Namco
Namco Limited was a Japanese multinational video game publishing company and parent of Namco Group Corporation, which was responsible for development. Namco was founded by Masaya Nakamura on 1955-06-01 as Nakamura Seisakusho, beginning with coin-operated amusement rides. We was reorganized in 1959 with a partnership with Walt Disney Productions which allowed it to expand its operations and the company changed its name to Nakamura Manufacturing Company. It entered the video game industry after acquiring the struggling Japanese division of Atari in 1974 and distributing their games. The company renamed itself to Namco in 1977 and started developing games in house. Through the late-1970s and early-1980s Namco released several very popular arcade titles. In 1984, Namco entered the home video game market by converting its arcade titles to Nintendo's Famicom. In 1985, Namco's American division bought the failing Atari Games (the arcade division of Atari). In the late 1990s, Namco encountered financial problems as the arcade market dissolved, and, in 2005, they began a merger with Bandai and Namco was officially absorbed a year later into Bandai Namco Games.
Some of Namco's biggest titles include Pac-Man, Galaga, Tekken, Soulcalibur, Pole Position, Dig Dug, Xenosaga, Galaxian, Katamari Damacy, Ridge Racer, Xevious, Splatterhouse.
Personal
I was born in the 1980s, and became interested in video games around 1985, so, while I was too late to see Namco's direct influence on the arcade, I was aware of how important its games were by how many showed up in the home market.
Games
These are the games Namco worked on that are important to me. For all Namco games, see the categories for games developed or published.
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