Namco
Namco began in 1955 renting mechanical rocking horses on Japanese department store rooftops, and moved into arcade games only after buying the Japanese operations of Atari in 1974. Its most consequential period was the early 1980s, when it produced Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug in quick succession — games built around simple, immediately legible rules rather than the shooting mechanics that dominated the arcade.
About Namco
Namco began in 1955 renting mechanical rocking horses on Japanese department store rooftops, and moved into arcade games only after buying the Japanese operations of Atari in 1974. Its most consequential period was the early 1980s, when it produced Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug in quick succession — games built around simple, immediately legible rules rather than the shooting mechanics that dominated the arcade. Pac-Man in particular was designed with the explicit aim of attracting an audience the industry had ignored, and it became the highest-grossing arcade game of its era. The company merged with the toy manufacturer Bandai in 2005.
The company entered games by acquiring Atari's Japanese division in 1974, having previously rented rocking horses on department store roofs.
Rights holder: Bandai Namco Entertainment. CharacterTshirts.com is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or connected to any character rights holder, publisher, studio or network named on this site. All character names and titles are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the products described.
Key eras
| Era | Years | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Rooftop amusements | 1955–1974 | Mechanical rides before any involvement in electronics. |
| Golden age arcade | 1978–1985 | Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug within a few years of each other. |
| Bandai Namco | 2005– | Merged with Bandai; publishes across consoles and anime licensing. |