Namco, Bandai seal European union

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Oct 31, 2006 10:11 am PT

Pac-Man and Chibi Robo publishers consolidate their partnership, hint at ambitious plans for Europe.

Japanese video game companies Namco and Bandai have integrated into one entity in Europe--a new company called Namco Bandai Games Europe. This move comes after similar integration moves in Japan and the US.

Calling itself a "formidable alliance for Europe," the company statement continues that it will be "challenging leading publishers for product market share."

Namco and Bandai are both industry veterans--Namco was set up in Tokyo in 1955 and is responsible for classic games such as Galaxian, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Tekken, and Xevious. Bandai was also founded in Tokyo, five years earlier in 1950, and has produced games including Chibi Robo, .hack//G.U., and the One Piece series. In 2005 Bandai was acquired by Namco and the two companies joined forces to become Namco Bandai Holdings.

Masayuki Matsuo, president of Namco Bandai Games Europe, said of the announcement: "The collective strength of our two companies will allow us to position ourselves and our products more aggressively in Europe, competing alongside top tier publishers and supporting our distribution partners to maximise sales and marketing opportunities."

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q_oats
Posted May 7, 2007 10:14 am PT

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
q_oats
Posted May 7, 2007 10:14 am PT

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q_oats
Posted May 7, 2007 9:21 am PT

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q_oats
Posted May 7, 2007 9:20 am PT

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Posted May 7, 2007 9:07 am PT

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q_oats
Posted May 7, 2007 9:06 am PT

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blacksox2k6
Posted Jan 11, 2007 9:30 am PT

cool
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blacksox2k6
Posted Jan 11, 2007 9:29 am PT

cool
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Shuzen
Posted Nov 16, 2006 10:15 am PT

I WANT XENOSAGA 3 TO COME OUT IN THE UK!!!
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thefjk
Posted Nov 1, 2006 6:51 am PT

Cooool!
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kingspam
Posted Nov 1, 2006 12:02 am PT

I like this news. More chance of Tales of the Abyss and .HACK//GU getting EU ports.
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paranoiasurviva
Posted Oct 31, 2006 1:38 pm PT

Psh, whatever
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drakron
Posted Oct 31, 2006 12:56 pm PT

Meh, Namco have about 0 presence in europe outside arcade game machines.

Bandai is pretty much anime ...

So what does it mean? that Namco will finaly be publishing games in europe or nothing will change ... I am more inclined to the nothing will change.

Hardly gaming news ... heck hardly news.
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korn18m
Posted Oct 31, 2006 12:05 pm PT

Schillinger wrote:
Namco Bandai have been an entity since 2005. So, what happened everywhere else over a year ago is after happening in Europe. Wow.
_____________________________________________________________
Yeah, apparently when it comes to anything related to video games, everything happens later there.
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Schillinger
Posted Oct 31, 2006 11:33 am PT

Namco Bandai have been an entity since 2005. So, what happened everywhere else over a year ago is after happening in Europe. Wow.
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kyosukeugc
Posted Oct 31, 2006 11:26 am PT

interesting... does this mean we'll get a Gundam RPG? lol
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korn18m
Posted Oct 31, 2006 11:09 am PT

Ohes noooes!!1!11 every 1 run, teh Namco n' Bandai r bringin' da WW3!!!!1!!1one!!
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fantasyfacade
Posted Oct 31, 2006 11:09 am PT

I woder what they will have to offer us. As far as looking at my collection goes I have a lot of games from both companies.
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Gribb85
Posted Oct 31, 2006 10:56 am PT

ooo and first comment aswell. Nice job charlie boy...

Nice job Bandai Namco or whoever the heck you are, was the guy who thinks up the names sick today?
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