Quintet

Quintet Company, Limited (株式会社クインテット) is a Japanese video game developer, founded in 1989. The company name is derived from musical terminology, as well as 5 elements of game design - planning, graphics, sound, programmers, and producers. Quintet was most active in the 1990s, when it had a strong relationship with Enix (now incorporated into Square Enix); the company was also a member of GD-NET group of Sega Saturn developers. The current status of Quintet is unclear.

Company background
The director and president of Quintet is Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, the scenario writer for the first two entries for Nihon Falcom's classic Ys series. Masaya Hashimoto, the main programmer for the same titles, is also a member. Thanks to that connection, composer Yuzo Koshiro (also an Ys veteran) lent his talents to the score of the company's inaugural title, Actraiser, a soundtrack which has since been adapted for orchestra. Koshiro's sister, Ayano Koshiro, drew the character designs.

The later releases of Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma, known to fans as the Soul Blazer Trilogy, established a defining feature of Quintet games - the strong, sometimes dark themes addressed in their titles. Quintet's games frequently revolve around a conflict between a being that brings destruction and a being that controls creation as symbols of duality. The world has two aspects which both oppose and complement each other, and everything in existence is built upon that relationship. Unflinching portrayals of the suffering and sacrifices that are a part of life set Quintet games apart, and have attracted many fans.

However, around 2000 release of games that contained characteristic Quintet themes declined, and currently the company appears to be inactive.

Mysterious silence
As of 2010, Quintet's official website had not been updated in 8 years, and has now closed down. The company has been silent for unknown reasons. There was an active bulletin board on the official site until March 29, 2002 (the release date of the Game Boy Advance Action RPG Magical Houshin, or Mystic Heroes in North America), but in response to an overflow of angry comments from fans made impatient by the lack of news, Quintet staff posted, "As we cannot currently release any information, we will close this bulletin board". Afterward, the bulletin board was shut down.

Recent activity
Since 2002, games have been released that credit Quintet staff members, but make no mention of Quintet as a company. Tomoyoshi Miyazaki is credited on Mystic Heroes (GBA) from Koei, and another Quintet staff member worked as a sound designer on four Game Boy Advance installments of Banpresto's Super Robot Wars series. In 2004 Miyazaki was also credited in InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask on (PlayStation 2).

Fans are sighting the names of Quintet staff members in the ending credits of numerous games. This provides evidence that currently, staff members are contracting specialized work on a wide variety of games that are dissimilar from their work with Quintet.

Furthermore, the "Quintet" name as a company has appeared in the credits for Gust's "Atelier Iris" series, specifically for item design. This is a small but important role, as item synthesis in each game leads to about 400 designs needed, each intricately done by the Quintet staff.

In March 2008, Quintet's website was shut down.

Works developed

 * ActRaiser
 * Soul Blazer
 * ActRaiser 2
 * Illusion of Gaia
 * Robotrek
 * Terranigma
 * Solo Crisis
 * Code R
 * Planet Laika (codeveloped with Zeque)
 * Brightis
 * Simple 1500 Series vol.78 The Zeroyon
 * Godzilla Generations: Maximum Impact