Leland Cook Jr. of Tradewest passes away

Shaggy November 17, 2009 0

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Remember Ikari Warriors? That was one of the first games to be licensed by video game company Tradewest. While Tradewest was primarily known for their work on the NES, they did purchase coin-op company Cinematronics in 1987 and renamed that to Leland Games, which did continue to produce a number of coin-op titles (one of which was Ataxx which is a favorite of mine) as the parent company focused in the home console realm. One of the people responsible for forming Tradewest, Leland P. Cook Jr. passed away recently at the age of 75. According to GoNintendo:

Business and civic leader Leland P. Cook Jr. passed away Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, after a courageous battle with a lengthy illness at the age of 75. …In 1985, Leland and his oldest son Byron started TRADEWEST, which initially licensed and marketed coin-operated video games, including the top selling game in 1986, Ikari Warrior. …In 1987, TRADEWEST became a pioneering company in the new home entertainment video game industry. As one of the early licensees of Nintendo, TRADEWEST produced such classic hits as Double Dragon, Super Off Road, and Battletoads.

RIP Mr. Cook

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