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E3 06: Merged Namco Bandai booth shows its roots

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

The house that Pac-Man built shows love to its original mascot, pushes latest lineup of PC and anime games.

LOS ANGELES--Namco was built on the success of Pac-Man, and though it has since merged with fellow Japanese publisher Bandai, its roots shine through in the company's Electronic Entertainment Expo booth.

A rotating 3D likeness of the pellet-popping wonder is displayed at the front of the booth above a bank of systems running Pac-Man World Rally. The love doesn't stop there, however. Across the aisle in the company's spin-off Namco mobile arcade booth, the staff wears plush Pac-Man headgear, and attendees can get a look at a traveling Pac-Man museum and a Volkswagen Beetle with a Super Pac-Man-themed paint job.

Bandai's iconic Gundam also plays a part in the merged publisher's E3 booth, with a 5-foot-tall statue of a Zaku mobile suit standing alongside banks showcasing a playable demo of the company's Mobile Ops: The One Year War. Other anime-inspired games, such as Eureka Seven - Vol. 1: The New Wave, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja, .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth, IGPX, and One Piece Grand Adventure, are also featured in demo form at the show.

PC games played a stronger part in the publisher's showing than in years past. An elaborate Hellgate: London display featured a gargoyle-like creature on the edge of a building, presumably about to pounce upon a heavily armored soldier with a sword in one hand and a nasty-looking gun in the other. Playable demos of Warhammer: Mark of Chaos and Mage Knight: Apocalypse also receive a push from the publisher, with prominent displays in the center of the booth.

Warhammer

Mark of Chaos Official Movie

While keen-eyed attendees can spot a poster for Ridge Racer VII, Namco Bandai seems more intent on promoting another racer, with its version of The Fast and the Furious receiving a decent-sized wall display on one edge of the booth. Other classic Namco franchises receive a little bit more attention--the PlayStation Portable versions of Tekken: Dark Resurrection and Ace Combat X are both playable on the show floor and can be found by the company's big-screen/stage show area.

Check back with GameSpot throughout the show for more coverage of Namco Bandai's entire lineup of games.

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

22 comments
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Hiougi_Q
Hiougi_Q

I WANT TALES OF THE ABYSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

suprsolider
suprsolider

Splatterhouse did not suck. It was a great series. It's too bad that you don't know what a good game is when you see it. Escpecially Splatterhouse 3, that was a great game that I still play lots today on my Genesis.

edhc44
edhc44

suprsolider says: I want another Splatterhouse game Namco. It's been 13 years since the last one. I demand another Splatterhouse ___________________________________________________________ No other Splatterhouse ever came out because Splatterhouse sucks! And, believe me, I'm not alone on this...

Hellisunreal
Hellisunreal

NAMXO dobe good..... but another SPLATTERHOUSE wud be better

SgtMMMbop_basic
SgtMMMbop_basic

To the person asking about XBox 360 support - was leaked yesterday on MS' site (much like the HD-DVD price) that Hellgate London would be coming out for it. Also like the HD-DVD price, the information was removed shortly after it was posted.

Lauryn2000
Lauryn2000

Tekken:Dark Resurrection has promise........but Namco should step up to the plate with a little more meat.

LordAndrew
LordAndrew

Meh. They should be able to do better than this

Maquis_UK
Maquis_UK

Namco, these are all rather uninspired. wheres Soul Calibur 4 ?

Miracle_Air
Miracle_Air

.hack//G.U., Eureka Seven and Tales of the Abyss are the ones I care about... I only hope there may be some news on Tales of the Tempest soon...

Orasion_Seiz
Orasion_Seiz

.hack//G.U. Vol. 1 is the only one that im interested

suprsolider
suprsolider

I want another Splatterhouse game Namco. It's been 13 years since the last one. I demand another Splatterhouse

FuguNabe
FuguNabe

I don't know why but I'm so not so excited about Namco's booth this year... Too many same ol I guess. Very Predictable. Surprised though of Namco/Bandai's support for the Wii.

trancejeremy
trancejeremy

Well, since the 360 has done poorly in Japan, it's not a shock that a Japanese company wouldn't do much for it...

DaCloudz
DaCloudz

Aweosme stuff but i got a question... where is Frame City Killer? The game was suppose to get a huge face lift in graphics, but Namco seems to be keeping a tight lip on it. But keep the games coming!

ferrarimanf355
ferrarimanf355

That's nice and all... but what about the X360 love?

blackIceJoe
blackIceJoe

nice Hellgate London looks so cool. Tekken for the PSP looks sweet.

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