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Namco History
Bandai Namco Holdings is a Japanese holdings company that specializes in video games, toys, arcades, anime and amusement parks, and is headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. They were formed after the merge of Namco and Bandai on 29 September 2005, with both companies' assets being merged into a single corporate entity. The video game branch of the company is Bandai Namco Entertainment, producing games for home consoles, arcade hardware and mobile phones. Bandai Namco creates several highly successful video game franchises, including ''Tekken'', ''Pac-Man'', ''Gundam'' and '' Tales'', as is Japan's third largest video game company and the seventh in the world by revenue, as well as the largest toy company in the world by 2017. Since 1990, Bandai Namco has produced many compilations containing their games, notably their arcade titles from the 1970s and 1980s, for various home video game systems, handhelds, personal computers and arcade boards. Out of these compilations, the '' Namco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bandai Namco Holdings
(commonly known as and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group,) is a Japanese mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specializes in toys, video games, video arcade, arcades, anime, restaurants, and amusement parks. They are also unofficially nicknamed as "Bamco" by some. The conglomerate is made up of: * Bandai, toy company; includes Bandai Spirits * Bandai Namco Entertainment, video game publisher; includes Bandai Namco Studios * , amusement machine developer and operator; includes * Bandai Namco Filmworks, film/anime production; includes Sunrise and Bandai Namco Pictures * Bandai Namco Music Live, film/anime and music production History On May 5, 2005, Namco, Namco Ltd. announced it was merging with Bandai, Bandai Co., Ltd. to form NAMCO BANDAI Holdings Inc. (株式会社バンダイナムコホールディングス), with stock transfer to be completed o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cattle Call (company)
Cattle Call Inc. is a Japanese game developer based in Tokyo, Japan. The company was established by former staff of Data East, Data East Corporation and is engaged in developing original console games as well as co-developing and porting games for other game companies. The company is known for developing the (partially) Japan-exclusive ''Metal Max (series), Metal Max'' series and the 3DS role-playing games ''The Legend of Legacy'' and its sequel, ''The Alliance Alive''. History In 1998, Data East Corporation, a Japanese video game and electronic engineering company based in Tokyo, withdrew entirely from the arcade industry and reported a total debt estimated at ¥3.3 billion. The company then filed for reorganization in the following year and stopped making video games altogether. As a result of the corporate reorganization, some of the staff from the company formed Cattle Call Inc. to continue developing video games. Games developed by Cattle Call PlayStation 2 Nintendo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arcade Classic
''Arcade Classic'' is a series of video game compilations of arcade games published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. Released in 1995, each cartridge includes two games. The first two collections were licensed by Atari Corporation, with The Code Monkeys developing and Accolade producing; Nintendo would release two more compilations licensed from and developed by respectively Namco and Williams Electronics, having retained the trademark. *''Arcade Classic No. 1: Asteroids / Missile Command'' *''Arcade Classic No. 2: Centipede / Millipede'' *''Arcade Classic No. 3: Galaga / Galaxian'' *''Arcade Classic No. 4: Defender / Joust Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The term is derived from Old French , ultim ...'' References Game Boy games 1995 video games Atari video game compilations Midway video game compil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mappy
is a 1983 platform video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It runs on Namco's '' Super Pac-Man'' hardware modified to support horizontal scrolling. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from , a slightly pejorative Japanese slang term for policeman. The game has been re-released in several Namco arcade compilations. It spawned a handful of sequels and a 2013 animated web series developed by cartoonists Scott Kurtz and Kris Straub. Gameplay The player guides Mappy the police mouse through the mansion of the cats called Meowkies (Mewkies in Japan) to retrieve stolen goods, such as the Mona Lisa or a TV. The player uses a left-right joystick to move Mappy and a single button to operate doors. The mansion has six floors of hallways (four or five in some other versions) in which the stolen items are stashed. Mappy and the cats move between floors by bouncing on trampolines at various places in the house. Both Mappy and the cats can land on a floor on the way up, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dig Dug
