang II - The Lion King II (狮子王II)		Uses the Wonderboy III sound engine and the credits mention Gamtec members.
Squirrel King		The credits has the whole Gamtec team.	SEGA-A179
Super Mario Bros. - Chao Jí Ma Li Xiong Di (超級瑪莉兄弟)		Hack of Squirrel King. Not only are the credits kept intact, the title screen theme comes from/reappears in Shi San Zhang Ma Jiang: Zhong Guo Mei Nv Pian.
Super Bubble Bobble MD	1995/1996?	Uses the Wonderboy III sound engine. This is the original Mega Drive version of Gamtec's Super Bubble Bobble.
Tiny Toon Adventures 3	1996	The ROM header has a header similar to Ling Huan Daoshi - Super Magican and Xiao Monv: Magic Girl but Gamtec's name is censored out.	MT-601
Wu Kong Wai Chuan - Wucom Legend (悟空外傳)		Published by Ming Technology Co., Ltd.	GM-95701
Xiao Monv: Magic Girl (小魔女)	1993	Self-published.
Yi Men Ying Lie: Yang Jia Jiang (一門英烈 楊家將)	1993	Uses the Whip Rush sound engine. This was advertised in Chuanpu's Feng Shen Ying Jie Zhuan alongside other Gamtec-related games.

Arcade

Name	Released	Description
Super Bubble Bobble	1996
Top Shooter	1995	Uses the Whip Rush sound engine.

Unconfirmed games

NES/Famicom

Name	Released	Description	Cartridge No.
Ball Story
Golden KTV		Published by Sintax. Uses the Twinbee 3 sound engine Gamtec has used in their Famicom games.
Super Popo's Adventure		Uses the Twinbee 3 sound engine Gamtec has used in their Famicom games. These games may have originally been published by Unite Lucky Technology.
Panda World
Pocket Monster

Mega Drive

Name	Released	Description	Cartridge No.
Lion King 3	1997 or 1998	A rom header similarity, implying it was developed by this company or with its Super Donkey Kong.
Super Mario World 64	1997	Similar sound effects, controls, and physics to Super Donkey Kong, graphics and title stolen from an SNES game like other releases
Super Donkey Kong '99 (超級大金剛'99)	1999	An identical rom header as Squirrel Warrior, implying it was developed by this company or with its Super Donkey Kong.
Rockman X3	unknown	Has the same sound engine and one of its sound effects was later recycled into The Lion King II.

Game Boy Color

These three games all contain text in the ROM mentioning Gamtec, which seems to be from some kind of development tool, but it's unknown whether Gamtec actually produced these games itself or just supplied tools to someone else.

Name	Released	Description	Cartridge No.
e'Fighter HOT	circa 2000 (?)
Garou: Mark of the Wolves
King of Fighters R2		Published by SKOB.

Gamate

• Unknown

Hardware

• Magicard

Connections to other companies

• Super Game's music was outsourced to a Taiwanese company; as they use the same Twinbee 3 sound engine found in many of Gamtec's NES titles, this was presumably Gamtec.
• The demo of Castlevania DX by Sintax contains text from the same Gamtec development tool used in the Game Boy Color games listed above.

External link

• Bingo King (Chinese)

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