St.GIGA
| St.GIGA | |
|---|---|
| |
| Founded | April 2, 1990 |
| Defunct | March 31, 2003 |
| First Super Mario game | Waiwai de Q Dai-1-wa |
| Latest Super Mario game | Satella-Q Shin Q Omedetou Pikapika no Q Ninsei |
| Current president | Director Hiroshi Yokoi (deceased) |
Satellite Digital Audio Broadcast Co., better known and traded as St.GIGA (セント・ギガ Sento.GIGA) was a satellite radio company that was heavily involved in the Satellaview, an add-on for the Super Famicom. Prior to their involvement with Nintendo, St.GIGA was perhaps most known for its satellite radio station that played playing new-age and ambient music to a cult fanbase.
In 1994, St.GIGA began struggling financially due to the Japanese Recession negatively affecting demand for their ambient music and satellite tuners, but Nintendo bought a 19.5% stake in their company as a way of "rescuing" it and to assist in restructuring.[1] Officially announced on December 21, 1994, St.GIGA and Nintendo released the Satellaview in April 1995, and St.GIGA dropped much of its original content in order to maintain the service, providing downloads for users and more videogame and pop-culture oriented audio broadcasts.
In 1998, Nintendo and St.GIGA's relationship deteriorated after the latter refused to go forward with a debt-management plan orchestrated by Nintendo and had failed to apply for a government digital satellite broadcasting license by a deadline. Because of this, Nintendo ceased production of new content for the Satellaview in March 1999, though St.GIGA kept the service up for two more years with reruns of older games.[2] Due to financial issues and a critical lack of third-party support, the company would ultimately decide to discontinue the Satellaview and return to their original focus on music, with support and services for the peripheral ending on June 30, 2000. None of St.GIGA's work before or afterward was tied to video games.
St.GIGA would still struggle with financial issues and, facing bankruptcy, merged with WireBee in 2001 and was eventually renamed Club COSMO before its broadcasting license was sold to World Independent Networks Japan and WireBee went bankrupt as well in 2003, and its assets have gone through several different hands. Attempts to re-broadcast their old content by World Independent Networks Japan starting in 2006 have been revoked by the Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs.[3]
References
- ^ St.GIGA history
- ^ Nintendo Drops Satellite Plan, Video-Game Company Halts Plan To Deliver Games Directly To Homes. CNN. August 21, 1998. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ メディアの興亡 / BSラジオ局WIN-Jに総務省が引導. ITmedia. September 19, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
