Changes: Haitai Electronics

Revision as of 05:57, 21 March 2020

Haitai Electronics (해태전자) was a South Korean general electronics manufacturer and distributor part of the Haitai conglomerate. In 1989, they entered the game market with their own brand named Haitai Supercom (해태 슈퍼콤). Their main activities consisted on distributing Whirlwind Manu catalog and Famiclones under their brand. They put an end to their gaming division after the failure of the PC-Engine in 1993, which they were in charge of distributing.

Activities

Supercom logo.

Haitai was apparently the official distributor of Whirlwind Manu catalog in Korea. They made their own cover for each releases often featuring Hangul and their logo. The games were sometimes retailed in plastic box with a generic cover and a sticker on the spine with the game title. They also manufactured their own cartridges cases at a point. In the end of 1990, some Japanese publishers alongside with Nintendo sued Haitai for selling their games illegally. Supercom went on to distribute titles licensed in South Korea by Daou Infosys from Tengen then Color Dreams. It seems by the middle of 1991 they had quite reduced their Famicom activities. Their last Famicom activities consisted of an ad on Magic Kid Googoo box and the release of their last clone, the Supercom X-1600 by a subcontractor named Kobo.

Consoles

Supercom - Rebranded Aaronix AX-9900. Released in October 1989.
Supercom II - Design based on the previous console. Released in April 1991
Supercom V-1600 - Smaller and rounded version of the Aaronix design. Advertised in magazines for an April 1991 release but may have gone unreleased in favor of the X-1600 which is identical.
Supercom X-1600 - Same as the V-1600, came with wired and infrared controllers. 42 built-in games.
Supercom X-Plus - Distributed by Kobo in 1992 under license from Haitai. Same as the X-1600.

Games

Daou licensed nine titles from unlicensed games developers from America and had Haitai to distribute at least six of them under the Supercom brand. The first titles released were Klax and Road Runner in the very first weeks of 1991. Skull and Crossbones and Toobin were manufactured in June 1991. The Color Dreams catalog and Shockwave seem to have been fully released by July 1991 too.

Name	Original name	Developer	Released	Description
Black Dragon (블랙 드래곤)	Challenge of the Dragon	Color Dreams	Mid 1991^[1]	A kind of an action & beat'em up game. The title screen was updated.
Crystal Commando (크리스탈 특공대)	Crystal Mines	Color Dreams	First half of 1991	Updated splash & title screen
Flying Superboy (날아라 슈퍼보이)	Menace Beach	Color Dreams	May 1991?^[2]	Updated title screen.
Hee-dong Ei's Adventures ^[3] (희동이의 모험)	Baby Boomer	Color Dreams	Early 1991 ?	Light-gun game, copyright updated with Licensed to Daou Infosys. An alternate cover calls it Baby Boomber.
Klax (크락스)	Klax	Tengen	Early 1991^[4]	Puzzle game similar to Tetris. Identical to the US release.
Octagon (옥타곤)	Shockwave	AGCI	Early 1991 ?^[5]	Puzzle game, identical to the US release.
One-eyed Jack (애꾸눈 짹)	Skull & Crossbones	Tengen	Mid 1991^[6]	The splash screen reading Tengen was replaced with Haitai Electronics. An alternate cover reads Captain Hook.
Road Runner X (로드러너 X)	Road Runner	Tengen	Early 1991^[7]	Based on the Road Runner cartoon. Identical to the US release. An alternate cover calls it Road Bunny.
Tube Exploration (튜브탐험)	Toobin´	Tengen	Mid 1991^[8]	Obstacle race, the title sceen was updated. An alternate cover reads Tube.

Zemina

While Supercom may or may not have published it, their logo is definitely featured on front of the box. They may have simply paid Zemina to have it featured on the box.

Magic Kid Googoo (Unconfirmed)

Trivia

During November 1990, Haitai got sued by a group of Japanese publishers for distributing illegal copies of Famicom games, the case was settled out of court.
Haitai is still in business today, but only the food branch remains.
The games licensed from Color Dreams all feature a Hangul title screen (except Baby Boomer) and updated copyrights with the rest of the game being unchanged. As for the Tengen games, only the copyright was changed for Skull & Crossbones and Toobin.
All games licensed from Tengen, Baby Boomer, and Crystal Mines had a second release with a different cover, lacking the Haitai and Supercom logos.

Gallery

Printed advertisements

Releases

Reference

↑ 9119 date on DIS-CDDRAGON PRG Mask ROM
↑ 9116 on the PRG Mask ROM
↑ 희동이 (Hee-dong Ei) is the baby's name in the Dooly cartoon.
↑ 9051 date on DIS-TGKXPRG Mask ROM
↑ Uses the same mask ROM as the US release.
↑ 9126 date on DIS-TGSKLPRG Mask ROM
↑ 9051 date on DIS-TGRRPRG Mask ROM
↑ 9126 date on DIS-TGTBNPRG Mask ROM

