Bandai Namco Entertainment

Bandai Namco Games Inc. (officially capitalized BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc.; previously Namco Bandai Games Inc., officially capitalized NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.) is a video game and toy company composed of Namco and Bandai which merged in 2005. They have developed several Mario games for Nintendo in the past. They are notable for creating various classic arcade video game titles, and owning the rights to the Pac-Man series. They additionally own the rights to Mametchi, a Tamagotchi who made a playable appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2.

The first Mario game that Namco had developed was Mario Superstar Baseball for the Nintendo Gamecube. Namco later produced an arcade cross-over Mario Kart game, which came to be known as Mario Kart Arcade GP, as well as two sequels, Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 and Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. The most recent Mario game developed by them is Mario Super Sluggers. Later on Namco assisted in Mario Kart 8's development. Masahiro Sakurai has also confirmed that Namco Bandai is currently co-developing Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U alongside his own company Sora Ltd.. Because of this, Pac-Man has been confirmed be be a playable character in the game.