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E3 06: Merged Namco Bandai booth shows its roots

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted May 10, 2006 7:34 pm PT

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

Pac-Man World Rally

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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.

22 Comments

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Aug 25, 2006 5:21 am PT

    sounds cool and fun

  • Hiougi_Q

    Posted May 11, 2006 11:49 am PT

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

  • suprsolider

    Posted May 11, 2006 11:21 am PT

    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

    Posted May 11, 2006 9:03 am PT

    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

    Posted May 11, 2006 8:52 am PT

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

  • SgtMMMbop_basic

    Posted May 11, 2006 6:46 am PT

    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

    Posted May 11, 2006 6:43 am PT

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

  • LordAndrew

    Posted May 11, 2006 6:31 am PT

    Meh. They should be able to do better than this

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted May 11, 2006 6:24 am PT

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

  • Fahim2

    Posted May 11, 2006 4:18 am PT

    tekken...6?

  • Miracle_Air

    Posted May 11, 2006 1:14 am PT

    .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

    Posted May 10, 2006 10:29 pm PT

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

  • SuperShockrave

    Posted May 10, 2006 10:27 pm PT

    I am interested in Tales of the Abyss

  • suprsolider

    Posted May 10, 2006 9:50 pm PT

    I want another Splatterhouse game Namco.

    It's been 13 years since the last one.

    I demand another Splatterhouse

  • FuguNabe

    Posted May 10, 2006 8:54 pm PT

    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

    Posted May 10, 2006 8:07 pm PT

    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

    Posted May 10, 2006 8:06 pm PT

    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

    Posted May 10, 2006 7:58 pm PT

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

  • RX-78GP02A

    Posted May 10, 2006 7:58 pm PT

    Mobile Ops will pwn

  • andrewtyen

    Posted May 10, 2006 7:52 pm PT

    looks awesome

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