Author Topic: Namco and Bandai to Merge  (Read 5462 times)

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Offline SS4Gogita

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Namco and Bandai to Merge
« on: May 01, 2005, 04:39:52 PM »
From the Land of the Rising Sun comes the major news.  Details are inside!

Joining forces, Namco and Bandai would become the second largest game/toy maker in Japan. Their combined 458 billion yen in annual sales would be surpassed only by that of Sega Sammy Holdings.    


Both companies had been looking for other companies with which to integrate their operations to ensure their survival against newly intensified competition.      


Japan's leading toy maker (Bandai), and one of the leaders in video game offerings (Namco), hope to have everything in place by this Autumn.    


We'll have more information on this breaking news as it comes out.    


UPDATE: CNN reports that Bandai is purchasing Namco for $1.6 billion.    


Financial experts believe the merge will not significantly affect either companies' operations.    


 "Basically, this is a positive step for both firms," said Takeshi Tajima, a consultant at BNP Paribas. "This isn't a merger where one is rescuing the other. Each will bring strengths to the table and together they can work to address any weak points."    


Namco fans around the world can only hope Mr. Tajima's statements are accurate.    


UPDATED AGAIN: Namco's official Japanese site discloses further details.  The merged company, Namco Bandai Holdings, Inc., will be established on 29 September 2005.  Kyushiro Takagi (Representative Director of Namco) will act as Chairman and Director and Takeo Takasu (Bandai President and Director) will assume the role of President and Representative Director.  These two head honchos will be joined by three other directors from each company, as well as others from outside of either company.    


The official report also iterates Namco Bandai's plans to focus on both companies' strengths.  Most importantly for American gamers, this means that the company will play up Bandai's strong merchandising muscle and Namco's software development skills.

::Vincent Anderson
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Offline joshnickerson

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2005, 06:00:22 PM »
In future news, Sega Sammy and Namco-Bandai are both bought out and engulfed in EA Worldwide.  

Offline KnowsNothing

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2005, 06:09:57 PM »
Yeah, I love how two relatively large companies need to merge in order to ensure survival.  Small development houses don't stand a chance.

Does this merger mean that the the future of licensed anime-games looks....brighter?
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Offline Bartman3010

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2005, 06:15:54 PM »
Oh god no....

Bandai suuuuuucks =(
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2005, 06:39:35 PM »
doesn't Nintendo own a sizable portion of Bandai?

Does this mean more Nintendo love from Namdai/Banco... err I mean Bandai/Namco??

edit:
I found the story on Nintendo buying shares of Bandai

Nintendo now own 2.7% of Bandai making them one of the largest share holders

Offline Savior

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2005, 06:54:14 PM »
Thats good news for Nintendo..  
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Offline Bill Aurion

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2005, 07:16:11 PM »
If I had to choose someone for Bandai to merge with, Namco would probably be one of my first choices...
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Offline Ian Sane

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2005, 08:43:20 PM »
So... who's REALLY buying who?  Sega Sammy sucks because Sammy's clearly calling the shots and has pretty much stomped out everything that actually made Sega great.  It's basically Sammy in charge of Sega's trademarks.

If Namco is in charge that's cool.  They're the "good" company in this merger so it's better for us if they're in charge.  Still Square Enix was a combo of two "good" companies and they haven't been all that amazing.  I think in general mergers aren't good for the industry.  It's entirely a corporate decision so there's immediate pressure to deliver in sales which leads playing it safe.  That means milking franchises, altering games for mass market appeal, and just being very generic and bland.  Virtua Quest and Final Fantasy X-2 are what mergers result in.

Offline TheYoungerPlumber

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2005, 11:54:00 PM »
I guess I don't know enough about Bandai, but.... Bandai isn't focused on video games and Namco has a stable fiscal history, so Bandai would likely respect Namco's policies and teams even if they were the ones doing the buying.  Sure, we'd probably see more Bandai franchise-based Namco games, but that isn't necessairily bad.  Namco wasn't desperate for survival here, so I can't imagine it would sign a stupid deal.  Sega was bleeding really bad, which is most of the reason Sammy is calling all of the shots now.

UPDATE: Yup, Bandai is the buyer (not shocking) and I've updated the story.  It seems "experts" agree with me--not much will change.

I wasn't aware Namco wanted to buy Sega, but I'm not surprised either.  A shame...Namco probably would have been better for Sega.
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Offline Nephilim

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2005, 12:21:48 AM »
Bandai is huge in japan but isnt big outside japan
maybe this will allow alot more anime baised games to be released on the other side of the world
Might explain why namco got the hello kitty licence, instead of a company like Tomy (who make alot of exclusive to japan games, like zoids)

edit: I wish nintendo bought shares, thu that doesnt seem to make stuff exclusive ala sony owning square stocks

Offline TheYoungerPlumber

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2005, 12:28:50 AM »
Nintendo would have to own a lot of shares to have any influence, DeadlyD.  Collaboration and deal-cutting is the better approach, and I sincerely hope Namco and Nintendo can cut more of them for the Revolution.  The Baten Kaitos/ToS deal could have made a big difference were they made a few years earlier.
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Offline Spak-Spang

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2005, 04:48:26 AM »
I still wonder if Nintendo couldn't at least buy more stock to make their shares much more of a strong hold on the company.  2.9% isn't that much.  However, if they raised it to 10% that is a better power play investment.


