Namco USA

For other uses of Namco, see Namco (disambiguation).

Namco USA, Inc. was an American company based in Wood Dale, Illinois. Officially founded as Atari Operations, Inc. in 1987 (and later re-established as Namco Operations), Namco USA mainly operated arcade locations in the United States, which often featured Pac-Man-themed branding. The company closed in March of 2021, following significant loss of profit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Atari Operations

Namco USA's founding is somewhat convoluted. In 1984, as a result of the video game crash of 1983, Atari Inc. was split into two companies: Atari Corp., focusing on the home console market, and Atari Games, focusing on the arcade market. Namco owned a majority share in Atari Games, with Masaya Nakamura appointed as chairman of the company.

In 1987, Atari Games formed a new subsidiary known as Atari Operations, Inc.; this division would focus on physical arcade locations (whereas Atari Games moreso produced arcade machines). Atari Operations would purchase two small arcade chains - "Barrel of Fun" and "2001 Entertainment Center" - and open several further arcades up until 1990.^[1]

Namco Operations

In mid-1990, Namco sold its company share back to Atari Games. In exchange for selling their share, Namco would acquire the Atari Operations company, the majority of its then-operating arcade locations, and several European Atari facilities.^[1] Namco would rename Atari Operations as Namco Operations, and would operate as a subsidiary of Namco-America (now known as Bandai Namco Amusement America). Additionally, shortly before this period, Namco (of Japan) acquired the "Funtasia" arcade in San Francisco.^[2]

By December of 1990, Namco Operations began rebranding their acquired arcades under the name "Cyberstation". Much of the Cyberstation branding was based on Pac-Man, including the arcades' tokens and tickets; giant Pac-Man statues were also a fixture at many locations. In December of 1992, Namco Operations purchased the Aladdin's Castle company from Bally Midway, including both its arcade locations and branding. From the Aladdin's Castle acquisition, Namco now owned around 50 arcade locations.^[2] One arcade titled "Games! Powered by Namco" was notably held in the Mall of America.

Namco Cybertainment

Namco Operations would merge with Aladdin's Castle, Inc. in 1994, forming Namco Cybertainment, Inc. In 1996, Namco Cybertainment purchased all "Time-Out" locations, after the Edison Brothers company filed for bankruptcy.^[3] Namco kept the Time-Out brand name for these locations, but changed its logo to feature Pac-Man.

While operating over 370 locations at its peak (the majority of which were in shopping malls), Namco Cybertainment began struggling financially in 2000.^[4] During the 2000s, Namco Cybertainment somewhat shifted focus to providing games to non-arcade locations, particularly Wal-Marts and AMC movie theaters. In 2002, Namco Cybertainment opened the "Pac-Man Café" in Orlando, a two-story arcade and diner; this location closed in 2005.

Namco USA

In 2012, Namco Cybertainment was briefly rebranded as Namco Entertainment, before making its final rebrand as Namco USA.^[5] Following this time period, Namco USA began opening locations under the newly-established "Pac-Man Zone" branding, though the exact timeframe of this is unknown.

In May of 2015, "Level 257" was opened in Illinois. Level 257, named after the infamous Map 256 Glitch in the Pac-Man arcade game, was a restaurant featuring a bowling alley and a large arcade area. Following this, Namco began opening arcades under the Pac-Man Zone name in the U.S., alongside new Pac-Man Cafés.

In 2018, Level 257 was renamed to "Pac-Man Entertainment". Following this, in 2019, Namco USA announced plans to brand all future locations under the Pac-Man name.^[5] All Namco USA arcades were "unified" under the name "Pac-Man Play", with locations still under other names (e.g. Aladdin's Castle and Time-Out) being dubbed as "Powered by Pac-Man".^[6]

Closure

On March 1st, 2021, Namco USA was shut down; Bandai Namco cited that Namco USA faced "extraordinary losses" of profit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Portions of the company were merged into Bandai Namco Amusement America.^[7][8]

The remaining arcade locations were sold and split across three other arcade companies. Reportedly caused by this sale, "all Pac-Man and Namco branding had to be stripped, destroyed, and [for Pac-Man statues], sent back to Bandai Namco".^[9] Many former Namco USA locations remain in operation today, though none of them retain Pac-Man branding; for instance, Level 257/Pac-Man Entertainment was rebranded as "Enterrium", and most locations in shopping malls were renamed "At the Pier Arcade". Despite this, all arcade machines were kept.

Pac-Man releases

Despite not being a game/hardware developer, Namco USA did publish two Pac-Man arcade games: Namco Fire Truck and Pac-Man Play, a series of claw machines produced by ICE. Following the 2021 closure, arcades still operating these machines were seemingly ordered to strip them of Pac-Man branding. Additionally, many Pac-Man merchandise pieces were released by Namco USA for arcade use (e.g. redemption prizes and birthday party supplies).

Trivia

• Despite the numerous company renamings, Namco USA never used the Bandai Namco company name; which all other Namco-controlled companies eventually changed their names to.
• While not 100% confirmed, the companies and their acquisitions following Namco USA's closure appear to be the following:
  • Pac-Man Entertainment (now known as "Enterrium") was acquired by Kiddleton, a subsidiary of Japanese company GENDA.^[10]
  • All general arcade locations in shopping malls appear to have been acquired by CTM Group; who renamed all locations "At the Pier Arcade", despite the original storefronts being comprised of separate franchises (e.g. Pac-Man Zone and Time-Out).
  • All arcade locations in casinos, as well as in Walmarts and AMC theaters, appear to have been acquired by National Entertainment Network ("NEN"; also known as Sugar Loaf). The rebranded casino locations are generally just titled "The Arcade" (or variations thereof).

References