Future Pirates Inc

Company Type	Developer
Founded	1993
Status	Closed Circa 2002
Head Quarters	Tokyo, Japan
Website	www.fpi.co.jp

Released 3DO Games

Game	Region	Code	Type	Developer	Publisher	Release Date	Local Title	Rarity
Chiki Chiki Machine Mo Race		FZ-SJ1351	Adventure	Future Pirates Inc	Future Pirates Inc	20th March 1994	チキチキマシン猛レース　～ケンケンとブラック魔王のイジワル大作戦～	1
Chiki Chiki Machine Mo Race 2:In Space		FZ-SJ1353	Adventure, Racing	Future Pirates Inc	Future Pirates Inc	11th August 1995	チキチキマシン猛レース２　～イン・スペース～	1
Chiki Chiki Machine Mo Race 2:In Space - Demo		FZ-JJ9DSW-5H	Demodisc	Future Pirates Inc	Future Pirates Inc	11th August 1995	チキチキマシン猛レース２　～イン・スペース～	1
Macaroni Hourensou Interactive		FZ-SJ4551	Adventure	Future Pirates Inc	Toshiba EMI	January 13, 1995	マカロニほうれん荘　インタラクティブ	1
Montana Jones		FZ-SJ1352	Adventure	Future Pirates Inc	Future Pirates Inc	January 20, 1995	モンタナ・ジョーンズ	1
Montana Jones Demo		FZ-JJ9DSM-5A	Demodisc	Future Pirates Inc	Future Pirates Inc	January 20, 1995	モンタナ・ジョーンズ デモンストレーション版	1

3DO Overview

Future Pirates appeared on the original 3DO Developer list.

Overview

Future Pirates was a hypermedia creative group set up by Tsuyoshi Takashiro, with a mission to produce software ahead of its time, while conforming to quality of sound and video. They also released 'Franky Online', an online game released in 1995/96 for the PC and Pippen, so potentially was looked at the 3DO if networking ever was to happen.

Tsuyoshi Takashiro, Captain and CEO

Taken from the Future Pirates Website -

A self described "hyper-media creator," this 30 year old Tokyoiteis at the forefront of Japan's new digital generation. "I love being Japanese. Tokyo is my favorite city in the whole world, and I can say that with pride. The good thing is that tradition can be thrown out without any hesitation. Defying Japanese trasition is the root of this young entrepreneur's success. Takashiro's parents were both ter ceremony traditional corporate job. Instead, he dabbled in music while studying literature at Nihon University. While he expresses hatred for "real" jobs, he is a workaholic, constantly dreaming up new projects, concepts, and technology. His youthful enthusiasm is the driving fore in his artistic endeavors. Takashiro is a true visionary- a product of the video game generation who got off his couch and did something.

　

But first, his disgust with corporate employment led him to homelessness in his early twenties. "I lived in a park in Shinjuku and spent winters in my Honda. I was a lost nomad in a big city for tow years." he recalls. At the height of his slackerdom, Takashiro stumbled upon a video camera. He started experimenting with video as art, and his first video, "The Writing on the Wall," brought him the Grand Prix of the Tokyo International Video Biennaire. The Grand Prix opened up the doors that that he needed to develop his hidden talents. Takashiro began working in traditional forms of media, directing television commercials that included a series of ads starring Leonard Nimoy for Japanise textile manufacture TEIJIN. Takashiro's unmistakable style can also be found in the music videos he has directed for various Japanese pop artists, in addition to the 1991 video for Fishbone's "Everyday Sunshine."

Takashiro directed his first TV movie, Banana Chips Love, in 1991. This film shout in New York, follows the jouney of Lisa, a young woman trying to find herself in the Big Apple. A Lynch-esque drama, its cast includes a set of gay idenical twins who dress up like Boy George (circa "Kama Chameleon") and cameo appearances by Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg. This sries met with great success and inspired Takashiro to make a sequel, Alphabet 2/3, which took a more philosophical approach, using the same characters to express the importance of non-verbal communication and the power of belief. Alphabet 2/3 opens shortly after Lisa drowns on a sinking ship. The twins come to Japan for her funeral and start living with her family. Lisa's younger sister feels that Lisa must still be alive, so she and the twins take off on a journey to kind her. "That's where the idea of believing in something comes in," says Takashiro, "whether it's religion or whatever. We ask the question, what should we believe in?" Whether Takashiro is directing a drama, comedy or video game, an underlying message always conveys his thoughts on humanity.

Takashiro's next ambition was to produce CD-ROM titles, but at the time there were no production studios that met with his standards. In Japan, multimedia was an industry without a history, so Takashiro decided to create one. In 1993 he founded Future Pirates, Inc., a company that produced six CD-ROM Wacky Races, which sold over 50,000 copies in its first month on the market, is scheduled for an American release later his month. Future Pirates' Los Angeles office also produces segments for multimedia television Moving beyond the limits of icon based online systems like AOL, Takashiro created the 3-D visual interface of Franky OnLine-the goggle-free gateway to cyber-space's first fully realized virtual showcase Agent X, hosted by Takashiro. Agent X is a magazine format program featuring ne media game designers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and special effects houses airing in Japan.

Takashiro plans to establish a functioning virtual studio via ISDN links between Future Pirates' Los Angeles and Tokyo offices. This studio will be instrumental in cyber sci-fi action thriller that Takashiro wrote himself. He plans to shoot live action footage in Los Angeles and meet hi computer graphics designers in cyberspace to edit in computer effects and CG environments. Future Pirates Tokyo has already been equipped with the powerful Kodak/Cineon digital compositing system for state of the art special effects.

Franky OnLine is the new online service being developed by FP in Tokyo . The service will premiere in June at the Windows World Expo, Tokyo. According to Takashiro, today's online business is infiltrated with "icon" operations like America OnLine. Franky OnLine will be very easy to access because it introduces the Reality Operation System, which stores visual information on a CD-ROM that interacts with the feed from the Net. This will allow users to feel as if they're walking through a virtual town without heavy VR goggles. The town includes a cyber mall complete with a bookstore, a toystore, an arcade, a cafe and a newsstand with over ten daily newspapers. Video monitors throughout the virtual town will adveruse available real estate in the town. One of the biggest consumer electronics companies and a major department store chain in Japan have already bought space. Takashiro aspires to make this the most popular server on the net. Future Pirates plans to distribute 500,000 free CD-ROMs, including the starter kit, for the services Japanese debut. Franky OnLine is not limited to Japan, however-it will be totally accessible by the Internet using an IP connection. A user-friendly interface and low monthly fees will be the strongest attractions of this Internet service. It has drawn substantial press attention in Japan, where it promises to change the primarily average monthly Internet subscription fee, which is four times the cost in the U.S. Future Pirates also runs a toy shop for big kids, "Santa Claus Machine," in the hip Harajuku section of Tokyo. This cross between a gamer's paradise and Pee Wee's Playhouse carries everything from high end software to Star Trek figures. Takashiro and the Future Pirates team take the term multimedia very literally and are approaching the market through television, design, gaming, film, advertising and retail. Takashiro claims that Future Pirates never closes or stops. "Don't take my word for it, come visit our office if you are ever in Tokyo. Hang out with our crazy staff. We are not kamikazes or samurai- we are multimedia artists creating something that is our own In the 1970s Virgin records was just a small record store in London. Who would have imagined it would start an airline and megastore empire? In the 21st century, don't be surprised if you see the Future Pirates Logo on the side of passenger space shuttles to the moon!" As ambitious as ever, Takashiro continues to keep one foot firmly planted in the future.