is a maze arcade video game released by Namco in 1982. It was distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player digs underground tunnels to attack enemies in each level, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them underneath rocks. ''Dig Dug'' was planned and designed by Masahisa Ikegami, with help from '' Galaga'' creator Shigeru Yokoyama. It was programmed for the Namco Galaga arcade board by Shouichi Fukatani, who worked on many of Namco's earlier arcade games, along with Toshio Sakai. Music was composed by Yuriko Keino, including the character movement jingle at executives' request, as her first Namco game. Namco heavily marketed it as a "strategic digging game". Upon release, ''Dig Dug'' was well received by critics for its addictive gameplay, cute characters, and strategy. During the golden age of arcade video games, it was globally successful, including as the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan. It prompted a long series of sequels and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rally-X
is a maze chase arcade video game developed in Japan and Germany by Namco and released in 1980. In North America, it was distributed by Midway Manufacturing and in Europe by Karateco. Players drive a blue Formula One race car through a multidirectional scrolling maze to collect yellow flags. Boulders block some paths and must be avoided. Red enemy cars pursue the player in an attempt to collide with them. Red cars can be temporarily stunned by laying down smoke screens at the cost of fuel. ''Rally-X'' is one of the first games with bonus stages and continuously-playing background music. ''Rally-X'' was designed as a successor to Sega's '' Head On'' (1979), an earlier maze chase game with cars. It was a commercial success in Japan, where it was the sixth highest-grossing game of 1980, but Midway released the game in North America to largely underwhelming results. The game is known in North America for an often-repeated, though untrue, story involving its demonstration at the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pac-Man
''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called "Power Pellets" causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to also eat the ghosts for bonus points. Game development began in early 1979, led by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to women as well as men, because most video games of the time had themes that appealed to traditionally masculine interests, such as war or sports. Although the inspiration for the Pac-Man character was the image of a pizza with a slice removed, Iwatani has said he rounded out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi (). The in-game characters were made t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaxian
is a 1979 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them. Designed by company engineer Kazunori Sawano, ''Galaxian'' was Namco's answer to '' Space Invaders'', a similar space shooter released the previous year by rival developer Taito. ''Space Invaders'' was a sensation in Japan, and Namco wanted a game that could compete against it. Sawano strove to make the game simple and easy to understand. He was inspired by the cinematic space combat scenes in '' Star Wars'', with enemies originally being in the shape of the film's TIE Fighters. ''Galaxian'' is one of the first video games to feature RGB color graphics and the first ever to use a tile-based hardware system, which was capable of animated multi-color sprites as well as scrol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bosconian
is a scrolling multidirectional shooter arcade video game developed and released by Namco in Japan in 1981. In North America, it was manufactured and distributed by Midway Games. The goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying enemy missiles and bases using a ship which shoots simultaneously both the front and back. ''Bosconian'' was commercially successful in Japan and received positive critical reception, but did not achieve the global commercial success of other shoot 'em up games from the golden age of arcade video games. It was ported to home computers as ''Bosconian '87'' (1987) and spawned two sequels: ''Blast Off'' (1989) and '' Final Blaster'' (1990). The game has been regarded by critics as influential in the shoot 'em up genre. Gameplay The objective of ''Bosconian'' is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemy missiles and bases. The player controls the Starfighter, a ship that can move in eight directions and fires both forward and backw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galaga
is a 1981 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a tractor beam, which can be rescued to transform the player into a "dual fighter" with additional firepower. Shigeru Yokoyama led development with a small team. Initial planning took about two months to finish. Originally developed for the Namco Galaxian arcade board, it was instead shifted to a new system as suggested by Namco's Research and Development division. Inspiration for the dual fighter mechanic was taken from a film that Yokoyama had seen prior to development, where a ship was captured using a large circular beam. The project became immensely popular around the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
