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. [1] 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. [2] [3]
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 Museum series has been the most successful, selling a total of 9.113 million copies total across all platforms. [n 1] Some of these compilations would be outsourced to other game developers, including Microsoft, Mass Media, Digital Eclipse, M2, and Cattle Call.
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Title | Original release date | ||
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Japan | North America | PAL region | |
Disk NG 1 | 9 March 1990 [9] | none | none |
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Disk NG 2 | 26 April 1990 [9] | none | none |
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Galaxian & Galaga | 14 July 1995 [9] | 26 June 1996 [11] | 1995 |
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Namco Museum Vol. 1 | 22 November 1995 [9] | 31 July 1996 | 17 August 1996 |
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Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 | November 1995 | 1995 | 1995 |
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Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 | March 1996 | 1996 | 1996 |
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Namco Museum Vol. 2 | 9 February 1996 [9] | 30 September 1996 | 22 November 1996 |
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Microsoft Return of Arcade | none | April 1996 | none |
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Namco Museum Vol. 3 | 21 June 1996 [9] | 31 January 1997 | 12 February 1997 |
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Namco Gallery Vol. 1 | 21 July 1996 [9] | none | none |
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Namco Museum Vol. 4 | 8 November 1996 [9] | 30 June 1997 | 18 August 1997 |
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Namco Gallery Vol. 2 | 29 November 1996 [9] | none | none |
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Arcade Classics | none | none | 1996 |
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Namco Museum Vol. 5 | 28 February 1997 | 26 November 1997 | 26 February 1998 |
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Xevious 3D/G+ | 28 March 1997 [9] | 30 June 1997 | 1997 |
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Namco History Vol. 1 | 25 April 1997 [14] | none | none |
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Namco Gallery Vol. 3 | 25 July 1997 [9] | none | none |
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Namco Museum Encore | 30 October 1997 | none | none |
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Namco History Vol. 2 | 28 November 1997 | none | none |
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Namco Anthology 1 | 4 June 1998 | none | none |
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Namco History Vol. 3 | 9 June 1998 | none | none |
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Namco Anthology 2 | 23 September 1998 | none | none |
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Microsoft Revenge of Arcade | none | October 1998 | none |
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Namco History Vol. 4 | 4 December 1998 | none | none |
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Namco Collection Vol. 1 | 2 April 1999 [15] | none | none |
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Namco Collection Vol. 2 | 30 April 1999 [15] | none | none |
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Namco Museum 64 | none | 31 October 1999 | none |
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Pac-Man: Special Color Edition | none | November 1999 [16] | none |
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Pac-Man Collection | 11 January 2002 [17] | 12 July 2001 [17] | 7 December 2001 [17] |
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Namco Museum | none | 31 July 2000 | none |
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Namco Museum | none | 4 December 2001 | none |
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20 Year Reunion: Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga – Class of 1981 | none | 2001 | none |
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Gunvari Collection + Time Crisis | 12 December 2002 | none | none |
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Namco Vintage | none | 6 November 2004 [18] | none |
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Game Densetsu | January 2005 | none | none |
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Namco Museum Battle Collection | 24 February 2005 | 23 August 2005 | 9 December 2005 |
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NamCollection | 21 July 2005 [19] | none | none |
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Namco Museum 50th Anniversary | 26 January 2006 | 30 August 2005 [20] | 31 March 2006 |
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Pac-Man 25th Anniversary | none | 2005 | none |
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Namco Museum Vol. 2 | 23 February 2006 | none | none |
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Namco Nostalgia 1 | 15 June 2006 | none | none |
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Namco Nostalgia 2 | 15 June 2006 | none | none |
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Namco Museum DS | 11 October 2007 | 18 September 2007 | 22 February 2008 |
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Namco Museum Remix | 23 October 2007 [21] | 6 December 2007 [21] | 18 April 2008 [21] |
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Namco Classic Fighter Collection | none | 17 September 2008 [22] | none |
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Pac-Man Power Pack | none | 17 September 2008 [22] | none |
