Shenzhen Niutai Technology Development Co., Ltd (Chinese: 深圳市纽泰科技发展有限公司) is a company based in Shenzhen, China that was founded in 2006. They are mostly known as a developer of games for various consoles using 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit hardware. Starting in May 2021, they would begin operating under the name Shenzhen Siwei Visual Media Co., Ltd. (深圳四纬视觉传媒有限公司) and now primarily offer creative and consulting services.[1] It is unknown if the company still creates video games in any capacity.
Overview[]
Shenzhen Niutai's games were produced for various different forms of hardware, most prominently Sunplus SPG2xx and "Firecore" systems. The Sunplus SPG2xx releases appear on several Wii clones (from Qi Sheng Long and other companies), such as the Hamy WiWi, as well as on the German "Millennium Arcade" handheld consoles. The Firecore releases appeared on many of AtGames' Sega Genesis consoles, often referred to as "bonus games" on the packaging. Niutai would also develop various games for high-resolution plug and play systems using the 32-bit Sunplus SPG293 chipset. Based on a Chinese software copyright filed by Niutai, this was presumably used for the 48 in 1 game set used in consoles such as the WiWi 32 Wii clone (which was also sold under different names). A 54 in 1 system simply known as the TV Sport Game uses an identical menu layout to the 32-bit 48 in 1 game set, although it is unconfirmed if it uses the SPG293.
NES-derived VT03 (?) games were also developed by Niutai; however, they are seemingly very uncommon. Oddly, this set appears to have a connection to Cube Technology, as certain games share such as Pocket Brick and Super Brick share title screens and the "ALL RIGHTS RESERVED" string. Additionally, several VT03 revisions of Nice Code games were produced by Niutai; though they are often mixed in with the original (i.e. unmodified) Nice Code versions and Qi Sheng Long variations. An Italian system known as the "Virtual Joy 112-in-1" by Solar Games is known to feature Niutai's VT-based titles;[2]; they also appear on the U.S.-distributed G Factor cartridges. The "Overmax 151-in-1" plug & play also uses a Niutai game set, but only includes the Nice Code edits and not any originally-programmed games.
Many of Niutai's games are, strangely, clones of other plug & play titles from companies like JungleTac, Nice Code Software, and Cube Technology. It is unknown if these ports were authorized by the original companies, though the strange nature of them may indicate they were unlicensed. Of note, however, is that Niutai's aforementioned VT03 revisions of Nice Code games and Cube Technology games were seemingly licensed by the companies.
DDR clone consoles[]
Shenzhen Niutai has also developed games designed for specific Dance Dance Revolution clone consoles, which have been sold under several names, including the "FWFX Dance Mat"; these systems are often very expensive, retailing at around $200 USD. The hardware used in these consoles are seemingly different from the high-resolution systems used in consoles like the WiWi 32, which Niutai previously developed games for, as they are able to output video in HDMI and native widescreen.
In addition to the built-in DDR clone, there are more standard plug & play games included; many of these are direct ports of Niutai's 32-bit titles included on systems like the WiWi 32. Some consoles also feature a built-in camera, allowing it to play motion-based games similar to the Kinect.
Games[]
It is difficult to confirm exactly which games are Shenzhen Niutai creations. The company often goes uncredited; to the point where many title screens have a copyright notice of "© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED", without listing a company or year. Ironically, this copyright is the easiest way to identify a Niutai produced or published title.
Due to the particularly unusual nature of Niutai's titles, only the most notable games will be listed.
