Soulcalibur is a weapon-based 3D fighting game developed by Project Soul and produced by Namco. It is the second game in the Soulcalibur series, preceded by Soul Blade in December 1995. Originally released in arcades on July 30, 1998, it ran on the Namco System 12 hardware. It was ported to the Dreamcast in 1999 with new features and improved graphics. The North American release was released in September 1999 as a launch game for the Dreamcast and was part of the successful launch of the new console. It became available as a downloadable title on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace in July 2008 and it is forward compatible with the Xbox One along with the sequel, Soulcalibur II.
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.
Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, who turn blue and flee.
The Tales series is a franchise of fantasy role-playing video games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, and developed by its subsidiary, Namco Tales Studio until 2011 and presently by Bandai Namco Studios. First begun in 1995 with the development and release of Tales of Phantasia for the Super Famicom, the series currently spans seventeen main titles, multiple spin-off games and supplementary media in the form of manga series, anime series, and audio dramas.
Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007. The company was founded in 1999 by Tetsuya Takahashi with the support and cooperation of Masaya Nakamura, the founder of Namco. Their first project was the Xenosaga series, a spiritual successor to the Square-developed Xenogears. Multiple Square staff would join Takahashi at Monolith Soft including Hirohide Sugiura and Yasuyuki Honne.
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.
Mr. Driller is a puzzle video game franchise created by Yasuhito Nagaoka and Hideo Yoshizawa for Namco. The eponymous first game was released in 1999 for arcades and several home consoles, such as the PlayStation. Gameplay in the series consists of controlling Susumu Hori, the titular Mr. Driller, or one of his friends and destroying colorful formations of blocks to make it to the bottom of a well. In order to survive, players need to collect air capsules to replenish their depleting oxygen and avoid being crushed by falling blocks.
A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone, tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability. The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.
Banpresto Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Banpresto was a partly-owned subsidiary of toymaker Bandai from 1989 to 2006, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings from 2006 to 2008. In addition to video games, Banpresto produced toys, keyrings, apparel, and plastic models.
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.
Namco Tales Studio Ltd., formerly known as Wolf Team, was a Japanese video game development company founded in 1986. The company was renamed in 2003 when Telenet Japan sold part of its stake and made Namco the majority shareholder. Namco Tales Studio was originally the primary developer of the Tales RPG series, as it had been since the series' beginning. In November 2011, it was announced that the current Tales Studio would be dissolved and would merge with their publisher, Namco Bandai Games. In February 2012, it was announced that the 80 people of the Tales team would join Bandai Namco Studios.
Starblade is a 1991 3D rail shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. Controlling the starfighter FX-01 "GeoSword" from a first-person perspective, the player is tasked with eliminating the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species (UIMS) before they wipe out Earth. Gameplay involves controlling a crosshair with a flight-yolk stick and destroying enemies and their projectiles before they inflict damage on the player.
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.
Star Trigon is a 2002 puzzle arcade game published in Japan by Namco. Ports for iPod, iOS devices and Windows were also released. In the game, the player controls one of three characters — Wataru Hoshi, Chuta Bigbang and Susumu Hori — the objective being to rescue creatures known as "Uchijins" by hopping from planet to planet to draw triangles and capture them. The player will automatically circle the planet they are on, requiring timed jumps to avoid falling off the playfield. It ran on the Namco System 10 hardware.
Tag Games is a video game developer and publisher based in Dundee, Scotland. Established in 2006, it is focused on creating games for mobile, tablet and wearable platforms and was one of the first European studios to develop titles for both the iPhone and iPad.
The Idolmaster is a Japanese media franchise that began with a raising simulation and rhythm video game series created by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series primarily centers on the career of a producer who works with a group of prospective pop idols at the talent agency 765 Production. Originally released as an arcade game in 2005, the franchise has grown to numerous ports, sequels and spin-offs across multiple video game consoles, including several social network games. The series includes a variety of other media such as anime, printed media, audio dramas, a Korean drama, and radio shows.
Bandai Namco Studios Inc. is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Kōtō, Tokyo. Its offices in Malaysia and Singapore, Bandai Namco Studio Malaysia and Bandai Namco Studios Singapore, are based out of Selangor, Malaysia and Infinite Studios, Singapore respectively. Bandai Namco Studios is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, which itself is a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company works under its parent company as a keiretsu; Bandai Namco Studios creates video games for home consoles, handheld systems, mobile devices and arcade hardware, while Bandai Namco Entertainment handles the managing, marketing and publishing of these products.
