Namco was founded as Nakamura Works (中村製作所, "Nakamura Seisakusho") on June 1, 1955. by Masaya Nakamura. It was renamed Nakamura Manufacturing Company (株式会社中村製作所) in 1959. In 1971, it began releasing games under the Namco label, an acronym of Nakamura Manufacturing Company.

Nolan Bushnell founded an Atari division named Atari Japan in 1973. In 1974, Nakamura purchased Atari Japan for $500,000 USD and Nakamura Manufacturing Company became the sole distributor of Atari products in Japan. 

In 1977, Nakamura Manufacturing Company was renamed Namco Limited. In February 2005, Namco merged with Bandai forming Bandai Namco Holdings. The two companies operated independently under the holding company until March 31, 2006, when the development divisions of the two companies were merged into Namco Bandai Games. The arcade divisions in the United Kingdom and Asia are the only divisions to retain the Namco name.

Games by Namco:

1999

Enhanced 3D Fighting Game. In the enhanced port of the arcade game of the same name, fighters seek a sword named Soul Edge.

1998

3D Arcade Fighting Game. Fighters seek the mass murderer Nightmare, who holds the legendary sword known as Soul Edge.

1981

Shoot 'Em Up Game. One or more ships destroy bug-like aliens that attack in multiple types of formations.

1980

Maze Game. Pac-Man eats pellets while avoiding ghosts.