Editing Capcom (section)

===Founding and arcade games (1979-1984)===
Capcom's predecessor, I.R.M. Corporation, was founded on May 30, 1979<ref name="ign25th">{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/881/881137p1.html |title=Capcom Marks 25th Anniversary |author=Ocampo, Jason |date=June 11, 2008 |work=[[IGN]] |publisher=IGN Entertainment, Inc |access-date=July 21, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004235215/http://pc.ign.com/articles/881/881137p1.html |archive-date=October 4, 2009 }}</ref> by [[Kenzo Tsujimoto]], who was still president of [[Irem|Irem Corporation]] when he founded I.R.M. He worked at both companies at the same time until leaving Irem in 1983.

The original companies that spawned Capcom's Japan branch were I.R.M. and its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., both of which were devoted to the manufacture and distribution of electronic game machines.<ref name="history">{{cite web |date=September 30, 2009 |title=Corporate Information: History |url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/company/history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415003816/http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/company/history.html |archive-date=April 15, 2010 |access-date=July 21, 2010 |publisher=Capcom Co., Ltd}}</ref> The two companies underwent a name change to Sanbi Co., Ltd. in September 1981.<ref name="history"/> On June 11, 1983, Tsujimoto established Capcom Co., Ltd.<ref name="ign25th"/> for the purpose of taking over the internal sales department.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/company/history.html |script-title=ja:会社情報 カプコンの歴史 |language=ja |date=September 30, 2009 |publisher=Capcom Co., Ltd |access-date=July 21, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305061106/http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/company/history.html |archive-date=March 5, 2010 }}</ref>

In January 1989, Capcom Co., Ltd. merged with Sanbi Co., Ltd., resulting in the current Japan branch.<ref name="history"/> The name Capcom is a [[clipped compound]] of "'''Cap'''sule '''Com'''puters", a term coined by the company for the [[Video game arcade cabinet|arcade machines]] it solely manufactured in its early years, designed to set themselves apart from [[personal computer]]s that were becoming widespread.<ref name="name">{{cite web |url=http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/company/name.html |script-title=ja:会社情報 社名の由来 |language=ja |publisher=Capcom Co., Ltd |access-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305061111/http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/company/name.html |archive-date=March 5, 2010 }}</ref> "Capsule" alludes to how Capcom likened its game software to "a capsule packed to the brim with gaming fun", and to the company's desire to protect its intellectual property with a hard outer shell, preventing illegal copies and inferior imitations.<ref name="name"/>

Capcom's first product was the [[medal game]] ''Little League'' (July 1983) followed by ''Fever Chance'' (Oct 1983)''.'' In December 1983, the video arcade ''Acty 24'' was opened under the direct management of Capcom. It released its first [[arcade video game]], ''[[Vulgus]]'' (May 1984).<ref name="history"/> Starting with the arcade hit ''[[1942 (video game)|1942]]'' (1984), they began designing games with international markets in mind.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Developer Interviews – Capcom and the CPS-1 |magazine=[[Gamest]] |date=September 30, 1989 |volume=4 |issue=11 (November 1989) |page=10 |url=http://shmuplations.com/cps1/}}</ref> The successful 1985 arcade games ''[[Commando (video game)|Commando]]'' and ''[[Ghosts 'n Goblins (video game)|Ghosts 'n Goblins]]'' have been credited as the products "that shot [Capcom] to 8-bit [[silicon]] stardom" in the mid-1980s. Starting with ''Commando'' (late 1985), Capcom began licensing their arcade games for release on [[home computers]], notably to British software houses [[Elite Systems]] and [[U.S. Gold]] in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Capcom: A Captive Audience |magazine=[[The Games Machine]] |date=May 18, 1989 |issue=19 (June 1989) |pages=24–5 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-games-machine-19/page/n23/mode/2up}}</ref>