Atari is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, California, in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles and home computers. The company's products, such as Pong and the Atari 2600, helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties were sold to Infogrames which completed its studio's closures at the end of 2001.
Bandai Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond, London. Bandai is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings and is the parent company's core toy production division. From 1981 until 2001, Bandai produced video game consoles.
Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, and Shanghai Namco in mainland China.
Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s.
2001 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Capcom vs. SNK 2,Dead or Alive 3, Final Fantasy X, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, Grand Theft Auto III, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, SSX Tricky, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Sonic Adventure 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and Virtua Fighter 4. New intellectual properties include Ace Attorney, Advance Wars,Animal Crossing, Burnout, Gothic, Black & White, Devil May Cry, Fatal Frame, Ghost Recon,Halo, Jak and Daxter, Max Payne, Oni, Onimusha: Warlords, Operation Flashpoint, Pikmin, Pro Evolution Soccer, Red Faction, Serious Sam, and Tropico.
1999 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Chrono Cross, Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix, Donkey Kong 64, Final Fantasy VIII, Gran Turismo 2, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Mario Party, Pokémon Gold/Silver, Resident Evil 3, Soulcalibur, Soul Reaver, and Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, along with new titles such as Ape Escape, Shenmue, Silent Hill, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Super Smash Bros. The Dreamcast was also released by Sega internationally in 1999.
1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64, Duke Nukem 3D, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Super Mario RPG, Virtua Fighter 3, and Tekken 3, along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Quake and Tomb Raider.
Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty. Ltd. is an Australian company that distributes computer games and gaming equipment. HES' offices are based in Riverwood, Sydney. HES's founder and managing director is MR Sebastian Giompaolo.
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on September 29, 2005. The company specializes in toys, video games, arcades, anime, and amusement parks. Bandai Namco also supply various arcade machines to movie theaters and arcades across the globe.
Europress was a British magazine and software publisher based in Adlington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications.
Paradigm Entertainment Inc. was an American video game development company. Paradigm is perhaps best known for its vehicle simulation games. Founded as a 3D computer graphics company in 1990, Paradigm primarily worked on realistic flight simulation technology for major space and aviation clients. The company got its start in game development when it was contacted by Nintendo in 1994 to aid in the creation of one of the Nintendo 64's launch titles, Pilotwings 64. The game was a critical and commercial success for the developer, causing the simulation and entertainment divisions of Paradigm to separate and focus on their respective products. The newly independent Paradigm Entertainment continued to develop for Nintendo's 64-bit console. After a short partnership with Video System, Paradigm was acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames in 2000 and began developing games for sixth-generation video game consoles. Paradigm was sold to THQ in 2006 and was ultimately closed in 2008.
Namco Bandai Partners S.A.S. was a video game distribution company that was an amalgamation of several former Atari SA offices located in PAL territories, which were acquired beginning in 2009 by Bandai Namco Holdings.
Kevin Bermeister is an entrepreneur that has developed several businesses in the computer, multimedia and Internet industries.
Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Lyon, France. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings, an entertainment conglomerate.
Masaya Nakamura was a Japanese businessman and the founder of Namco. He was the company's president up until 2002, where he took a ceremonial role in its management. Following the formation of Bandai Namco Holdings, Nakamura would retain an honorary position in the video game division, Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Red Ant Enterprises Pty Ltd was an Australian owned video game, anime, home video and PC software distributor. Red Ant is the largest such company in the country, as well as the local distributor for over 30 publishers that are based overseas, including 505 Games and Oxygen Games and previously European subsidiaries of Japanese companies such as Capcom Europe and Rising Star Games before Red Ant went into receivership. The company was deregistered by ASIC on 23 October 2011.
Atari SA is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. It is the current owner of the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Because of continuing pressures upon the company and difficulty finding investors, it sought bankruptcy protection under French law in January 2013; its subsidiaries in the United States have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as well. All three subsidiaries have since exited bankruptcy.
