Namco News Articles
Wednesday1st Oct 2025
News The Next Arcade Archives Release Will Have Mouse Controls On Switch 1 & 2
Gee Bee lands tomorrow
The next Arcade Archives title coming to Switch 1 and Switch 2 buzzes onto the consoles tomorrow, 2nd October 2025, and it's the first-title Toru Iwatani — the creator of Pac-Man — developed for Namco. The 1978 release Gee Bee is the next game in Hamster's huge catalogue of ports. Notably, Gee Bee was the first ever...
Thursday25th Sep 2025
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's GBA Library With Two More Titles
Two Namco games join 'Nintendo Classics'
Nintendo has today announced it will be expanding its Switch Online + Expansion Pack service with two more games for the Game Boy Advance library. They include the Namco titles Mr. Driller 2 and Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, and they'll be arriving next week on 25th September 2025. The puzzle title Mr. Driller 2...
Monday21st Jul 2025
News Atari 50 Is Getting Yet Another DLC Pack, This Time Focused On Namco Titles
The Pac is Back
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is getting another DLC expansion in the form of 'The Namco Legendary Pack DLC'. No release date has been set at the time of writing, but the new DLC will contain an additional timeline looking at Namco's history with Atari, along with multiple playable versions of Atari PAC-MAN, GALAGA,...
Friday31st Jan 2025
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's N64 Library With Namco Classic 'Ridge Racer 64'
It's Ridge Racer!
In a new Switch Online N64 game library update today, Nintendo has added the Namco title Ridge Racer 64. This arcade-style classic racer was originally released on Nintendo's console hardware in the year 2000 and developed by the team at Nintendo Software Technology. It contains multiple modes to work your way through and there's...
Friday15th Nov 2024
Random Donkey Konga Fan Creates Custom Track Tool
Though bongo support isn't available yet
If you're a fan of the severely underrated Donkey Konga franchise from the GameCube era, then you're in luck. A dedicated fan has created a tool called Konga Beat that allows you to import songs and create your own custom tracks that can then be exported for use with either Donkey Konga 2 or Donkey Konga 3...
Friday6th Oct 2023
Random Star Fox Dev Thinks Star Fox Adventures "Was Too British"
"I think Star Fox is a very complex title"
The Star Fox series has been a bit of a mixed bag, hasn't it? There have been huge genre shifts, recreations, and attempts to capture that same magic that the SNES original — and the N64 sequel — captured. Now, in an interview with VGC, Dylan Cuthbert, a programmer on the original Star Fox and Star Fox...
Sunday2nd Jul 2023
Poll Box Art Brawl: Donkey Konga
♫ That's the Impression That I Get ♫
Hi! Welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl - good to see you again. Before we get cracking with this week's bout, let's take a look at how last week went down. We took a look at WarioWare Gold for the 3DS, pitting North America and Europe against Japan. Unsurprisingly (and rather disappointingly in...
Wednesday1st Feb 2023
News Greek Mythology-Inspired Vertical Shooter 'Phelios' Is This Week's Arcade Archives Game
By the beard of Zeus!
Greek mythology might not be the first thing to come to mind when you think of a vertical-scrolling shooter, but that didn't stop Namco from releasing Phelios in 1988, and it hasn't stopped Hamster from adding said title to its arcade collection this week (from 2nd February). There's probably many out there who haven't...
Thursday5th Jan 2023
News Galaga Is Hamster's First Arcade Archives Switch Release Of 2023
Another blast from the past
Following on from the release of Bubble Bobble at the end of December, Hamster has now officially unveiled its first Arcade Archives release of 2023. This time it's Namco's classic arcade space shooter Galaga. This title was first released in 1981 and is a sequel to the 1979 release Galaxian (previously released on the...
Thursday14th Jul 2022
News Namco Shmup Dragon Saber Is This Week's Arcade Archives Game
Dragon flight
If you love a good vertical shoot 'em up - Hamster's Arcade Archives collection has you got covered this week. The latest release for this library on the Switch is the 1990 Namco title, Dragon Saber. It's a sequel to Dragon Spirit, released in arcades back in 1987. In this game, the Huey and Siria, who have been transformed into...
Wednesday8th Jun 2022
News Bump Your Enemies Off The Edge In 'Motos', The Next Arcade Archives Game
Give it a push!
