SNK Playmore

SNK Playmore

SNK Playmore Corporation (also known as SNK or Playmore) is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an abbreviation of Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画?, lit. "New Japan Project"), which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986.

The original SNK was founded in Osaka, Japan, in July 1978 by Eikichi Kawasaki and existed until October 22, 2001. Anticipating the end of his first company, Kawasaki founded the company Playmore in August 2001 which became SNK Playmore in 2003. Due to this strong resemblance to the previous company both in name and identity, SNK Playmore is sometimes referred to simply as SNK.

SNK is most notable for creating the Neo Geo family in 1990, which contained many game consoles and arcade systems throughout the 1990s. Their most popular and successful console was the handheld Neo Geo Pocket Color from 1999, which was the last console of the Neo Geo family, which ended in 2001. There was also the NeoGeoWorld theme park, based on the Neo Geo brand.