Companies

ABAB Soft · Accolade · Active Enterprises Ltd · Advance Bright Limited · American Video Entertainment · AtGames · Bit Corp. · BMB · Bobmark International · Camerica · CCE · Chengdu Tai Jing Da Dong Computer Co · Chuanpu Technology · Codemasters · Color Dreams · Computer & Entertainment · Cony Soft · Cube Technology · Daou Infosys · Dar Yar Electronics · Dragon Co. · DreamGEAR · DVS Electronic Co. · Dynacom · EJ Corporation · Ex-Sachen developers · Fuzhou Waixing Computer Science & Technology Co.,LTD · Game Line · Gamtec · Genie · Glorysun · Gluk Video · Good Life · Gradiente · Hacker International · Haitai Electronics · Happy Software, Ltd. · Home Entertainment Suppliers · Hosenkan Electronics · Hummer Team · Hwang Shinwei · Idea-Tek · Innovation Technology · Inventor · J.Y. Company · JungleTac · Karateco · Ka Sheng · Kudos · Kuk Je Academy · Macro Winners Electronics Ltd. · Makon Soft · Mars Production · Micro Genius · New Game · Nice Code Software · Nichibutsu · Nintendo de Venezuela · NTDEC · Open Corp. · Playmark · Philko · Qi Sheng Long · Ramar International · Rex Soft · Sachen · Shenzhen Jncota Technology Co., Ltd. · Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co., Ltd. · Shenzhen Senca Technology Co., Ltd · Sinango · Sintax · SKOB · Steepler Ltd. · Subor · Supertone Electronics · Super Game · Tengen · Trump Grand Manufacturing Co. · Twin Eagles Group · V.R. Technology · Vast Fame · Wisdom Tree · Yanshan Software · Zechess · Zemina

[1] 9119 date on DIS-CDDRAGON PRG Mask ROM

[2] 9116 on the PRG Mask ROM

[3] 희동이 (Hee-dong Ei) is the baby's name in the Dooly cartoon.

[4] 9051 date on DIS-TGKXPRG Mask ROM

[5] Uses the same mask ROM as the US release.

[6] 9126 date on DIS-TGSKLPRG Mask ROM

[7] 9051 date on DIS-TGRRPRG Mask ROM

[8] 9126 date on DIS-TGTBNPRG Mask ROM

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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[7]

