Not to be confused for Bandai Namco Entertainment or Namco Hometek. For other uses of Namco, see Namco (disambiguation).
Namco Limited (株式会社ナムコ) was a Japanese company known for developing arcade and home console games. Founded in 1955 under the name Nakamura Seisakusho, the company originally produced mechanical children's amusement devices, before moving towards the video game industry in 1978. The company was succeeded by Bandai Namco Holdings in 2006, with the original Namco brand name being occasionally used on later products and entertainment venues.
Namco is most well-known for their video game franchises; Pac-Man, their highest-grossing and most well-known series, has since become the mascot for the company and one of the most recognizable video game characters in the world, as well as becoming an international pop-culture icon. Namco has also developed numerous other franchises, including Galaxian, Dig Dug, Mappy, Pole Position, Ridge Racer and Tekken, among others.
History
Namco was founded by Japanese businessman Masaya Nakamura in June 1955, under the name Nakamura Seisakusho. The company began production on toys, such as rocking horses and wooden pop guns, and large-scale electro mechanical amusement rides atop Japanese department stores. Nakamura Seisakusho would soon produce electro-mechanical games for arcades, beginning in 1955 with Osumatsu-Kun Derby, a jockey racing game where players rode atop mechanical horses [citation needed]. In 1971, the company's name was shorted to Namco, originally an acronym for Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company.
In 1974, Namco purchased Atari's Japanese division for $300,000 (USD), outbidding competitor Sega in the process. The acquisition granted Namco the rights to release Atari games in Japan, including Pong and Breakout. That same year, Namco partnered with Atari to create a mechanical driving game, F-1, which used projectors and miniature models to create the illusion of a 3D game.
The acquisition of Atari Japan led Namco to develop their own video games. Their first original game was Gee Bee, released in 1978 and developed by Namco's then-new employee, Toru Iwatani; that same year, the company opened their first arcade game center, Namco Land, and began manufacturing robots, one of which would become the inspiration for the game Mappy. In 1979, Namco released Galaxian, one of the earliest video games to use RGB colors for graphics. A year later, Namco released their most successful game, Pac-Man, which became an international pop culture icon and one of the most recognizable video games of all time; the Pac-Man character would become Namco's official mascot. Namco would continue developing arcade games throughout the 1980s, including titles such as Rally-X, Galaga, and Dig Dug. In 1983, Namco launched their own game magazine, NG, which featured news on upcoming games and developer interviews.
While an American branch of Namco existed, Namco-America Inc., the company was largely underfunded during the entirety of the 1980s, and had trouble with licensing and distribution. Throughout the early-to-mid 1980s, the majority of Namco's output in North America would be published by Bally Midway and Atari Inc.; these two partnerships would prove to be very lucrative for all three companies, particularly for products surrounding Pac-Man.
In 1984-85, Namco purchased a majority stake in Atari Games, a company formed after the split of the original Atari company; this led to Atari Games publishing Namco's arcade output in the U.S. in the later 1980s. Namco would later sell their share back to Atari Games; in exchange for this, Namco gained ownership of Atari Operations, a company that focused on physical arcade locations. With all of their prior publishing deals terminated, Namco-America was more properly used for U.S. arcade distribution during the 1990s. After Namco's acquisition, Atari Operations was renamed to Namco Operations, later known as Namco USA, Inc. (among other names), and assigned as a subsidiary of Namco-America; an additional company, Namco Hometek Inc., was formed by Namco-America to handle publishing for the home video game market.[1]
Namco was one of the earliest contractors for Nintendo's Family Computer ("Famicom") console, alongside Hudson Soft, and began producing games for home consoles in 1984 (generally under the name "Namcot"). However, a conflict reportedly arose between Namco and Nintendo regarding cartridge manufacturing, resulting in Namco shifting focus to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and PC-Engine platforms around 1989. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the majority of Namco's home video game output was on the Sony PlayStation system.
In 2005, Namco announced plans to merge with Japanese company Bandai to form Bandai Namco Holdings, becoming the third largest video game entity in Japan and the seventh largest in the world. Nakamura resigned as CEO of the company, and the original Namco brand name was largely retired; all post-2006 Namco operations would eventually be rebranded under the Bandai Namco name. However, the Namco label is still occasionally used on modern Bandai Namco products (such as the Namco Museum series), generally to reflect the game's legacy.
Notable Namco releases
Franchises
Large franchises which spawned multiple sequels.
| Name | Original platform(s) | Year of creation | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pac-Man | Arcade | 1980 | Maze, Action |
| Namco Museum | PlayStation | 1995 | Compilation |
| Ace Combat (Air Combat) |
Arcade, PlayStation | 1993, 1995 | Flight simulator |
| Babylonian Castle Saga (The Tower of Druaga) |
Arcade | 1984 | Action, RPG |
| Cosmo Gang | Arcade (redemption) | 1990 | Action, Shooter |
| Dig Dug | Arcade | 1982 | Maze, Action |
| Dragon Spirit | Arcade | 1987 | Shooter |
| Family Stadium (R.B.I. Baseball) |
Famicom/NES | 1986 | Baseball, Sports |
| Final Lap | Arcade | 1987 | Racing |
| Galaxian (Galaga) |
Arcade | 1979, 1981 | Shooter |
| Gator Panic | Arcade (redemption) | 1988 | Whac-A-Mole |
| Gee Bee (Bomb Bee, Cutie Q) |
Arcade | 1978, 1979 | Block breaker, Pinball |
| .hack | PlayStation 2 | 2002 | Action, RPG |
| The Idolmaster | Arcade | 2005 | Raising simulation, Rhythm |
| Katamari | PlayStation 2 | 2004 | Sandbox |
| Klonoa | PlayStation | 1997 | Platformer |
| Mappy | Arcade | 1983 | Platformer |
| Mr. Driller | Arcade | 1999 | Puzzle |
| Point Blank | Arcade | 1994 | Lightgun shooter |
| Pole Position | Arcade | 1982 | Racing |
| Rally-X | Arcade | 1980 | Maze |
| Ridge Racer | Arcade | 1993 | Racing |
| Rolling Thunder | Arcade | 1986 | Platformer, Shooter |
| Soulcalibur (Soul Edge, Soul Blade) |
Arcade | 1996, 1998 | Fighting |
| Splatterhouse | Arcade | 1988 | Beat-em-up |
| Taiko no Tatsujin | Arcade | 2001 | Rhythm |
| Tales of Series | Super Famicom | 1995 | RPG |
| Tank Battalion | Arcade | 1980 | Maze, Shooting |
| Tekken | Arcade | 1994 | Fighting |
| Time Crisis | Arcade | 1995 | Lightgun shooter |
| Valkyrie | Famicom | 1986 | Action, RPG |
| Wagyan Land | Famicom | 1989 | Platformer |
| Xevious | Arcade | 1982 | Shooter |
"One-offs"
Smaller series that were only comprised of one or two games.
| Name | Original platform(s) | Year of creation | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baraduke | Arcade | 1985 | Platformer, Shooter |
| Bosconian | Arcade | 1981 | Shooter |
| Dragon Buster | Arcade | 1984 | Dungeon crawler, Platformer |
| F-1 | Arcade (electro-mechanical) | 1976 | Racing |
| Motos | Arcade | 1985 | Action |
| Sky Kid | Arcade | 1985 | Shooter |
| Warp & Warp | Arcade | 1981 | Shooter |
| Wonder Momo | Arcade | 1987 | Action, Beat-em-up |