Masaya Nakamura, the founder of famed video game company Namco, has died at the age of 91. This news comes by way of an announcement made by Namco Bandai.
As a 3P partner Namco has been a big part of Nintendo's history, thanks in large part to Masaya Nakamura. He changed gaming for the better.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 30, 2017
Having founded Namco in 1955, Nakamura started with two mechanical horse rides on the roof of a Japanese department store. From there, Nakamura grew his company to include manufacturing other amusements, including creating mechanical games.
Namco didn’t become the video game giant we know today until the late 70s. The company would buy the distribution rights for Atari games in Japan, with Namco manufacturing arcade cabinets for people to play the games on.
Namco would quickly get into creating original games as well. Gee Bee was the first game from Namco, releasing in 1978. Although success would come from games like Galaxian, it was 1980’s Pac-Man from Toru Iwatani that really cemented Namco as the company we know today.
Best wishes to Nakamura’s family and all those affected by his passing.
