HOME > English > History of KOTO

History

1996	Koto Co.,Ltd. was established by Gunpei Yokoi who left Nintendo.
1997	Mini games, "Kunekunetchyo" and "Henoheno" were released from Hiro Co., Ltd. Yoshihiro Taki became President & CEO.
1998	Arcade machines, "My puzzle" and "POSTERISM" were produced and released from Sammy Corporation and Intergio corp. respectively.
1999	A portable game machine " WonderSwan" and its software " GUNPEY" were launched and released by BANDAI CO., LTD.
2000	Obtained ISO9001:2000 certification.
2001	"WonderSwan Color" was released by BANDAI CO., LTD. Kazuhiro Kubota became President & CEO.
2002	" SwanCrystal" was released by BANDAI CO., LTD. A mobile learning device "POCKET CHALLENGE V2" started its distribution by Benesse Corporation.
2003	"Hinemos Kit" was launched. Started the development of new LSI and related software.
2004	"Hinemos Kit" was awarded a prize by the Hobby Association of Japan because the kit utilized unique material, paper pipes. "Hinemos Kit" was certified as "Good Toy" by the NPO "Japan Good Toy Committee". "Hinemos Kit" was published by Boutique-sha Co.,Ltd.
2005	Koto was comissioned to research multimedia multifunctional chip by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.
2006	The ZEVIO ™application processor architecture which adopted our know-how and technology was released by LSI Corporation. Note: In July of 2007, Magnum Semiconductor acquired the Consumer Products Group of LSI Corporation. All of the products in Zevio lines are now provided by Magnum. 注)2007年7月31日に「ZEVIO™ 」 PIPEROID® was launched.
2007	PIPEROID®receives the "Good Design Award 2007" from Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization. "Let's! TV Play Dragon Ball Z" was released by BANDAI CO., LTD.

2008	"Bohgame" was released by Bandai co., Ltd. "Let's! TV Play Dragon Ball Z×One Piece" was released by BANDAI CO., LTD.
2009	TV globe was released by Epoch Co., Ltd. Benesse Corporation started to distribute " Pengy & story book".
2010	Obtained ISO9001:2008 "VOICE FANTASY" was released by SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
2011	An app for iPhone/iPod touch, iPad "Monster Hamburger" was released by Epoch Co., Ltd.
2012	"The Twin Obake and the Miracle Seed" by Mr.UrumaDelvi started its sales in iPad /iPhone App Store. English Perfect Player” and “Ever’s English ★ Grand Prix” distributed by Benesse Corporation. PIPEROID series,"ANIMALS" released.
2013	"English Perfect Player" and "Kanji-Math Miracle Touch" started their distribution by Benesse Corporation. PIPEROID series, "FRIENDS" launchced. "ANIMALS" receives the "Good Design Award 2013" from Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization.
2014	"Talking Dorry" started its distribution by Benesse Corporation. Koto's original technology, SeePhony®and Digishot®launched.
2015	" Talking Word Book" published by Benesse Corporation. ” AirWitch ®", Koto's original technology of displaying afloat images above smartphone introduced. Twin Obake series app (by Mr.UrumaDelvi) - "Catch the egg!" released in iPad App Store. "Hatsuon Hakase ®" an English pronunciation evaluation app for iPhone/iPad/iPod released. "LL Ranger ®", a free maze & action gameiPhone/iPod/Android application released.