Irem Corp.

Irem Corporation is a Japanese developer and publisher most well known for the R-Type franchise.

Overview

Founded in 1974 under the name IPM, Irem is a well known Japanese video game developer and publisher. They have developed many well known games, including R-Type, the earliest known "beat-em-up" game, Kung-Fu Master, and many other well known games and franchises.

Originally a manufacturer of arcade cabinets, IPM released many arcade cabinets between 1974 and 1978. In 1979, IPM changed their name to IREM Corporation. IREM was an acronym for International Rental Electronics Machines, but that was changed in the 1980s to Innovations in Recreational Electronic Media. Irem continued strong until the 1990s. Sales began to fall, and the corporation began to fall apart. People left Irem, including the arcade cabinet department (forming off a separate company known as Apies), and many employees went on to form Nazca Corporation (creator of the Metal Slug franchise). However, in 1997 Nanao founded the Irem Software Engineering, Inc., which took control of the remainder of Irem Corporation. Irem still develops games primarily for Sony owned systems.

Company Name	Irem Corp.
Street Address	655 Fukudome, Hakusan
City	Ishikawa
State
Country	Japan
Website	http://www.irem.co.jp
Contact Email	webmaster@irem.co.jp
Phone Number	81-76-277-3800
Date Founded	April 15, 1997
Count of Games Published	23
Count of Games Developed	26
Aliases

Dobkeratops first in R-Type	7
Kickle first in Kickle Cubicle	2
Karen Morris first in Disaster Report	1
Thomas first in Kung-Fu Master	1
Greg Bach	1
Keith Helm first in Disaster Report	1
Kelly Austin first in Disaster Report	1