[8]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |caption    = Haitai logo.
 |location   = South Korea
-|years      = 1970's-1997<br>Game division: 1989-1993
+|years      = 1970's-2001<br>Game division: 1989-1993
 |consoles   = Famicom, PC-Engine
 |aliases    = Haitai Supercom, HTE
-|published  = [[Color Dreams]], [[Tengen]], [[Zemina]]
+|published  = [[Color Dreams]], [[Tengen]], [[Zemina]](?)
 |connected  = [[Daou Infosys]]
-}}'''''Haitai Electronics''''' ({{Mousetext|해태전자|Haetaejeonja}}) was a South Korean general electronics manufacturer and distributor part of the ''Haitai'' conglomerate. In 1989, they entered the game market with their own brand named '''''Haitai Supercom''''' ({{Mousetext|해태 슈퍼콤|Haetae Syupeokom}}). Their main activities consisted on distributing Whirlwind Manu catalog and Famiclones under their brand. They put an end to their gaming division after the failure of the PC-Engine in 1993, which they were in charge of distributing.
+}}'''Haitai Electronics''' ({{Mousetext|해태전자|Haetaejeonja}}) was a South Korean general electronics manufacturer and distributor part of the ''Haitai'' conglomerate. In 1989, they entered the game market with their own brand named '''''Haitai Supercom''''' ({{Mousetext|해태 슈퍼콤|Haetae Syupeokom}}). Their main activities consisted on distributing [[Whirlwind Manu]] catalog and [[Famiclone]]s under their brand. They put an end to their gaming division after the failure of the PC-Engine in 1993, which they were in charge of distributing.
 == Activities ==
+[[File:Supercom-logo.png|left|thumb|Supercom logo.]]
-Haitai was apparently the official distributor of [[Whirlwind Manu]] catalog in Korea. They made their own cover for each releases often featuring Hangul and their logo. The games were sometimes retailed in plastic box with a generic cover and a sticker on the spine with the game title. They also manufactured their own cartridges cases at a point. In the end of 1990, some Japanese publishers alongside with Nintendo sued Haitai for selling their games illegally. Supercom went on to distribute titles licensed in South Korea by [[Daou Infosys]] from Tengen then Color Dreams. It seems by the middle of 1991 they had quite reduced their Famicom activities. Their last Famicom activities consisted of an ad on ''[[Magic Kid Googoo]]'' box and the release of their last clone, the ''Supercom X-1600'' by a subcontractor named Kobo.
+Haitai was apparently the official distributor of Whirlwind Manu catalog in Korea. They made their own cover for each releases often featuring Hangul and their logo. The games were sometimes retailed in plastic box with a generic cover and a sticker on the spine with the game title. They also manufactured their own cartridges cases at a point. In the end of 1990, some Japanese publishers alongside with Nintendo sued Haitai for selling their games illegally. Supercom went on to distribute titles licensed in South Korea by [[Daou Infosys]] from [[Tengen]] then [[Color Dreams]]. It seems by the middle of 1991 they had quite reduced their Famicom activities. Their last Famicom activities consisted of an ad on ''[[Magic Kid Googoo]]'' box and the release of their last clone, the ''Supercom X-1600'' by a subcontractor named Kobo.
 == Consoles ==
-*''Supercom ''- Rebranded Aaronix AX-9900. Released in October 1989.
+*''Supercom'' - Rebranded Aaronix AX-9900. Released in October 1989.
-*''Supercom II ''- Design based on the previous console. Released in April 1991
+*''Supercom II'' - Design based on the previous console. Released in April 1991
 *''Supercom V-1600'' - Smaller and rounded version of the Aaronix design. Advertised in magazines for an April 1991 release but may have gone unreleased in favor of the X-1600 which is identical.
 *''Supercom X-1600'' - Same as the V-1600, came with wired and infrared controllers. 42 built-in games.
@@ Line 23: / Line 24: @@
 == Games ==
-Daou licensed nine titles from unlicensed games developpers from America and had Haitai to distribute at least six of them under the Supercom brand. The first titles released were Klax and Road Runner in the very first weeks of 1991. Skull and Crossbones and Toobin were manufactured in June 1991. The Color Dreams catalog and Shockwave seem to have been released by July 1991 too.
+Daou licensed nine titles from unlicensed games developers from America and had Haitai to distribute at least six of them under the Supercom brand. The first titles released were Klax and Road Runner in the very first weeks of 1991. Skull and Crossbones and Toobin were manufactured in June 1991. The Color Dreams catalog and Shockwave seem to have been fully released by July 1991 too.
+{{:Daou Infosys/Licensed games}}
-=== American Game Cartridges ===
-*''Shockwave'' - as ''Octagon'' (옥타곤)
-[[File:Supercom-logo.png|right|thumb|Supercom logo.]]
-=== Color Dreams ===
+=== [[Zemina]] ===
+While Supercom may or may not have published it, their logo is definitely featured on front of the box. They may have simply paid Zemina to have it featured on the box.
-*''Baby Boomer'' - as ''Hee-dong Ei's Adventures'' (희동이의 모험)<ref>희동이 is the baby's name in the ''Dooly'' cartoon.</ref>
-*''Challenge of the Dragon'' - as ''Black Dragon'' (블랙 드래곤)
-*''Crystal Mines'' - as ''Crystal Commando'' (크리스탈 특공대)
-*''[[Menace Beach]]'' - as ''Flying Superboy''
-Only Baby Boomer and Crystal Mines have a know Haitai release. It's likely the two others are unfound yet.
-=== Tengen ===
-*''Klax ''(크락스)
-*''Road Runner'' (로드러너 X)
-*''Skull & Crossbones'' - as ''Eye-patch Jack'' (애꾸눈 짹)
-*''Toobin'' - as ''Tube Exploration'' (튜브탐험)
-=== Zemina ===
-While Supercom may or may not have published it, their logo is definitely featured on front of the box.
 *''[[Magic Kid Googoo]]'' (Unconfirmed)
@@ Line 49: / Line 35: @@
 *Haitai is still in business today, but only the food branch remains.
 *The games licensed from Color Dreams all feature a Hangul title screen (except ''Baby Boomer'') and updated copyrights with the rest of the game being unchanged. As for the Tengen games, only the copyright was changed for ''Skull & Crossbones'' and ''Toobin''.
-*All games licensed from Tengen (except ''Road Runner'', which probably hasn't been found) and ''Baby Boomer'' had a second release with a different cover, lacking the Haitai and Supercom logos.
+*All games licensed from Tengen, ''Baby Boomer'', and ''Crystal Mines'' had a second release with a different cover, lacking the Haitai and Supercom logos.
 == Gallery ==
+=== Printed advertisements ===
 <gallery>
 20140426190205_7672.jpg|Ad for the ''Supercom'' (rebanded Aaronix) with the Haitai Supercom mascot. (Photo courtesy of ''yeopjib-yeoja'')
 supercom_commercial2.jpg|Another commercial, courtesy of laptick.
+F9BU88L_3.jpg|Ad for the ''Supercom X-1600'' by Kobo.
+</gallery>
+=== Releases ===
+<gallery>
 pacman_supercom.jpg|LA34 Pacman Supercom release. Note the proprietary cartridge shell and Hangul title. Photo courtesy of retroworldkorea.
+haitaisupercom-spines.png|Various box spines. The color for the spine was different for each Whirlwind Manu line. Photo courtesy of KMHz.
+haitaisupercom-3boxfront.png|Box front of some of their Whirlwind Manu cartridges.
+haitaisupercom-3boxback.png|Back. Photos courtesy of KMHz.
+haitaisupercom-3in1box.png|Some multicart. Photo courtesy of tarzan.
+supercom-generic-box.jpg|Generic box used later on. The name of the game was printed on a sticker that was placed on the box side.
 </gallery>
+== Reference ==
+<references/>
 {{Companies}}
 [[Category:Companies from South Korea]]
-[[Category:Publishers]]
 [[Category:Hardware distributors]]
+[[Category:Publishers]]