Namco Limited is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game
developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005,
the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Bandai Namco
Games on March 31, 2006, now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment. Namco was
re-established to continue domestic operation of video arcades and amusement
parks. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo. The company's English name
is often officially written as NAMCO. Namco was a front-runner during the
golden age of arcade video games. Pac-Man, arguably their most famous
title, went on to become the best-selling arcade game in history and
an international popular culture icon. They are also known for creating
successful franchises such as Galaxian, Ridge Racer, Ace Combat, Tekken, as well
as the Soul and Tales series. History
Masaya Nakamura founded the company as Nakamura Manufacturing in 1955. Based in
Tokyo, the company started out by running children's rides on the roof of
a department store in Yokohama. The business eventually expanded throughout
the Tokyo area. Nakamura Manufacturing was reorganized in 1958 and later
underwent a name change to Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company,
which would be used to form the acronym "NAMCO." In 1970, the company produced a
coin-operated mechanical driving simulator called "Racer."
Atari Japan, the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Atari, was struggling financially by
1974. General manager Hide Nakajima was left in charge of the company after his
boss had quit. Nakajima claims that employees had been stealing money and
that he had contributed funds from his personal savings in order to pay
creditors and stave off bankruptcy. Though Nakajima wanted to try saving
Atari Japan, owner Nolan Bushnell was already struggling to keep the parent
company afloat due to undercapitalization and was looking to
sell the Japanese subsidiary for some badly needed cash. Sega, then a
manufacturer of pinball machines, offered to acquire Atari Japan for
$50,000. Nakamura put in a bid for $800,000 and shocked others out of
competition. The deal was finalized at $500,000 and Bushnell was glad to take
it. Debts inherited from Atari Japan would take Nakamura two years to pay
off, but the deal had also secured for him an exclusive license to distribute
Atari's games in Japan for ten years. Nakamura would follow up by opening
video arcades featuring Atari games. Everyone thought [Nakamura] was mad when
he paid so much for Atari, but it turned out to be a very wise investment.
Nakajima was promoted to vice president in 1978, and on his recommendation Namco
opened a subsidiary, Namco America, in the United States. The location he chose
was across the street from Atari's former headquarters in Sunnyvale,
California. At the time, games were not released in the U.S. under the Namco
label. Namco America existed mainly to license Namco's games to companies such
as Atari and Midway Games for distribution in the U.S.
Namco's first original video game was Gee Bee. Galaxian revolutionized the
industry as the first video game to use RGB color graphics. It was Pac-Man,
however, that would become definitive of Namco's legacy, going on to become a
fixture in popular culture. Galaga, a follow-up to Galaxian, was one of the
most successful sequels of the era. Dig Dug, Xevious, and Pole Position
continued Namco's success in establishing iconic franchises during
the Golden Age. During this period, as Namco entered the console software
publishing business in earnest, it created the short-lived Namco Home
Entertainment, a separate division intended to handle console game
releases. In 1985, after the video game crash, and
after previously having been sold to Warner Communications, Atari had been
split into two corporate entities: Atari Corporation, which took over the home
computer and console hardware business; and Atari Games, which retained the
arcade game business. Namco America acquired a controlling interest in Atari
Games for $10 million, against the advice of their accountants at Price
Waterhouse. Disagreement over how to run the Atari Games subsidiary led to a
falling out between Nakamura and Nakajima. Nakamura considered Atari to
be a competitor. Back in Japan, Namco still held distribution rights for
Atari's games, and Nakamura refused to sell them to other arcades. Nakamura
also resented sharing ownership of Atari Games with Warner. Nakajima grew
increasingly frustrated with his boss, and in 1987 the two arrived at a means
to part ways: Namco would sell part of its interest in Atari Games to Nakajima
and the Atari Games employees, and the rest back to Warner. Nakajima and Wood
then resigned from Namco to head Atari Games.