Offline ThePerm

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2005, 06:24:38 AM »
I wouldnt be suprised if nintendo decided to outright takeover bandai..its sad what happened to Sega...iv been playing Shenmue lately....... poor Sega
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Offline NRevolutionR

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2005, 07:20:06 AM »
Will the companies still publish games under their seperate brands, or will we have to endur Namco/Bandai  
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Offline couchmonkey

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2005, 07:20:59 AM »
Merging and buyouts aren't necessarily the wave of the future.  My impression is that a lot of these mega-mergers are simply leading some of these oversized companies to their doom.

It's been seen quite a bit in the auto industry.  The most famous merger is that of Chrysler and Mercedes, which hasn't really proven to benefit either company in the long run.  Asian automakers are still overtaking Chrysler (and the rest of Detroit) in North America and I don't think Chrysler or Mercedes have gained much in each others' territories either.  Then of course we all know what has happened with Sega Sammy.  Even if Sega Sammy is more profitable than Sega was, it doesn't seem to have much presence in the industry anymore, and I'm willing to bet its marketshare of the game industry has shrivelled a lot in the past year.

That's not to say none of these mergers can work, and I'd say from what I'm hearing that this one will turn out better than the Sega Sammy merger, but in the end it may make no difference to gamers...kinda like SquareEnix.  Which isn't bad, but it's not great either.  I think there will still be room for independents in the game industry for a while yet.
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Offline Kamek_X

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RE: Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #15 on: May 02, 2005, 03:13:30 PM »
I guess will start seeing Power Rangewr characters in Tekken

Offline Djunknown

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #16 on: May 02, 2005, 04:46:36 PM »
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Japanese videogame developers are also losing market share overseas to foreign rivals such as Electronic Arts Inc., he said.


Either CNN is making false analysis, or the gaming media hasn't really reported this. EA stomping around in Japan? C'mon....

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The new group would dwarf struggling toy maker Takara Co Ltd and other smaller industry players such as Taito Corp, Tomy Co. , Square Enix Co Ltd, Capcom Co Ltd and Koei Co Ltd.


Funny, who would've thought Square-Enix and Capcom were considered 'small' companies....

Quote

Still Square Enix was a combo of two "good" companies and they haven't been all that amazing.


I'm guessing this also has to two with their changing company vision. They've heavily invested in On-line/Moblie gaming which has taken off in Japan, but isn't a rancid phenomenon everywhere else. Milking the franchises are there to satiate the 'old' ways. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd make every single game on-line if they could the way they're going. Now if they can get Dragon Quest VIII stateside before the PS3 launches....

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I wasn't aware Namco wanted to buy Sega, but I'm not surprised either. A shame...Namco probably would have been better for Sega.


Yeah it was the Sega-Sammy-Namco love triangle saga from the second half of 2003 if memory serves. PGC was there to report the drama as it happend... Sega-Namco has a nicer ring to it... (Virtua Fighter vs Tekken: You know you want it!)

With the Bandai merger, a Soul Calibur anime has a chance of existing? Namco consistantly teases fans with all the artwork they include in those games.

Off Topic!

Quote

. Asian automakers are still overtaking Chrysler (and the rest of Detroit) in North America and I don't think Chrysler or Mercedes have gained much in each others' territories either.


Now if American car makers didn't go to extremes by providing either junky cars or extremely expansive frivoulous ones, they'd get somewhere. Sadly, Detroit auto makers are getting owned.  Aside from tuners who pimp out their Escalades or classic muscle cars with 22-inch rims, Honda/Toyota/Hyndai/Volkswagen are what's dominating the roads. Even in the fancy sub-urbs, its BMW, Jags and the token Porsche (and yes Mercedes, but hey, like I said, out of the common man's league.)Enough ranting, but you get the picture.
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Offline Bill Aurion

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RE:Namco and Bandai to Merge
« Reply #17 on: May 02, 2005, 05:00:42 PM »
Quote

Originally posted by: Djunknown
Quote

Japanese videogame developers are also losing market share overseas to foreign rivals such as Electronic Arts Inc., he said.


Either CNN is making false analysis, or the gaming media hasn't really reported this. EA stomping around in Japan? C'mon....

I believe they mean Japanese videogame developers in regions not Japan...
~Former Resident Zelda Aficionado and Nintendo Fan~