| Native name | 株式会社アルファドリーム |
|---|---|
| Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha ArufaDorīmu |
| Industry | Video games |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Predecessor | AlphaStar (video game division) |
| Founded | January 12, 2000 (age 26), in Tokyo, Japan |
| Defunct | October 1, 2019 (age 6) |
| Hq location | Wako Miyamasuzaka Building, 2-19-8 |
| Hq location city | Shibuya, Tokyo |
| Hq location country | Japan |
| Key people | Tetsuo Mizuno (president) |
| Num employees (2011) | 38 |
| Website | alphadream.co.jp September 30, 2019 at the Wayback Machine |
AlphaDream Corporation, Ltd. (株式会社アルファドリーム, Kabushikigaisha ArufaDorīmu) was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. It was founded in 2000 by Square alumni Chihiro Fujioka and Tetsuo Mizuno. Closely associated with Nintendo throughout its existence, the company was known for their role-playing games, most notably the Mario & Luigi series for the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS. On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream was shut down after filing for bankruptcy.
History
AlphaDream was a spinoff company from AlphaStar, (株式会社アルファスター, Kabushikigaisha ArufaSutā) a staffing agency that dealt in construction work also known as Mente Tomo and Ai. (株式会社メンテ友アンド愛, Kabushikigaisha Mente Yu ando Ai) Chihiro Fujioka joined AlphaStar in 1999 to head up a video game production division.[1] He and Tetsuo Mizuno spun the company off as AlphaStar Software on January 12, 2000, before renaming it to AlphaDream in July of that year.[1] Several members of their staff had previously worked at Square, including Mizuno, Square's second president, and Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa, who were game directors at Square.[1] The name AlphaDream, meaning the 'first dream', is a play on Final Fantasy, Square's most popular series.[1]
Their first game, Koto Battle, is a Pokémon-style role-playing game, wherein the player battles three of their twenty character cards against AI opponents. It was released in March 2001 for the Game Boy Color. It was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.
AlphaDream's next game was Tomato Adventure, released in January 2002. The player, as DeMille, a tomato-hater in the Ketchup Kingdom, fights his way from his outcast village to rescue his girlfriend. The in-game weapons are toy-like and the battles against opponents involve minigames. Tomato Adventure was co-developed with Graphic Research and directed by Chihiro Fujioka of Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy Legend III. It was expected for release on the Game Boy Color as Gimmick Land, but was pushed to the new Game Boy Advance and renamed for better marketing.[2] AlphaDream became the developer of the Mario & Luigi series of games shortly after, with the first entry in the series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, releasing in 2003.
On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy, citing sluggish revenues and high development costs, and being unable to keep up with growing debt (which as of March 2018 was over ¥465 million).[3][4] The next game in the Mario & Luigi series, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, included some of the "original staff" according to Nintendo.[5][6]
Games
| Year | Title | Publisher | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito | AlphaDream | Game Boy Color |
| 2002 | Tomato Adventure | Nintendo | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue | ||
| Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga | |||
| 2004 | Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games | ||
| 2005 | Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time | Nintendo DS | |
| Tottoko Hamtaro Nazo Nazo Q Kumonoue no ? Jou | |||
| 2007 | Hi Hamtaro! Ham-Ham Training | Marvelous Interactive | |
| 2009 | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story | Nintendo | |
| PostPet DS | Marvelous Entertainment | ||
| 2013 | Mario & Luigi: Dream Team | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS |
| 2015 | Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam | ||
| 2017 | Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions | ||
| 2018 | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey | ||
| 2019 | Kedama no Gonjiro: Fit & Run | ForwardWorks | Android |
| iOS | |||
| Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 | Sega | Nintendo Switch |
References
- ^ "【Developer Profile】第8回 株式会社アルファドリーム"
- ^ "History of AlphaDream: Ketchup and Plumbers - Feature"
- ^ "『マリオ＆ルイージRPG』シリーズなどの開発会社アルファドリームの破産手続き開始が決定 直近では『けだまのゴンじろー フィットエンドラン』の開発も | gamebiz"
- ^ 帝国データバンク (2 October 2019). "『マリオ＆ルイージRPG』など開発 アルファドリームが破産開始" (in Japanese). Teikoku Databank. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019. – via Yahoo! News Japan.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (June 18, 2024). "Nintendo's Next Zelda Game Lets You Play As Zelda [Update]". www.gamefile.news. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (22 June 2024). "Nintendo won’t reveal Mario & Luigi’s new developer, but says ‘original staff’ are involved". VGC
External links
- Official website September 30, 2019 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)