syn Sophia, Inc. (株式会社シンソフィア, Kabushiki Gaisha Shin Sofia), formerly AKI Corporation and The Man Breeze, is an independent video game development studio located in Kichijōji, Tokyo, Japan, founded on June 19, 1995. The company is best known for its popular wrestling games in the late 1990s and early-mid-2000s, starting with the release of Virtual Pro-Wrestling in 1996.
 | |
| syn Sophia | |
Native name | 株式会社シンソフィア |
Romanized name | Kabushiki Gaisha Shin Sofia |
| Formerly | The Man Breeze (1995–1997) AKI Corporation (1997–2007) |
| Company type | Kabushiki gaisha |
| Industry | Video games |
| Genre | Video game development |
| Founded | June 19, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 70 (2016) |
| Website | www |
The company's take on World Championship Wrestling proved successful in the late 1990s with the release of several games, culminating in WCW/nWo Revenge for the Nintendo 64. As a result, the World Wrestling Federation ended their twelve-year relationship with Acclaim Entertainment and partnered with THQ/AKI in 1999. The relationship would continue AKI's reputation for quality wrestling games, which ended with the release of WWF No Mercy.[1]
History
The company went public in 1998 and on April 1, 2007 was renamed syn Sophia, Inc.[2] The first game developed under that name was Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary for the Nintendo DS in 2007. However, they used their previous name in some of their future titles until 2008 with the release of Style Savvy for the Nintendo DS. Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution would be developed under the name AKI Corporation USA.
Games
Developed under The Man Breeze
| Year | Name | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Virtual Pro-Wrestling | PlayStation | Released only in Japan |
| 1997 | WCW vs. the World |
Developed under AKI Corporation
Developed under syn Sophia, Inc.
Unreleased games
A version of WWF No Mercy for the Game Boy Color was in the works and planned for release alongside the Nintendo 64 version. The game was originally planned to utilize the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak accessory to unlock special content in each version of the game. This feature was later scrapped, however, with the extra content in each version instead being unlocked via gameplay. After further developmental woes, the game was shifted to Natsume, developers of the previous WWF game for Game Boy Color, before finally being canceled in late December 2000. Screenshots of this game at one point existed, but the websites which had them up were forced to remove them following the game's cancellation.[citation needed]
A sequel to WWF No Mercy was rumored to have been planned. However, Sanders Keel, producer of various AKI wrestling titles, confirmed in an interview that this rumor was false.[13]
A sequel to Electronic Arts' WCW Mayhem titled WCW 2000 and later, WCW Mayhem 2 was going to be developed by AKI and was planned for a PlayStation 2 release. There were even some screenshots featured in Issue #33 (May 2000) of the Official PlayStation Magazine. However, it was also shelved in 2001 after the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. The engine of this game would later be recycled for Def Jam Vendetta.
A puzzle video game spinoff of the Dreamcast game Animastar, titled Animastar Puzzle, was announced in early 2000 but was later cancelled, presumably due to the sudden demise of the Dreamcast console.
Mikke! was an action game announced for the Nintendo DS console in early 2008. It was later cancelled for unknown reasons.
In 2019, Game Informer journalist Imran Khan reported on numerous games that were cancelled mid-development for the Nintendo 3DS due to the commercial failure of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. Among those named was an entry into the Style Savvy series.[14]
References
External links
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