Standard games[]
| Name(s) | Platform(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Baseball 101 (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | A simple baseball game where the player can choose a training mode, a "Game Mode", and a 1P vs 2P option. In training mode and "Game Mode", the player only bats, and will always get a homerun after batting in training mode. |
| Bomb Kid | Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293 | Clone of Bomberman. Niutai would also release a VT03 hack of Bomberman 2002 under this name. The Sunplus SPG2xx version is included on some multi-game handhelds (i.e., the Millennium Arcade 250). |
| Bowling Bowling Alley (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | A simple bowling game where the player can choose a training mode, a Tournament mode, and a 1P vs 2P option. |
| Boxing | VTxx | Clone of the Gameinis-affiliated Boxing game; uses much smaller graphics for the opponent boxer. |
| Bubble Monster | Sunplus SPG293 | Clone of Zuma. It is unknown if this game is connected to Bubbles Master/Bubbles. |
| Bubbles Bubbles Master (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Firecore | Clone of Zuma, with similar graphics to the original game (even with "ZUMA" on-screen around the frog). Notably, the game is made much harder due to the way the balls are assorted and the decreased amount of push back from getting 3 in a row. |
| Bump Bump Curling 2010 (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore, VTxx | Clone of Penguin-kun Wars with original graphics. The enemy CPU simply just moves left and right. |
| Cooking | Sunplus SPG293 | Clone of the Sport Vii game Fry Egg. |
| Crazy Tramcar | VTxx | Clone of the JungleTac game Catch the Egg, which itself is a clone of a minigame from Panic Restaurant. |
| Cross Street Cross the Road (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | Clone of Frogger with a llama in a nightgown crossing the street. Unlike the original Frogger, there are only 3 entrances, and the player can now jump onto cars. |
| Dancing Challenge | "DDR" hardware | The Dance Dance Revolution clone seen on the DDR consoles. The game steals countless actual songs from well-known artists (not cover versions), with their music videos playing in the background. It is divided into two modes: "MTV Mode" (featuring more general music, and using the MTV logo), and "Cartoon Mode" (featuring children's music, and background videos of Hatsune Miku, Akita Neru, and Kasane Teto as dancers in imitation of Project DIVA F 2nd, or Kizuna Ai and another dancer). |
| Darts | Sunplus SPG293, DDR hardware | Direct clone of the Sport Vii game Smart Dart. |
| Delicious Foods | "DDR" hardware | A camera-based game, where the sensor will place giant cartoon lips over the player's actual mouth. The player must move their mouth to eat the happy food, while avoiding eating garlic. |
| Falling Star | VTxx | Direct clone of the JungleTac game Rainbow; it is a game where the player must catch stars inside a pot. |
| Fishing | Sunplus SPG293 | Direct clone of the Sport Vii game Catch Fish. |
| Fishing Joy | "DDR" hardware | A clone of the Chinese arcade/mobile game of the same name. The player catches fish in a net by shooting a cannon at them. The title screen has a copyright notice crediting "Gopoint Company" - it is unknown if this is referring to Niutai or a related company. |
| Friends Always Stick Together | "DDR" hardware | A direct clone of the Adobe Flash game of the same name with identical graphics. An action game where the tortoise and hare team up with each other. Named "Friends" on the game menu. |
| Fruit/Super Fruit | "DDR" hardware | A Fruit Ninja clone. The regular Fruit version is for standard controllers, while the Super Fruit version uses the camera sensor. |
| Funny Quiz | VTxx, Sunplus SPG2xx | A game where the player must match the picture above by rotating creatures in a wheel. Similar to Cube Tech's Catch Copy. |
| Happy Zoo | VTxx, Sunplus SPG2xx | Match 3 game where the player has to match three or more heads of a certain animal. The VTxx and Sunplus SPG2xx versions feature near identical border layouts and animal head graphics. One of the animal heads appears to be Alfred Chicken. |
| Invincible Little Warrior | "DDR" hardware | A Gals Panic clone. The game features background artwork depicting various anime characters including Luffy and Doraemon. |
| Jewel Master Jewel Magic (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore, VTxx | Clone of JungleTac's game of the same name, which in itself is a hack/clone of Magic Jewelry. Notably, this game adds more piece types to the game, including upside down shapes. |
| Jewel Land | Sunplus SPG293, VTxx | A Bejeweled clone, possibly based off of DJ-Jungle's Move Fun. |
| Magic Box | Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, DDR hardware | Sokoban clone. |
| Magic Key Adventure in the Park (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | Clone of JungleTac's One Day of Mr. Potato (or "Mr. Onion"). The graphics are entirely redone compared to the original game. |
| Photo Match | VTxx, Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293 | A simple memory matching game. The Sunplus SPG2xx and Sunplus SPG293 versions are different from the VTxx version in that they feature a movable pointer for selection and are different thematically, taking place in the ocean and mostly featuring aquatic life. One of the card images in the VTxx version is Alfred Chicken. |
