Namco Networks

Namco Networks America, Inc. was an American company based in San Jose, California. The company was founded in 2006, being split off from Namco-America (now known as Bandai Namco Amusement America) as a result of the formation of Bandai Namco Holdings. The company ceased operations in 2011, being merged back into Namco Bandai Games America (now known as Bandai Namco Entertainment America).
== History ==
Beginning in 2003, Namco-America - a company who otherwise solely focused on the arcade industry - began releasing mobile games for the then-new mobile phone market. Following the forming of Bandai Namco Holdings, the mobile team at Namco-America was split into a separate subsidiary known as Namco Networks America, Inc.; the new company was formed on January 1st, 2006.https://web.archive.org/web/20060509003235/http://www.namcogames.com/pressDetails.php?id=39 Some parts of Namco Hometek (a company which was effectively shut down amidst the Namco-Bandai merger) would also be merged into the Namco Networks company.
Namco Networks was designed to be a fully mobile-focused subsidiary of Namco. Effectively all branding used for Namco-America's mobile operations were retained, though new game titles were also produced. Namco Networks would also open a shopping website known as "clubNAMCO", which sold various pieces of Pac-Man merchandise.https://web.archive.org/web/20060509003303/http://www.namcogames.com/pressDetails.php?id=43
In May of 2006, Namco Networks released Super Pac-Man on mobile devices; a giveaway of a customized, Pac-Man-themed Volkswagen New Beetle was held to promote the game.https://web.archive.org/web/20061116180035/http://www.namcogames.com/pressDetails.php?id=45 In September of 2006, Namco Networks began production on games for iPod devices, including a newly-developed port of Pac-Man.https://www.macworld.com/article/181554/ipodgames.html In 2008, Namco Networks would launch Pac-Man titles on the App Store (for iPhone and iPod Touch) and for BlackBerry devices.https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/07/10/pac-man-and-ms-pac-man-chomp-their-way-into-apples-new-app-storehttps://web.archive.org/web/20181006035144/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080714005233/en/PAC-MAN-Fever-BlackBerry-Smartphones Shortly thereafter, Namco Networks released Pac-Man for the first commercial Android device;https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/09/23/pac-man-chases-pesky-ghosts-onto-first-android-powered-device this also resulted in Pac-Man being the first video game on the Android platform."Google's Android operating system launched yesterday with a decidedly underwhelming games line-up of, er, just Pac-Man." https://kotaku.com/gameloft-glu-announce-android-games-452594236
In 2009, Namco Networks began producing casual PC games in addition to their mobile output; these included both downloadable titles and in-browser Adobe Flash games. In August of 2010, Namco Networks was merged into Namco Bandai Games America;https://venturebeat.com/games/digital-game-transition-drives-a-reorg-at-namco-bandais-u-s-operations/ most Namco Networks titles continued official distribution (under different publishing) until 2015, in which a large bulk of them were delisted.https://web.archive.org/web/20150315134357/http://pacman.com/en/pac-man-news/pac-man-game-news/important-notice-of-service-termination
== Pac-Man releases ==
Note that many titles are republished from Namco-America and/or Namco of Japan. 
=== Mobile games and applications ===
For further information, see Pac-Man mobile games.
Name 	Platforms
Pac-Man (2001, 2006-2008) 	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry, Android, iOS, iPod, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile-based smartphone
Ms. Pac-Man (2001, 2006-2008) 	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry, Android, iOS, iPod, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile-based smartphone
Pac-Man Casino Card Game Pack (2003, 2006)	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry
Pac-Man Casino Slots Pack (2003, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Ms. Pac-Man for Prizes (2004, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Bowling (2004, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Puzzle (2004, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry
PAC-Match! (2004, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Game Tones (2004, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Pinball (2005, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry
Pac-Mania (2005, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW, iOS
Pac-Man's Arcade Corner (2005, 2006) 	J2ME/BREW
Super Pac-Man (2006) 	J2ME/BREW, BlackBerry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile-based smartphone
Pac-Man Plus (2007) 	J2ME
Pac-Man Fever (2007) 	J2ME/BREW
Ms. Pac-Man Fever (2007) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Arcade Golf (2008) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Pinball Deluxe (2008) 	J2ME/BREW
Pac-Man Championship Edition (2009-2010) 	J2ME/BREW, Android, iOS
Pac-Man Remix (2009) 	iOS
Pac-Match Party (2010) 	iOS
Namco Games Portal (2010) 	iOS
Pac-Chain (2010) 	iOS
Pac-Attack (2010) 	iOS
Pac-Man Kart Rally (2010) 	J2ME/BREW, Android
Letter Labyrinth: Pac-Man Edition (2010) 	iOS
Pac-Man Battle Royale (2011) 	iOS
===Others===
Name 	Platforms
Namco All-Stars: Pac-Man (2009) 	PC (downloadable)
Namco All-Stars: Pac-Man and Dig Dug (2009)	PC (downloadable)
Pac-Mania (2009) 	Zeebo
Pac-Man Pizza Parlor (2010) 	PC (downloadable)
Pac-Match Party (2010) 	PC (web browser-based)
==Trivia== 
*Across Namco Networks press releases, the company is inconsistently labeled as being either a subsidiary of Namco-America or a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games America; both of which are separate entities.
*Alongside Namco-based titles, Namco Networks also released licensed mobile/PC ports of games from other publishers. Notable examples include Cooking Mama, BurgerTime, Mr. Do!, and the Popeye arcade game.
==References==
Category:Video Game Companies