Overview

Namco (ナムコ, Namuko) is one of Japan's leading video game manufacturers. Currently Namco Bandai Entertainment. It remained one of the company's brands until 2014 (now unified with the company name). On pixiv, most illustrations related to Namco Bandai Entertainment (former Namco works) are labeled with Namco.

History

1955: The late Masaya Nakamura founded the company as Nakamura Seisakusho (中村製作所, Nakamura Seisakujo). It started out with hand-cranked rocking horses placed on the roof of the Matsuya department store in Yokohama.

1970s

1971: Began using the "Namco" brand.

1973: The first arcade video game, Atari's competitive tennis game Pong, was released in Japan by Namco.

1977: Company name changed to Namco Limited (株式会社ナムコ, Kabushiki-gaisha Namuko)

1978: Released Gee Bee the first original Namco arcade video game.

1979: Galaxian released.

1980s

1980: Pac-Man was released. The game became so popular in the U.S. that it was made into an animated cartoon by Hanna-Barbera.

1983: Xevious released. The first issue of Namco Community Magazine NG, a PR magazine, is published. This period is commonly referred to as Namco's Golden Age.

1984: Namco began developing software for the MSX and started using the Namcot label. The first title is Pac-Man.

1984: President Nakamura asks Nintendo to introduce a third-party system for the Family Computer. The first title is Galaxian.

1986: Entry into Super Cassette Vision software development. The first title was Mappy.

1986: Acquired Italian Tomato, a restaurant company.

1988: Entered the PC Engine software development market. The first title was Yokai Dochuki.

1988: Listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

1988: Entered the film production business. The first film, Mirai Ninja (Director: Keita Amemiya) was produced.

1989: Released Dangerous Seed for commercial use. The period after this is commonly referred to as "the dark period of Namco's arcade games" (although sales of large arcade machines were relatively strong).

1990s

1990: Entered software development for the Mega Drive. The first title was Phelios.

1990: Entered Game Boy software development. The first title was Famista.

1991: Listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

1992: Namco Wonder Egg (ナムコ・ワンダーエッグ), a theme park, opened.

1993: Released Ridge Racer for commercial use. Some people refer to this period as "the period of Namco's revival.

1994: Namco entered the PlayStation software development market. Released Ridge Racer as a launch title.

1994: Released Tekken for arcade.

1994: Entered the development of software for the 3DO, but released only Starblade.

1995: Abolished the Namcot label.

1996: Released Time Crisis for arcade machines.

1997: Acquired Nikkatsu, a movie production company, as a subsidiary.

1997: Entered the pachinko/pachislot video software production business.

1997: Entered the development of software for Nintendo 64, but only released Famista 64.

1998: Released Soulcalibur for commercial use.

1999: Entered software development for Wonder Swan. The first title was Klonoa: Moonlight Museum.

1999: Developed only two software titles for Dreamcast. Soulcalibur and Mr. Driller (released the following year).

List of Works

Related Articles

Namco Bandai Entertainment　Bandai Namco

External Links

English

Namco - Wikipedia

Japanese

ナムコとは [単語記事] - ニコニコ大百科 (NicoNico Encyclopedia)

Japanese

Article in Other Languages

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