View source for Descriptions/Namco

'''Namco Ltd.''' (株式会社ナムコ, Kabushiki Kaisha Namuko; alternatively ナムコ) is a video game publisher and developer founded in Tokyo, Japan as Nakamura Manufacturing in 1955. 

Initially focused on mechanical toys for children, Namco moved into the video game industry and released their first game, ''Gee Bee'' in 1978. Since then they have been responsible for some of the most revolutionary and successful games released in the last thirty years, including ''Galaxian'', the first full RGB-colour video game and ''[[Pac-Man]]'', one of the most iconic video games of all time. Other big franchises owned by Namco include the ''Ridge Racer'' and ''Tekken'' brands.

From 1984 through 1995, Namco published their consumer software in Japan under the '''Namcot''' branding. The '''Namco Hometek''' subsidiary would later be formed in 1990 in San Jose, California, serving as the company's U.S. publishing arm for their console games after previously relying on other publishers (such as [[Tengen]] and [[Bandai]]) for their overseas releases.

On September 29, 2005, Namco's management was merged with that of [[Bandai]] to create Namco Bandai Holdings Inc., the third largest video game entity in Japan.