Amusement Press, Inc.

Amusement Press, Inc. (アミューズメント通信社, Amusement Tsushinsha) is a Japanese publishing house founded in 1973 and based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. It is best known as the publisher of Game Machine (ゲームマシン), the long-running trade newspaper of Japan's arcade and amusement machine industry, which first appeared in 1974. For decades Game Machine was the primary source of news, operator information, trade-show coverage and personnel announcements for the coin-operated amusement sector in Japan and, through its overseas reporting, for readers abroad as well. The company's output extended beyond the newspaper. In September 2005 it published the 530-page book それは「ポン」から始まった ("It Started with Pong") by Masumi Akagi, a history of the computer and video game industry, and in October 2006 the reference volume アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内・海外編（1971-2005） ("Arcade TV Game List, Japan and Overseas Edition, 1971-2005"), also edited by Akagi. These works are widely cited by game historians. Amusement Press was originally headquartered in Kita-ku, Osaka, and moved to Nishinomiya, Hyogo, in June 2002, when the print edition of Game Machine was suspended. From 2021 news was distributed twice a month on the company's website. On 1 June 2019 the company launched the Game Machine Archive, making back issues from 1974 onward freely readable in PDF form. The web edition of Game Machine ceased with the 15 October 2022 issue, though the website itself was kept online for back-number browsing. The company remains a private, family-scale Japanese publisher and rights holder; ゲームマシン, アミューズメント プレス and アミューズメント通信 are its registered trademarks.

Amusement Press, Inc. was founded in 1973 as a Japanese publishing company serving the coin-operated amusement and arcade machine trade. The following year, 1974, it launched its flagship publication, the trade newspaper Game Machine (ゲームマシン), which became the central news organ of Japan's arcade industry. The paper reported on new machine releases, trade shows, operator news, regulations and personnel changes, and its overseas pages carried information about foreign manufacturers and markets. The company was originally headquartered in Kita-ku, Osaka. In June 2002 the print edition of Game Machine was suspended, and the head office moved to Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. Even as the print paper wound down, Amusement Press continued to publish books. In September 2005 it issued the 530-page それは「ポン」から始まった ("It Started with Pong") by Masumi Akagi, a history of the computer and video game industry, and in October 2006 the reference work アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内・海外編（1971-2005） ("Arcade TV Game List, Japan and Overseas Edition, 1971-2005"), also edited by Akagi. Both are frequently cited in game-history research. On 1 June 2019 the company launched the Game Machine Archive, making back issues of Game Machine from 1974 onward freely readable as PDF files. From 2021 news was distributed twice a month on the company's website. On 15 October 2022 the web edition of Game Machine was discontinued, with the publisher stating that the website itself would remain online for the time being so that back numbers could still be consulted. The company's trademarks include ゲームマシン, アミューズメント プレス and アミューズメント通信.

• 2022

  Web edition of Game Machine discontinued after the 15 October issue; website kept online for back numbers.

• 2021

  News begins to be distributed twice a month on the company website.

• 2019

  Game Machine Archive launched on 1 June, offering free PDF back issues from 1974.

• 2006

  Publication of アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内・海外編（1971-2005）, edited by Akagi.

• 2005

  Publication of the 530-page book それは「ポン」から始まった by Masumi Akagi.

• 2002

  Print edition of Game Machine suspended; head office moves from Kita-ku, Osaka, to Nishinomiya, Hyogo.

• 1974

  Launch of the trade newspaper Game Machine.

• 1973

  Amusement Press founded in Japan.

Specialist trade publisher and historical archive for the Japanese arcade and amusement machine industry.

• Game Machine (ゲームマシン)

  The flagship trade newspaper of the Japanese arcade and amusement machine industry, launched in 1974.

• それは「ポン」から始まった

  530-page history of the computer and video game industry by Masumi Akagi, published September 2005.

• アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内・海外編（1971-2005）

  Arcade TV game list covering Japan and overseas, 1971-2005, edited by Akagi, published October 2006.

• Game Machine Archive

  Free PDF archive of Game Machine back issues from 1974 onward, launched 1 June 2019.

1. 1ゲームマシン official websiteampress.co.jp
2. 2Amusement Press — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Amusement Press — Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org