iQue, Ltd. () is a Chinese video game localization and development company located in Suzhou. It was founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Taiwanese-American engineer Wei Yen and Nintendo to manufacture and distribute Nintendo hardware and software for mainland China.
iQue released the iQue Player in 2003 and went on to distribute several Nintendo handheld systems under the iQue brand. By 2013, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nintendo and later shifted its focus away from hardware to localization, technical support, and internal development work.
Its Chinese name, Shényóu, is a double entendre meaning "to make a mental journey".
History
Nintendo established iQue in December 2002 as a joint venture with Wei Yen, a veteran of earlier Nintendo hardware collaborations. Yen had previously served as senior vice president at Silicon Graphics, where he contributed to Project Reality, the hardware project that became the Nintendo 64. After leaving SGI, Yen founded BroadOn, which developed the cryptographic security system used in the iQue Player to deter piracy.
The company introduced its first product, the iQue Player, in 2003. The system adopted a handheld TV game format in part to comply with a 2000 Ministry of Culture ban on the sale of traditional home video game consoles. In the following years, iQue distributed official Nintendo products for the mainland Chinese market, focusing primarily on handheld systems, which were not subject to the same ban. While Nintendo and iQue initially planned to release the Wii across mainland China, these plans were ultimately scaled back, and the iQue Player was the company's only home console released in China.
By 2013, iQue became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nintendo. During the early 2010s, iQue contributed to emulator development for Nintendo's Virtual Console services, including NES and Game Boy emulation on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 64 emulation on Wii U. The company later supported development of the Nintendo 64 emulator used for Nintendo Switch Online.
Starting from 2017, Nintendo wound down distribution of older hardware under the iQue brand. Nintendo partnered with Tencent to introduce the Nintendo Switch in mainland China in 2019. iQue shifted to providing customer support for legacy products and began localizing Nintendo titles into simplified Chinese, while Nintendo Hong Kong handled traditional Chinese.
In 2019, iQue began hiring programmers and developers, transitioning to be a QA office for Nintendo.
Consoles
iQue Player
The iQue Player is a handheld TV game variant of the Nintendo 64. It was designed to bypass China's ban on home consoles at the time and to combat game piracy in the market. A total of 14 games were released for the console.
Game Boy Advance An iQue variant of the Game Boy Advance was released on 8 June 2004. Its revisions were also released under the iQue brand; the Game Boy Advance SP was released in October 2004, and the Game Boy Micro was released in October 2005.
