Irem (company)

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IREM

Type of Company	Public
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Hakusan, Japan
Industry	Computer and video game industry
Products	R-Type (See complete products listing.)
Employees	100
Parent	Eizo
Website	http://www.irem.co.jp/

Irem (アイレム, Irem^?) is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. They are probably best known for the famous scrolling shooter R-Type. They have been a popular developer in Japan with games like Photoboy for the PC Engine and In the Hunt for the Sega Saturn.

Irem was founded in 1974 under the name IPM. Its purpose was to manufacture, sell, and rent arcade hardware cabinets. IPM released its first video arcade games in 1978. In 1979, IPM changed its name to Irem Corporation. Originally an abbreviation for "International Rental Electronics Machines", the meaning of Irem's acronym was changed to "Innovations in Recreational Electronic Media" in the first half of the 1980s.

As Irem entered the 1990s, the corporation began to decline. Sales were so poor that in 1994, Irem completely ceased development of video games. The company's original wholesale division, which was in charge of manufacturing and renting/selling arcade cabinets, spun off from Irem to form its own company called Apies (アピエス); leaving Irem with only the video game division. Then a group of employees, tired of the company's inactivity, left Irem to form their own company under the name Nazca Corporation.

On April 15, 1997, Nanao (now Eizo Nanao) founded Irem Software Engineering Inc. Shortly after in July 1997, Irem Software Engineering took over the development department of Irem Corporation and absorbed it. The publishing department of Irem Corporation, on the other hand, became under the direct control of Nanao who then sold it to none other than Apies in 1998.

Irem now develops and publishes games in Japan exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and will also for the upcoming PlayStation 3. Overall, the video game development department is the only remnant of the former Irem Corporation which is still associated with the brand.

Irem Software Engineering is headquartered in Hakusan. It is a wholly owned subsdiary of Eizo Nanao Corporation

[edit] April Fools

Irem is also known for staging elaborate April Fools jokes, creating web sites that are usually dedicated to promoting something that tends to poke fun at themselves and their games. A listing of these sites are found below and on their main site gallery here.