Namco Cybertainment, Inc.

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Namco Cybertainment, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Limited of Japan responsible for the operation of arcade games in malls, theaters and other venues throughout the Lower 48 states, and Puerto Rico.

[edit] History

Namco Limited began arcade operations when it purchased Atari's arcade operations in 1990, creating Namco Operations, Inc. (NOI). NOI began operating in malls and other locations through the United States. It operated several large facilities such as Pier 39 in San Francisco, California, and Church Street Station in Orlando, Florida.

Aladdin's Castle began operating in the 1970s. Owned by Bally and operating under several different trade names before changing all of their 100+ arcades to the Aladdin's Castle name in 1977, operating as Bally's Aladdin's Castle. Bally's also purchased several other competing arcade locations called "Land Of Oz" in the early 1980's. The company operated under the parent name "Bally's Aladdin's Castle" until 1989 when Bally corporation sold the arcade division, which at that time included over 360 locations in the continental USA. It then began operations as Aladdin's Castle, Inc. (ACI) until it was purchased by Namco.

In 1993, Namco Limited purchased Aladdin's Castle and merged it with Namco Operations to form Namco Cybertainment, Inc (NCI), creating the largest arcade operator in the United States. This new company operated under the principal trade names of Aladdin's Castle and Cyberstation arcades in malls through the Continental United States. Throughout the 1990s, NCI continued to merge or purchase several arcade companies throughout the US. Chief among these are Edison Brothers Mall Entertainment (operating under the Time-Out and SpacePort names) in 1996. Also in the late 1990s, Namco acquired Diamond Jim's and in the early part of the new century purchased Pocket Change.

[edit] Locations

Namco Cybertainment, Inc. operates over 25,000 arcade games in over 1,200 locations including malls, shopping centers, amusement parks, theaters, casinos, tourist attractions, restaurants, bowling centers, truck stops, and more. Operating mall locations under the principal trade names of Time Out, CyberStation, Aladdin's Castle, Diamond Jim's, Space Port, and Pocket Change it also operates several large entertainment facilities, such as WonderPark in Cincinnati, Ohio and in Carolina and Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

Namco Cybertainment's corporate offices reside in Bensenville, IL.

[edit] External links

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