Namco was the industry's first manufacturer to develop and release a
multi-player, multi-cabinet competitive game, Final Lap, in 1987. This game
allowed up to eight players to compete when four two-player cabinets were
linked in a simple network. By 1988, the company's capital exceeded 5.5 billion
Yen. In 1989, another racing simulation game, Winning Run, was released; that
same year, the company's expertise with driving simulation matured with the
development of the Eunos Roadster Driving Simulator, a joint venture with
the Mazda Motor Corporation, followed by an educational program for traffic
safety developed with Mitsubishi. In a bid to win over a new kind of audience,
Namco started up business for the elderly and the disabled with "Talking
Aid" in 1985. By 1989, games for the Nintendo
Entertainment System accounted for 40% of Namco's sales. As Nintendo's first
licensee, Namco had previously been given privileged terms, such as the
right to manufacture their own cartridges. However, upon renewal of the
license, these special terms were revoked, prompting Nakamura to publicly
criticize Nintendo for monopolistic behavior. In addition, Nakamura
announced that Namco would support Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis console, which
eventually received most of the better productions the company developed for
the home market in the 16-bit era. In 1989, it was revealed that Namco was
developing a true 16-bit game console inspired by the success of NEC's PC
Engine. In its July 1989 issue, Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that
"Namco has a machine comparable to the Super Famicom almost completed, but is
unsure which way to market it with so many other game machines already in the
marketplace." Namco decided to partner themselves with NEC to release their
Super System as the PC Engine 2. However, talks fell apart because NEC's
other partner, Hudson Soft, feared that NEC would abandon them in favor of
Namco. Hudson pushed the completed, but technically inferior version of the PC
Engine 2, which came to be known as the SuperGrafx.
Later expanding into the amusement park business, Sennichimae Plabo was opened
in Osaka, featuring a new concept of large-scale arcade amusement, and Namco
Wonder Eggs, a theme park, was opened in Tokyo. Additional amusement parks were
opened, including Namco WonderPark in London, Namco Wonder Park Sagamihara,
and Namco Wonder City. In 1993, Ridge Racer, a driving
simulation game, entered arcades, featuring 3D computer graphics; the game
was later released for the PlayStation. Another of the company's most famous
games, Tekken, was released in 1994, which was also soon ported to the
PlayStation. In 1995 the game Soul Edge was released. With its Tekken and Soul
franchises, Namco has been dominating the 3D fighting game market. Some light
gun games were also released such as Point Blank and Time Crisis.
In 1996, Namco acquired a controlling share of the Japanese film company
Nikkatsu, but its interest would be sold during the merger with Bandai.
In September 2005, Namco merged with Bandai to become "Bandai Namco
Holdings", the 3rd largest video game entity in Japan. On March 31, 2006,
Namco's game development operations absorbed that of Bandai's. From then on,
the part of the company that was most closely associated with the Namco label
would become Bandai Namco Games. The Namco Ltd. name was retained by its
Japanese arcade management division, and now operates as part of Bandai Namco's
Amusement Facility SBU. In Europe, Sony would publish the games
that were only exclusive to the PlayStation.
International arcade operations In 1977, Namco launched its first
international arcade subsidiary, Namco Enterprises Asia Ltd., in Hong Kong.
Further expansion in Asia would follow in 1993 with Shanghai Namco Ltd., based
in mainland China. Namco purchased the arcade operations of
Atari Games in 1990, renaming it Namco Operations Inc. With the purchase, Namco
began its arcade management business in the United States. Namco Operations
managed several large facilities in venues such as Pier 39 in San Francisco,
California, and Church Street Station in Orlando, Florida.
In 1993, Namco purchased the Aladdin's Castle arcade chain from Bally and
merged it with Namco Operations to form Namco Cybertainment Inc. The merger
produced the largest arcade operator in the United States. Arcades were branded
under the principal trade names of Aladdin's Castle and Cyberstation.
Throughout the 1990s, NCI continued to merge or purchase several arcade
companies. Chief among them was Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment in 1996.
Also in the late 1990s, Namco acquired Diamond Jim's and in the early part of
the new century purchased Pocket Change America Inc.
The Bandai Namco merger had little effect on the Namco Cybertainment
subsidiary, which continues its original mission of operating arcades in the U.S,
although most of its mall based arcades are now closed. It has been organized
under the parent company's Amusement Facility SBU. On January 1, 2012, Namco
Cybertainment Inc. was renamed as Namco Entertainment Inc. Namco Entertainment
Inc. now operates locations in nearly 1,000 locations throughout North America
and the Caribbean including a growing number of mall locations along with
partner locations including select locations for major chains such as AMC
Theatres, Walmart, and Brunswick Zone. Namco Entertainment's corporate offices
reside in Wood Dale, Illinois. Its sister company, Namco America, which
manufactures arcade cabinets for Bandai Namco Games arcade titles, relocated to
Elk Grove, Illinois, in 2008. See also
List of Namco games Namco TV games
References External links
Namco Ltd. Namco America
Namco Entertainment Namco Operations Europe