We've got our next Arcade Archives title hitting the eShop tomorrow, and it's 1985's bumper car arcade game Motos. This is the last of seven games to run on Namco's Super Pac-Man hardware while sharing a video system used in games like Mappy, Dig Dug II, and — last week's Arcade Archives addition — The Tower of Druaga. It's a...
Wednesday11th May 2022
News Pro Tennis: World Court Is The Next Ace In The Arcade Archives Line-Up
A forehand winner for the collection
It's our weekly Wednesday update on the Arcade Archives series. Except for last week, when the magic happened on Thursday. Golden Week, hey? This week, we've got something a bit different for Hamster's series; after weeks of shumps, platformers, racers, and puzzle games, we have a sports game coming to the eShop...
Wednesday27th Apr 2022
News Namco's Yokai Dochuki, Renamed 'Shadowland', Is The Next Arcade Archives Game On Switch
A platformer to close out Namco month
We're getting another Arcade Archives release on Switch tomorrow, as the Japan-only platformer Yokai Dochuki is the next game to launch in the series, but with a slightly different name in the West, however — Shadowland. Originally released in arcades in 1987, the game sees you platforming through jigoku...
Wednesday20th Apr 2022
News Galaga Sequel 'Gaplus' Is The Next Arcade Archives Game On Switch
Namco month continues
It's Wednesday, so we're obviously here to tell you what new arcade game you'll be able to pick up on Switch as part of the Arcade Archives series. Tomorrow, it's the turn of shmup sequel Gaplus, the third entry in the Galaxian series and follow-up to the hugely popular Galaga. Sometimes also known as Galaga 3, it's only one...
Thursday17th Feb 2022
News Namco's Dragon Spirit Is Coming To Arcade Archives On Switch
Arrives in early March
Namco's 1987 fantasy-themed shmup Dragon Spirit is joining the Arcade Archives series on Nintendo Switch, it has been revealed. Notable for fusing traditional shmup mechanics with dragons and other mythical beasts, the game shares similarities with another Namco classic, Xevious, in that the player has a standard shot for...
Thursday3rd Feb 2022
News Namco's 'Dangerous Seed' Is Coming To Switch Later This Month
Joins the Arcade Archives series
Namco's 1989 vertically-scrolling shooter Dangerous Seed is joining the Arcade Archives series, it has been revealed. Designed by Yuichiro Shinozaki (The Tower of Druaga), Dangerous Seed runs on the Namco System 1 arcade hardware. It was later ported to the Sega Mega Drive, alongside a slightly improved soundtrack...
Wednesday2nd Feb 2022
News Namco's 'New Rally-X' Is Joining Arcade Archives On Switch This Week
What's old is new again (but still old)
Hamster has confirmed that this week's Arcade Archives title is Namco's 1981 racer, New Rally-X. Originally released in 1981, New Rally-X improves on the original Rally-X (which is also part of the Arcade Archives series) by showcasing ever-so-slightly better visuals and a new soundtrack. It also has easier...
Thursday9th Dec 2021
News 'Lost' Namco Title That Inspired The First Live-Action Video Game Movie Is Coming To Switch
Pre-dating Super Mario, Street Fighter and Double Dragon's movies
Next week's Arcade Archives release is Mirai Ninja, a Japan-only Namco title from 1988 which was never ported to any home system, and holds a special place in video game history. Released in the same year as Keita Amemiya's 1988 movie Mirai Ninja: Keigumo Kinin Gaiden (known as Cyber...
Wednesday8th Dec 2021
News Namco's Groundbreaking Dragon Buster Is Coming To Switch This Week
Joins the Arcade Archives range tomorrow
Hamster has revealed that the next entry in its long-running Arcade Archives series is Namco's 1984 title Dragon Buster. Notable for being one of the first arcade games to fuse RPG elements with the ability to select your level based on a world map, Dragon Buster followed in the footsteps of Namco's...
Thursday14th Oct 2021
News Another Classic Namco Title Joins Hamster's Arcade Archives This Week
Rally-X returns
This week's arcade archives release from Hamster Corporation is the 1980 Namco "maze chase" classic, Rally-X. Here's some PR and screens: “RALLY-X” is an action game released by NAMCO in 1980. Players control a car and dodge pursuing red cars while collecting flags. Stall the red cars using a smokescreen when they get too...
