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Fujisankei Communications International

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Fujisankei Communications International
IndustryTelevision, video game publishing (past)
FoundedOctober 1986
HeadquartersNew York City, NY
Key peopleMakoto Wakamatsu (President and CEO)
Number of employees79
ParentFuji Media Holdings
Websitehttp://www.fujisankei.com

Fujisankei Communications International, Inc. (FCI) is the American arm of the Fujisankei Communications Group, a Japanese media conglomerate of television and radio channels, magazine, newspaper, record and video game companies. The Fujisankei Communications Group regroups more than 90 companies, like Fuji TV in Japan, among others. Founded in 1986 in New York City and owned by Fuji Media Holdings, FCI makes productions from the Fujisankei Communications Group available to the United States and the rest of the western world.

FCI has contracts with television stations in New York City, Hawaii and California to air programming segments. Since 1999, Fuji TV, through FCI, has forbidden foreign TV stations from subtitling its dramas, a practice that is criticized and has alienated some fans of the genre.

FCI was involved with videogame publishing as well, being one of the early third-party licensees for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) starting in 1987. Originally, FCI merely published in North America translations of video games that were released in Japan mainly by Pony Canyon, another company from the Fujisankei Communications Group. FCI was well-known at this time for the many RPG and Adventure games they released for the NES as conversions from PC games, such as the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Ultima series. Later, FCI began contracting outside development houses to create original games; examples include WCW Super Brawl Wrestling and WCW: The Main Event, both developed by Beam Software of Australia; Might & Magic III, developed by Iguana Entertainment; and Metal Morph and the Runes of Virtue titles in the Ultima series, both developed by Origin Systems. FCI had a long partnership with Origin, starting when Pony Canyon was hired to translate the Ultima PC games for Japan, strengthening through the conversion of Ultima III, IV and V for the NES, followed by Ultima VI and VII for the Super NES, and continuing through the end of FCI's videogame department; a conversion of Origin's PC game Wing Commander II to the Super NES was in development for release by FCI when they closed their video games division. In the mid-1990s, FCI abandoned video game distribution to concentrate on television operations.

The company continues to be based in Manhattan, but has since moved from its original offices at Pier 17 Pavilion to its current location around 1988. FCI also has secondary offices in the United States and Europe.

History

In 1987, FCI launched the Satellite Home Shopping program introducing American products, aimed to combat intense "trade friction" between the United States and Japan, starting with the first broadcast on January 15 and the second in May. These broadcasts, featuring Japanese celebrities were beamed to "three million television viewers in 11 Japanese cities". Sales from the first broadcast totalled US$1.4 million while the second was at US$2 million. As the two broadcasts were "not profitable", FCI planned to start a regular program in September using European and American products.

FCI had 22 offices worldwide in 1990.

Published games

NES

Super NES

Game Boy

Sega CD

Unpublished games

Curse of the Azure Bonds was abandoned due to difficulties during development. The remaining games were in development.

References

  1. ^ "Company Profile | About Us".
  2. "Wealth of new titles for Nintendo System" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. Vol. 6, no. 3. June 1987. p. 11.
  3. ^ "Crossing trade barriers via satellite". Business Times (Singapore). UPI. July 24, 1987.
  4. ^ "Japan-US satellite shopping 'to help cut surplus'". The Straits Times. Associated Press. January 14, 1987.
  5. "Contact Us". FCI. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  6. "Japan's biggest media group may use S'pore as regional base". The Straits Times. December 13, 1990.
  7. "Curse of the Azure Bonds...there were plans to remake it for the SNES".
  8. "Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra". Retrieved January 29, 2014. A prototype ROM indicating prospective publishing by FCI...

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