Gaming Ads: Taito America

In 1953 the Taito Trading Company was founded in Tokyo by Ukrainian Michael Kogan and initially sold a variety of goods and vending machines, then leased jukeboxes and amusement equipment. The company name was changed to Taito Corporation in 1972 and entered the arcade game business in 1973, and had its first huge hit in 1978 with the release of Space Invaders. Taito did continue making other amusement machines and specialized in karaoke systems while releasing many more hit arcade games throughout the '80s.

I don't believe anything matched the success of Space Invaders, the game the company will always be best known for. Some of its other most recognizable games include Qix, Elevator Action, Bubble Bobble, Arkanoid, Rastan, Darius, Operation Wolf, and Chase H.Q. Qix was actually developed by Taito America which was based in Illinois; it opened in 1973 and closed in 1996. There was also a Taito Software based in Canada from 1988-1995, and its address appears on some of the ads I'm posting. Square Enix bought a stake in Taito in 2005 and then made it a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2006.

Taito America albums: Facebook - Google Photos