Thursday11th Jun 2020
News Bandai Namco Is Bringing Its Retro Collection To The West As Namco Museum Archives
Update: Volume 1 and 2 confirmed
Update (Thu 11th Jun, 2020 11:15 BST): And it's confirmed! Bandai Namco will be releasing both Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 and Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 on Nintendo Switch and other platforms on 18th June (thanks, Gematsu). Original Article (Thu 4th Jun, 2020 16:30 BST): Bandai Namco is about to release The...
Wednesday18th Sep 2019
News Trademark Discovery Suggests Klonoa, Mr. Driller And Splatterhouse Might Be Making A Comeback
Bandai Namco is up to something...
Update (Wed 18th Sep, 2019 03:15 BST): GoNintendo reveals the page listing for Klonoa on Wii was updated on Nintendo's UK website three days ago (see for yourself). Update: It would seem that Bandai Namco is planning t
Tuesday28th May 2019
News Three New Collections Announced For Upcoming Retro Handheld Evercade
Namco are on board, plus new carts from Interplay and Atari
The makers of the Evercade, an upcoming handheld console that connects to your TV and plays collections of retro games which come on cartridges, have announced three new carts, each containing a fresh selection. The biggest news is that there's a new publisher on the platform in the form...
Tuesday2nd Apr 2019
News Fan Releases English Translation Patch For Namco's Famicom Game Youkai Douchuuki
Fight through Hell
Long before Level-5 launched its Yo-Kai Watch video game series on Nintendo hardware, there was an old school Famicom game released in 1988 about the supernatural monsters, creatures, spirits, ghosts and demons commonly found in Japanese folklore. The game we're referring to is Youkai Douchuuki. It starred a young boy named...
Monday30th Jan 2017
News Namco Founder Masaya Nakamura Dies Aged 91
The man who spoke out against Nintendo and Hiroshi Yamauchi
One of the most influential names in the Japanese video game arena has passed away, it has been revealed. A former engineer in the Japanese navy, Masaya Nakamura established Nakamura Manufacturing in 1955 after purchasing two mechanical horse ride for $3,000. Due to the intense competition...
Monday31st Oct 2016
Video Get In The Halloween Spirit With The Complete History Of Splatterhouse
Rickrolled
Namco took quite a gamble when it released Splatterhouse in arcades in 1988. The company's previous titles had been cartoon-like and appealing to all ages, but this side-scrolling action title took inspiration from Hollywood slasher and horror movies, turning up the gore level and providing an experience which wasn't really suitable for...
Friday22nd May 2015
News Waka-Waka-Well I Never, Pac-Man Turns 35 Today
Everyone's favourite pill-popper is all grown up
Mario and Sonic may be two of gaming's most recognisable faces but even they are young pups when compared to the true elder statesman of interactive entertainment: Pac-Man. 35 years ago, Namco released Toru Iwatani's seminal title in Japanese arcades and began a gaming legend which endures even to...
Friday31st Oct 2014
Video Join Us For Nintendo Life's Haunting Halloween Night In
No Tricks here, just Treats for your Wii U and 3DS
Halloween is a wonderful time of year to watch scary movies, eat candy and play spooky video games, as opposed to being out in the cold. To help you decide on your entertainment for this ghoulish evening, we've come up with a list of games that can be played on your Wii U and 3DS, with many of these...
Wednesday11th Jun 2014
News Pac-Land and Pac-Man Collection Chomp Onto North American Wii U Virtual Console
Part of Nintendo's 30% off E3 eShop promotion
Hot off the heels of Pac-Man's announcement as a playable character in the new Super Smash Bros, two Pac-classics have popped up on the North American Wii U Virtual Console, and you can snag 'em for 30% off as they join
Tuesday8th Apr 2014
News New Taiko Drum Master Game Revealed for 3DS
...in Japan, that is. Alas.
Popular Namco rhythm series Taiko no Tatsujin (known as Taiko: Drum Master in the West) will get a new instalment on 3DS in Japan, as reported by Famitsu. Entitled Taiko Drum Master: Don and Katsu’s Space-Time Great Adventure, the new drumming game will arrive 26th June for ¥4,740 (roughly $46 or £28). It will support...