Eight games were released for the Game Boy Advance. Twelve more games were planned, but cancelled due to high piracy of the system. English titleChinese titlePinyinRelease dateGenreWario Land 4瓦力欧寻宝记Wǎlìōu Xúnbǎo JìJune 2004PlatformerSuper Mario Advance超级马力欧2Chāojí Mǎlìōu 230 June 2004PlatformerMetroid: Zero Mission密特罗德：零点任务Mìtèluōdé: Língdiǎn Rènwù15 June 2005ShooterWarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!瓦力欧制造Wǎlìōu Zhìzào4 July 2005MinigamesMetroid Fusion密特罗德 融合Mìtèluōdé Rónghé2 March 2006ShooterYoshi's Island – Super Mario Advance 3耀西岛Yàoxi Dǎo2 March 2006PlatformerSuper Mario World – Super Mario Advance 2超级马力欧世界Chāojí Mǎlìōu Shìjiè15 March 2006PlatformerF-Zero: Maximum Velocity极速F-ZERO未来赛车Jísù F-ZERO Wèilái SàichēAugust 2007RacingAdvance Wars陆海空大战Lùhǎikōng DàzhànStrategyDensetsu no Starfy斯塔非的传说Sītǎfēi de ChuánshuōPlatformerDensetsu no Starfy 2斯塔非的传说2Sītǎfēi de Chuánshuō 2PlatformerDK: King of Swing摇摆森喜刚Yáobǎi Sēn XǐgāngPuzzleFamicom Mini Collection红白机合集Hóngbái JīhéjíCompilationFire Emblem: The Binding Blade火纹战记: 封印之剑Huǒwén Zhànjì: Fēngyìn ZhījiànRole-playingKuru Kuru Kururin转转棒Zhuǎn Zhuǎn BàngPuzzleKururin Paradise转转棒天堂Zhuǎn Zhuǎn Bàng TiāntángPuzzleMario & Luigi: Superstar Saga马力欧与路易吉RPGMǎlìōu Yǔ Lùyìjí RPGRole-playingMario Kart: Super Circuit马力欧卡丁车超级赛道Mǎlìōu Kǎdīngchē Chāojí Sài DàoRacingPolarium Advance通勤一笔Tōngqín Yī BǐPuzzleTomato Adventure番茄酱王国大冒险Fānqié Jiàng Wángguó dà MàoxiǎnRole-playing
iQue DS The iQue DS is a variant of the Nintendo DS. It was released on 23 July 2005. Six games were released for the console. Unlike in other regions, iQue DS games are region locked, preventing them from being played on DS systems from other regions. Some DS revisions were released under the iQue brand; the Nintendo DS Lite was released on 26 June 2006, and the Nintendo DSi was released in December 2009. The latter was bundled with Nintendogs and a gift card with 1,000 DSiWare points, allowing users to download software. English titleChinese titlePinyinRelease dateGenreMediaPolarium直感一笔 Zhígǎn Yī Bǐ23 July 2005PuzzlePhysicalWarioWare: Touched!摸摸瓦力欧制造 Mō Mō Wǎlìōu Zhìzào23 July 2005MinigamesPhysical Yoshi Touch & Go摸摸耀西-云中漫步Mō Mō Yàoxi – Yún Zhōng Mànbù14 February 2006PlatformerPhysicalSuper Mario 64 DS神游马力欧DS Shényóu Mǎlìōu DS21 June 2007PlatformerPhysicalNew Super Mario Bros.New 超级马力欧兄弟New Chāojí Mǎlìōu Xiōngdì2 July 2009PlatformerPhysicalNintendogs任天狗狗Rèntiān Gǒu GǒuDecember 2009SimulationPre-installed on iQue DSiBig Brain Academy大脑科学院Dànǎo kēxuéyuànEdutainment
iQue 3DS XL The iQue 3DS XL is a variant of the Nintendo 3DS XL. It was the only version of the 3DS offered by iQue. Unlike the Nintendo 3DS XL from other regions, the iQue 3DS XL cannot access the Nintendo eShop, transfer save data between systems, or play DSiWare. Only two games were released for the console, both of which were pre-installed on every console made. No physical game cards were ever made. English titleChinese titlePinyinRelease dateSuper Mario 3D Land超级马力欧 3D乐园Chāojí Mǎlìōu 3D Lèyuán7 December 2012Mario Kart 7马力欧卡丁车7Mǎlìōu Kǎdīngchē 77 December 2012
Due to its regional lockout, the iQue 3DS XL is only compatible with games that were localized in simplified Chinese. As a result, an additional 14 games can be played on the console. English titleChinese titlePinyinThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D塞尔达传说 时光之笛 3DSàiěrdá Chuánshuō: Shíguāng zhī Dí 3DNintendogs + Cats任天狗狗+猫猫Rèntiān Gǒugou + MāomāoStar Fox 64 3D星际火狐64 3DXīngjì Huǒhú 64 3DMario Tennis Open马力欧网球 公开赛Mǎlìōu Wǎngqiú GōngkāisàiNew Super Mario Bros. 2新超级马力欧兄弟 2Xīn Chāojí Mǎlìōu Xiōngdì 2Brain Age: Concentration Training脑科学专家 川岛隆太博士监修 突破极限 脑的5分钟魔鬼锻炼Nǎokēxué Zhuānjiā Chuāndǎolóngtài Bóshì Jiānxiū Tūpò Jíxiàn Nǎo de 5 Fēnzhōng Móguǐ DuànliànLuigi's Mansion: Dark Moon路易吉洋馆2Lùyìjí Yángguǎn 2Paper Mario: Sticker Star纸片马力欧 超级贴纸Zhǐpiàn Mǎlìōu Chāojí TiēzhǐPokémon Sun and Moon精灵宝可梦 太阳/月亮Jīnglíng Bǎokěmèng Tàiyáng / YuèliangPokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon精灵宝可梦 究极之日 /究极之月Jīnglíng Bǎokěmèng Jiūjí-zhī Rì / Jiūjí-zhī Yuè
References
External links