Namco Bandai to Publish Dragon Ball Games in North America

The Dragon Ball franchise will be switching publishers in North America. Namco Bandai has acquired the publishing rights for future Dragon Ball games for the next five years starting in 2010. Dragon Ball is one of the most popular Japanese animated cartoons ever. The saga stars an extraterrestrial humanoid creature named Goku and his quest to keep planet earth safe from invading enemies. The story revolves around the seven dragon balls. When the scattered objects are brought together, a powerful wish-granting dragon is summoned.

The Dragon Ball saga is spilt into three big story arcs (which accounts for over 500 television episodes): the original Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. The story lasted for over 11 years with manga, television shows, original animated videos and countless movies. The series became so popular worldwide that several licensed merchandise began to show up. Naturally, this includes video game deals.

Bandai holds the publishing rights for the Europe and Japan regions. The primarily toy company eventually merged with video game giant Namco in 2005 to form Namco Bandai. Infrogrames hold to publishing rights for Dragon Ball games in North America. In 2001, they decided to go by the Atari brand name.

Unfortunately, Atari ran into financial troubles and had to leave distribution business. They sold part of their business to Namco Bandai. As a result, Dragon Ball games will be published by Namco Bandai for at least five years starting in 2010. However, they also acquire the rights to three Dragon Ball games released this year.

The first is Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans for the Nintendo DS. The handheld title is a portable turn-based role-playing game based on the Dragon Ball Z saga. Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans is already quite popular in Japan.

Another title to be published by Namco Bandai this year is Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo. The Nintendo Wii exclusive game is a little different than your usual Dragon Ball video game. Not only is it based on the original more obscure saga, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo is also an action-adventure title.

Finally, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 is the sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit. This high-definition title is a more traditional Dragon Ball game as it is a true fighting game.

While the publishing deal doesn't officially begin until 2010, Namco Bandai will be reaping in the benefits of acquiring the Dragon Ball license in North America before the the end of this year.