| Poket Man | "DDR" hardware (only?) | A Pokémon-themed "Ball Brick" game, somewhat similar to Breakout. The player controls Pikachu, who must throw balls upward to hit the numbered blocks; the numbers dictate the amount of hits needed. The blocks will shift downward if not destroyed; the game is over if the blocks reach the bottom of the screen. Possibly by coincidence, the game uses the same music as the title screen of Pokémon II for the Mega Drive. |
| Rope Skipping | Sunplus SPG2xx, "DDR" hardware | Clone of the mini-game of the same name from the Fit Life plug and play software developed by Promexus Software that uses graphics closely modeled after the original mini-game. Both the Sunplus SPG2xx and "DDR" versions feature a version of the male player character model used in the original mini-game, although in the former, its head is replaced with one from the male mascot character used in Niutai's 32-bit sports games. The Sunplus SPG2xx version is known to have been included on the Millennium Arcade 250 handheld and a 265 in 1 handheld. |
| Sky Up Jack's Pea (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | A game likely themed around Jack and the Beanstalk, where the player must jump up platforms. Possibly based on Nice Code's Frantic Mouse or Cube Technology's Pop Monster. |
| Sky Hawk | Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, VTxx | A faithful 1942 clone which allows the player to select a plane. |
| Soccer | VTxx, Sunplus SPG293, "DDR" hardware | A hack of the Gameinis-affiliated TV Soccer with added cutscenes. VT03 consoles sometimes separate the game modes into individual games, including Soccer Training (Technique Mode) and Goal! (Shoot Mode); these variants may be reprogrammed ports. Unlike other titles, it appears to have a standard Famicom/NES-capable version, which was published as a standalone plug & play by GLK (Gold Leopard King?).[3] |
| Space Defense Break the Fireline (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Firecore | A Space Invaders clone with powerups and enemies that descend similarly to Galaxian. |
| Super Bowling | VTxx | A clone of Championship Bowling for the Famicom/NES; reuses some graphics from the original game.[4] |
| Super Brick | VTxx | A Breakout clone, possibly based off JungleTac's Block Out. The Virtual Football plug & play features an earlier iteration titled Pocket Brick, which is merely an Inventor Arkanoid hack with an added (faux)-title screen. |
| Super Dance | "DDR" hardware | A DanceDanceRevolution clone which looks to predate Dancing Challenge.[5] It features various actual songs just like Dancing Challenge. |
| Super Fishing (Sunplus SPG2xx) Casual Fishing (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Firecore | A version without a title screen is included on Niutai's 18 in 1 multi-game software (notably bundled with some Hamy WiWi models). |
| Super Tennis | VTxx | A first-person tennis game. The title screen features the logo to Super Tennis for the SNES, with a modified image from the title screen of Jimmy Connor's Tennis on the NES.[4] |
| Table Tennis | VTxx, Sunplus SPG2xx | Clone of a game from the unknown JungleTac affiliate, likely based on its Waixing variant. The Sunplus SPG2xx version is included on some multi-game handhelds (e.g. the Millennium Arcade 250). |
| Tennis | Sunplus SPG293, "DDR" hardware | Based on Niutai's TV Virtual Tennis game. |
| TV Boxing | VTxx | A side-view boxing game, seemingly based on the game Best of the Best: Championship Karate. Uses graphics from the VT03 Boxing tech demo on the title screen. |
| TV Virtual Tennis (Sunplus SPG2xx) Tennis Challenge (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Firecore | A near identical clone of the 2003 plug and play game TV Virtual Tennis, which was developed by Conny. A version without a title screen is included on the Fox Sports 7 in 1 plug and play system. |
| Undersea Bubble Fish Tank Live (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore | Direct clone of an earlier variant of JungleTac's Pinball Fish (notably included on the VG Pocket Caplet) or Waixing's Undersea Adventure, with this and the former sharing the exact same level layout for their first stages. |
| Virtual Pingpong (Sunplus SPG2xx) Table Tennis (Sunplus SPG293/"DDR") Joy of Ping-Pong (Firecore) |
Sunplus SPG2xx, Sunplus SPG293, Firecore, "DDR" hardware | Direct port of Cube Technology's VT03 game Super Ping Pong, which itself is based on a Gameinis-affiliated 8-bit game. Features the same options ("Knocks Exercise" and "Smash Exercise") and even the same sampled song (Robert Miles' "Fable") on the title screen, the latter being a custom rendition in the Firecore version. |
| Weight Throw | Sunplus SPG2xx, "DDR" hardware | Clone of the Hammer Throw mini-game from the Fit Life plug and play software developed by Promexus Software that uses graphics closely modeled after the original mini-game. Both the Sunplus SPG2xx and "DDR" versions feature a version of the male player character model used in the original mini-game, although in the former, its head is replaced with one from the male mascot character used in Niutai's 32-bit sports games. The Sunplus SPG2xx version is known to have been included on the Millennium Arcade 250 handheld and a 265 in 1 handheld. |
Numerous clones of Nice Code Software titles would also be produced by Niutai for Sunplus SPG2xx hardware. Some notable examples include "Fish Journey" (clone of a VT03 Pobble variant), "Earth Defence" (clone of Gallagant), and "Hit Mouse" (clone of Rural Goblin).
