Paon DP Inc. (パオン Paon) is a Japanese video game development company. It is the result of merger between the Paon Corporation and DP Inc., the former being known for developing DK: King of Swing, DK: Jungle Climber, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, and Glory of Heracles: Proof of the Soul.
Company history[]
Paon Corporation was founded in January 20, 1999,[1] and soon entered into a partnership with Nintendo in the 2000s. The company developed several entries in the Donkey Kong series including 2005's DK: King of Swing for the Game Boy Advance, 2006's Donkey Kong Barrel Blast for the Wii, and 2007's DK: Jungle Climber for the Nintendo DS. Paon is also the company behind the re-releases in the now-defunct Wii Virtual Console.
In 2003, another video game development company named Data East went bankrupt. Several of its employees moved to Paon, who then in turn bought the rights to some of its games including the Karnov, Chelnov, Kuuga, and the Glory of Heracles series.[2] Paon developed a new Heracles game, titled Glory of Heracles: Proof of the Soul, for the DS in 2008 and published by Nintendo.
DP Inc. was founded in August 2004. Prior to the merger, the company was known for creating mobile games, often being slot machine simulators with a social aspect. DP and Paon's first collaboration was with the 2014 social mobile game Scratch Pirates.[2]
In 2015, it was announced that DP and Paon were merging to form Paon DP Inc., with a goal of delivering the "highest quality entertainment".[2]
Involvement with Super Smash Bros.[]
Members of the Paon staff assisted Sora Ltd. in the production of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008 alongside Monolith Soft and Game Arts. However, unlike those two companies, Paon has representation in the game being Trophies and Stickers of characters from King of Swing, Jungle Climber, and Barrel Blast. The song "DK Jungle 1 Theme" from Barrel Blast is also available as a collectible CD.
All of their Donkey Kong was unfortunately removed in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. However, a medley of battle themes from Glory of Heracles: Proof of the Soul is available as a collectible CD.
Paon's representation is greatly expanded upon in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The characters Kip and Kalypso from Barrel Blast cameo as collectible Spirits alongside the Protagonist and Heracles from Glory of Heracles. The remix from Proof of the Soul returns as a collectible CD alongside a new song, being the boss battle theme from Jungle Climber.
References[]
- ↑ Paon Corporation - Company Information (Japanese). Paon Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved on 04 September 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Paon DP Inc. - Company Profile (Japanese). Paon DP Inc.. Retrieved on 04 September 2020.
| Companies | |
|---|---|
| First/second-party companies | Nintendo · HAL Laboratory · Game Freak · Creatures · The Pokémon Company · Intelligent Systems · Next Level Games · Monolith Soft · Retro Studios · Sora Ltd. |
| Third-party companies | Konami · Sega / Atlus · Capcom · Bandai Namco · Square Enix · PlatinumGames · Xbox Game Studios / Rare Ltd. / Mojang Studios · SNK · Disney |
| Other related developers | Game Arts · Havok · Paon DP List of companies with minor representation |