Hudson Soft

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"Hudson" redirects here. For the actor with the last name "Hudson", see Ernie Hudson.
Hudson Soft
The logo for Hudson Soft
Founded May 18, 1973[?]
Defunct March 1, 2012[?]
First Super Mario game Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū and Mario Bros. Special
Latest Super Mario game Mario Party DS
Super Multitap
Super Multitap

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game developer and publisher that had been a subsidiary of Konami from 2011 until its dissolution in 2012. Hudson was best known for creating the Bomberman franchise starring the eponymous character. Hudson also co-developed the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 consoles with NEC in the late 1980s. Hudson's most notable work for Nintendo and the Super Mario franchise is the Mario Party series, of which Hudson developed eight console games and two handheld games. From 2010 until Hudson's dissolution in 2012, most of the Mario Party staff at Hudson migrated to the Nintendo-owned Nd Cube (now known as Nintendo Cube) when Hudson's former president Hidetoshi Endo moved there; they then developed Wii Party, before taking control of the Mario Party series, staring with Mario Party 9, which released in 2012.

Hudson logo from the start-up of Mario Party, Mario Party 2 and Mario Party 3
In-game logo from the first three Mario Party titles

Since April 2005, Konami had been the controlling shareholder of Hudson Soft, and in January 2011, Konami announced that it was to fully acquire the rest of Hudson and make it a subsidiary of Konami, with the acquisition process completing on April 1. On March 1, 2012, Hudson Soft merged with Konami Digital Entertainment, Konami's flagship subsidiary and Hudson's sister company, with the latter ending up as the surviving entity.

Hudson's mascot was Hachisuke, a reference to the Hudson Hornet, a sedan from the 1950s built by the unrelated Hudson Automobile Company. It appears in Super Mario Bros. Special as an item that can be collected to earn 8,000 points.

Hudson Soft also created Family BASIC and the Super Multitap.

Super Mario games developed[edit]

1985 print ads showing the availability of Hudson Soft ports on home computers.
1985 print ads showing the availability of Hudson Soft ports on home computers.
1985 print ads showing the availability of Hudson Soft ports on home computers.
Title Year Released Systems
Donkey Kong 3: Dai Gyakushū 1984 Sharp X1, NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-6601
Mario Bros. Special 1984 NEC PC-8001, NEC PC-8801, Sharp X1, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-6601, FM-7, NEC PC-9801, Sharp MZ-1500, Sharp MZ-2200, Hitachi S1, SMC-777
Punch Ball Mario Bros. 1984 NEC PC-8801, Sharp X1, NEC PC-6001, NEC PC-6601, FM-7, Sharp MZ-1500
Family BASIC V3 1985 Family Computer
Golf 1985 NEC PC-8001mkIISR, NEC PC-8801, Sharp X1
Super Mario Bros. Special 1986 NEC PC-8801, Sharp X1, Samsung SPC-1500
Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! 1994 Game Boy
UNDAKE30 Same Game 1995 Super Famicom
Mario Party 1998 Nintendo 64
Mario Party 2 1999 Nintendo 64
Mario Party 3 2000 Nintendo 64
Mario Party 4 2002 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 5 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 6 2004 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party Advance 2005 Game Boy Advance
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix 2005 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 7 2005 Nintendo GameCube
Mario Party 8 2007 Wii
Mario Party DS 2007 Nintendo DS

External links[edit]