Contract work[]
Games developed by Niutai for other companies. While not credited in these games, these games share certain qualities with Shenzhen Niutai's known games such as sound and graphics.
- Fantastic Four: YOU ARE THE HERO Game (2007)[6][7] - Plug and play game based on the Fantastic Four franchise released by Senario in the United States. It features 5 missions where the player shoots down enemies with the Fantasticar on top of an inflatable Fantasticar. The sound design in particular closely mirrors Niutai's 16-bit games included on multi-game consoles like the Hamy WiWi.
- Speed Racer (2008) - Plug and play game based on the American localization of the original Speed Racer anime released by Senario in the United States. The sound design in particular closely mirrors Niutai's 16-bit games included on multi-game consoles like the Hamy WiWi. Uses Sunplus SPG2xx hardware. Dumped and emulated in MAME.
Trivia[]
- The Firecore versions of each game are directly based on their equivalent Sunplus SPG2xx versions, but feature many differences.
- For unknown reasons, all games are now renamed and feature title screens. Some games also have "2010" in their name, likely meaning these ports were developed in that year. References to the original game names (such as in the high score screen background) still remain in some games.
- The Main BGM for each game seems to now be a MIDI file converted through GEMS, likely due to hardware constraints. Tracks featured in each game's equivalent Sunplus version still remain in the code as unused data.
- Oddly, the Firecore version of Super Fishing, Casual Fishing, runs much more choppy than the Sunplus version. Similar downgrades are not featured in other Firecore versions.
"Test Audio!" screen seen in the test mode on Niutai systems.
- Most 16-bit and 32-bit systems from Niutai have a test mode that tests various aspects of their hardware (i.e., RAM, ROM, video, audio, controller input), which can be activated by holding a button combination while powering the system on. The following Niutai systems are confirmed to have this test mode:
- Millennium Arcade 101 - hold A + B while powering on; press A to advance through screens
- Millennium Arcade 250 - hold A + B while powering on; press A to advance through screens
- Speed Racer (Senario) - hold A + B while powering on; press Start/Pause to advance through screens
- A 265 in 1 handheld system (listed in MAME as "265games") - hold A + B while powering on; press A to advance through screens
- WiWi 32[8] - controls unknown
- Some consoles released from 2025 onward, such as the "AR Motion Gaming Console" sold by "MetFut", use a similar game library to the "DDR" hardware consoles, focusing on camera-based motion games. However, all menu and in-game graphics are replaced with crude, AI-generated visuals; most games are also renamed (e.g. Poket Man to Pinball Happy Elf). It is unknown if this game set is affiliated with Niutai.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.qcc.com/firm/849d3b4f741d508fdaf5d8a97c2ec474.html
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUZ6g-WUXeM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2phuk244IjA
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gg6MBclZFM
- ↑ https://youtu.be/egPNwGfg0s4?t=116
- ↑ Year printed on the box for Fantastic Four: YOU ARE THE HERO Game
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRRq1a22rV4
- ↑ "Ma ostsin 20€ eest kahtlase Wii (w/Reigo)" - YouTube (20:26)