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Naruto: Ultimate Collection | none | 17 September 2008 [22] | none |
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Namco Museum Virtual Arcade | 5 November 2009 | 4 November 2008 [23] | 15 May 2009 |
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Namco Museum Essentials | 29 January 2009 [24] | 22 July 2009 [25] | 1 April 2010 [25] |
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Namco Games Portal | none | 26 July 2010 [29] | none |
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Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X | 5 August 2010 [30] | none | none |
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Time Crisis: Razing Storm | 21 October 2010 | 19 October 2010 [31] | 5 November 2010 |
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Namco Museum Megamix | none | 16 November 2010 [33] | none |
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Pac-Man's Arcade Party | none | 2010 [34] | none |
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Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions | 23 June 2011 | 26 July 2011 [35] | 26 August 2011 [35] |
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Galaga 30th Collection | 3 July 2011 [36] | 3 July 2011 [36] | 3 July 2011 [36] |
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Tekken Hybrid | 1 December 2011 [37] | 22 November 2011 [37] | none |
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Namco Arcade | 26 January 2012 | 2013 | 2013 |
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Pac-Man Games | none | 29 March 2012 | none |
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Duel Pack: Pac-Man World 3 / Namco Museum DS | none | 30 October 2012 | none |
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Pac-Man Museum | 25 June 2014 | 25 February 2014 [38] | 26 February 2014 |
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Arcade Game Series | 20 April 2016 [40] | 20 April 2016 [40] | 20 April 2016 [40] |
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Arcade Game Series 3-in-1 Pack | 20 April 2016 [41] | 20 April 2016 [41] | 20 April 2016 [41] |
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Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 + Arcade Game Series | none | 1 November 2016 | none |
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Namco Museum | 28 July 2017 | 28 July 2017 [42] | 28 July 2017 [42] |
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Pac-Man's Pixel Bash | none | June 2018 | none |
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Namco Museum Arcade Pac | none | 28 September 2018 [43] | none |
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Namco Museum Mini Player | none | 25 July 2019 [44] | none |
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Namcot Collection | 18 June 2020 | none | none |
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Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 | none | 18 June 2020 | 18 June 2020 |
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Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 | none | 18 June 2020 | 18 June 2020 |
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Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955 which operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. They were one of the most influential figures in the worldwide coin-op and arcade game industry; Namco produced several multi-million-selling game franchises, such as Pac-Man, Galaxian, Tekken, Tales, Ridge Racer, and Ace Combat. In 2006, Namco merged with Bandai to form what is now named Bandai Namco Holdings; the standalone Namco brand continues to be used for video arcade and other entertainment products by the group's Bandai Namco Amusements division.
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.
Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, Namco Museum Vol. 1, was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series have been released for multiple platforms, including the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Xbox 360. the latest being Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2, released in 2020.
Namco Museum Battle Collection is a 2005 video game compilation developed by Tose and published by Namco for the PlayStation Portable; the first Namco Museum since the original PlayStation series to be developed in Japan. It includes 21 games - four of these are brand-new "arrangement" remakes of older Namco games, while the rest are emulated ports of Namco arcade games from the 1970s and 1980s. These ports include an options menu that allows the player to modify the in-game settings, such as the screen orientation and number of lives. Players can send one-level demos to a friend's console via the "Game Sharing" option in the main menu.
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., commonly known as Bandai Namco and formerly Namco Bandai until 2015, also known as Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese entertainment holding company founded in 2005 by the merger of Namco and Bandai. The company specializes in toys, video games, arcades, anime, restaurants, and amusement parks. They are also unofficially nicknamed as "Bamco" by some. The conglomerate is made up of:
Gee Bee is a block breaker/video pinball hybrid arcade game developed and published by Namco in 1978. The player controls a set of paddles with a rotary knob, with the objective being to score as many points as possible by deflecting a ball against bricks, pop bumpers and other objects in the playfield. It was developed by Toru Iwatani, known as the creator of Pac-Man and Pole Position. Outside Japan, it was published by Gremlin Industries.
Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., formerly Bandai Namco Games until 2015, is a Japanese multinational video game publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as Namco Bandai Games Inc., it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game business, as well as Bandai's former equivalent division. Development operations were spun off into a new company in 2012, Namco Bandai Studios, now called Bandai Namco Studios.
Namco Museum DS is a 2007 video game compilation developed by M2 and published by Namco Bandai Games. The game features 7 arcade games previously published by Namco along with a Nintendo DS version of the Nintendo-developed title Pac-Man Vs.
Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a video game compilation developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America in 2008 and in Europe and Japan in 2009. Part of its Namco Museum series, Virtual Arcade includes 34 titles; nine of these are Namco Bandai-published Xbox Live Arcade games, and the rest are arcade games that are only accessible through the disc. Players can access the Xbox Live Arcade games through their dashboard if the disc is in the console.
Namco Museum Essentials is a 2009 video game compilation developed by Cattle Call and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3. The collection includes five Namco arcade games from the 1980s: Pac-Man (1980), Galaga (1981), Dig Dug (1982), Xevious (1983), and Dragon Spirit (1987), alongside an exclusive Xevious sequel, Xevious Resurrection. Player progress is rewarded with stamps, which could be redeemed for virtual items in the now-defunct PlayStation Home service. Stamps also award points when collected, used to unlock extra features such as wallpapers.
Namco Generations was a brand name created by Namco Bandai Games for modernized remakes of their older video games. It was introduced in 2010 in conjunction with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Galaga Legions DX was the second game to use the brand, being released in 2011. Two other games were in production under the Namco Generations label, a Metro-Cross sequel named Aero-Cross and a remaster of Dancing Eyes, both of which were cancelled.
Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions is a 2011 video game compilation developed and published for the Nintendo 3DS by Namco Bandai Games. It contains six games from the company's Pac-Man and Galaxian franchises—Pac-Man (1980), Galaga (1981), Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007), Galaga Legions (2008), Pac-Man Tilt, and Galaga 3D Impact, the last two being unique games created exclusively for this collection. The collection also includes achievements, online leaderboards, and a trailer for the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures television series.
Galaga Legions DX is a 2011 twin-stick shooter video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to Galaga Legions (2008), and is the fourteenth entry in the Galaxian series. The player controls the AEf-7 "Blowneedle" starship in its efforts to wipe out the Galaga forces before they destroy all of mankind. The objective is to clear each of the game's nine stages in the quickest time possible by destroying waves of enemies. The Blowneedle has a pair of satellites that can be pointed at enemies to shoot them down. New additions have been made to the core gameplay, such as a "slowdown" effect when the player is about to collide with an enemy.
Bandai Namco Studios Inc. is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo and founded in 2012, with studios in Singapore and Malaysia. Bandai Namco Studios is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which itself is part of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. The company works under its parent company as a keiretsu; Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home, arcade, and mobile platforms, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the distribution, marketing, and publishing of these products.
Namco Community Magazine NG was a video game magazine distributed by Namco in Japan. It was published quarterly from 1983 to 1986, and bimonthly from 1986 to 1993. Based on a suggestion made by company president Masaya Nakamura, its content relates to Namco video games and progressed to crafts, developer interviews, fan mail, and two manga series illustrated by Hiroshi Fuji.
One Piece: Pirate Warriors also known in Japan as One Piece: Kaizoku Musou, is a series of action-adventure video games developed by Omega Force and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is based on the One Piece manga and anime franchise by Eiichiro Oda. It is the most successful One Piece video game series, with over 8 million copies sold.
Namcot Collection, also known as Namco Museum Archives, is a 2020 video game compilation published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Originally released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, it was localized for international territories as two separate collections, Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, for the Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows. Namcot Collection includes a wide array of video games published by Namco for the Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System, with save states, achievements, and homebrew ports of Pac-Man Championship Edition and Gaplus.
Namco Museum is a 2001 video game compilation developed by Mass Media and published by Namco for the Game Boy Advance. It contains ports of five of their classic arcade games, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Galaxian.