D4 Enterprise

D4 Enterprise Co., Ltd. (株式会社D4エンタープライズ, Kabushiki-gaisha D4 Entāpuraizu, often shortened to D4E) is a Japanese video game publisher currently specializing in content delivery services like Project EGG,[2][3] EGGY and PicoPico over the Internet.

Other products and services from D4 Enterprise include EGG Music, a digital music service, focused around soundtracks for older Japanese home computer games; AC-MALL, an online store selling reprints of older video games, soundtracks and other forms of merchandise; and 1chipMSX, a special updated model of the MSX home computer.

[12] As part of the Amusement Center, AC-MALL was also created as a digital storefront for game reprints, books and other merchandise.

[18] In August 2005, D4 Enterprise would establish EGG Music as a sub-service of Amusement Center, for the purpose of digitally distributing older video game soundtracks.

In 2008, D4 Enterprise brought the MSX versions of Aleste and Eggy to the Japanese Wii Virtual Console[37] – although both would later be delisted in 2012.

[43] On December 2, 2009, Snapdots (a reimagining of the 2001 Game Boy Advance title Guru Logi Champ by Compile) was released for DSiWare.

[51] D4 Enterprise has acquired the rights to the intellectual property (IP) of several Japanese games companies including from several that have gone out of business, with the intent to preserve their libraries and ensure that people can still enjoy their works.

[citation needed] In October 2006, D4 Enterprise announced that it had negotiated a transfer of rights from BBMF Group Inc. for the library of Bothtec, Inc - the company that originally started Project EGG, and where D4E CEO Naoto Suzuki worked before he founded D4E.

The IP rights to the library of HummingBirdSoft (including Laplace no Ma and the Deep Dungeon series) were acquired by D4 Enterprise in March 2013.

[56] By this time, D4E had also acquired the rights to the libraries of Cosmos Computer, System Sacom, Carry Lab and Winkysoft.

[58] Bonus disc: MSX, MSX2, MSX2+, Game Boy Initial run included a bonus disc containing: Apermia Dock, Battleship Clapton 2, Laydock, Super Laydock: Mission Striker, Laydock 2: Last Attack, Earth Liberation Army ZAS Project EGG (プロジェクトEGG, Purojekuto EGG, EGG stands for "Engrossing Game Gallery") is an emulation-based games content delivery service for Windows operating systems, focused around titles originally released for older Japanese home computers - such as NEC's PC-9801 or Fujitsu's FM-7 systems.

Since 2010,[3] the service has also included titles from home consoles (like the Famicom or Sega Mega Drive), as well as arcade games.

Users need to have an account registered with D4 Enterprise's "Amusement Center" website and pay a monthly fee to make use of the service - which is accessed via a desktop client called "EGG Launcher".

Naoto Suzuki, an employee at Bothtec, Inc. at the time, along with some of his co-workers felt that there should be legal routes to allow easy access to these older titles, without having to resort to piracy or complicated setting-up of emulators.

[105] Therefore, Project EGG was designed to be "pick-up-and-play" and the subscription and client-based systems were implemented to assuage fears of the service promoting piracy.

[115] Guidelines on allowing the creation and monetization of secondary game content on YouTube (such as let's plays) were announced on November 24, 2022 - as part of a collaborative endeavour with Kadokawa Corporation.

EGG Console was released in International markets starting October 12, 2023, also featuring Relics as the label's debut title.

[119][120] There have been 43 titles released as part of the EGG Console lineup: EGGY was an emulation-based games distribution service for the Yahoo!

[45] EGGY had a wide range of MSX, MSX2 and PC-9801 titles available, including HummingBirdSoft's Deep Dungeon and Microcabin's Xak: The Art of Visual Stage; and game save data could be transferred between different platforms freely.

[195] PicoPico was first launched on October 16, 2020, with a starting library of 30 Famicom titles, and was initially only available for iOS and iPadOS devices.

[193] An update on April 29, 2021, added the ability for free users to access all paid titles, by watching advertisements in the app.

[196] The Android version of PicoPico was released on July 27, 2021[49] - with a slimmed down feature set compared to its App Store counterparts.