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Namcot Collection

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Namcot Collection (ナムコットコレクション Namukotto Korekushon?) is a video game compilation released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on June 18, 2020. It was developed by M2 and B.B. Studio and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It compiles various games published by Namco for the Famicom. Namcot Collection was released exclusively in Japan. However, several of the games featured in the collection would be brought to international audiences through Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Gameplay[]

Namcot Collection offers a total of 33 Famicom games. It also allows players to view manuals for each game and use Namco-themed decorations. What sets Namcot Collection apart from other Namco compilations, however, is that the vast majority of the games cannot be played right away. Although Namcot Collection can be downloaded for free, only one game, Wagan Land, is available. The rest of the games must be unlocked by purchasing DLC.

Presentation[]

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Image from the official website demonstrating the ability to arrange games and figurines.

Namcot Collection's main interface is styled after a bookcase, with the games the player has being represented as cartridge boxes on its shelves. The player can choose how to arrange their games on the shelves. The player can also place games on top of the bookshelf. Namcot Collection also gives the player small figurines for each game they have. These decorations can placed on the bookcase alongside the games. In addition to the games and figurines, there are three catalogs found on top of the bookshelf. Selecting a catalog will bring up a menu that allows the player to download games from the Nintendo eShop.

When the player selects a game, they will have the option to read the game's original manual. If they choose to play the game, the game's cartridge will pop out of the box.

Features[]

Namcot save states

Image from the official website showing the use of save states in Wagan Land.

Namcot Collection gives the player the ability to store up to four save states for a particular game. The player can load a save state at any time, and they can also "rewind" their game to a previous save state while playing.[1]

The player can also customize the aspect ratio the game is displayed in. There are four different options including 4:3 and widescreen.[1]

DLC Release[]

The vast majority of Namcot Collection's games are sold as DLC. Namcot Collection's lineup was released across three DLC sets, with each set containing ten games. Games can be purchased individually for ¥330 or through DLC sets for ¥2,640.

DLC Set 1[]

The first set of DLC was originally released alongside the main game on June 18, 2020. However, an issue arose in which customers who bought games from the first set instead received games from the other two sets.[2] Bandai Namco apologized for the issue[3] and temporarily pulled the digital release from the Nintendo eShop.[4] The DLC set was rereleased on July 8, 2020 and contains the following games:

DLC Set 2[]

The second set of DLC was released on August 20, 2020 alongside the third set. It contains the following games:

DLC Set 3[]

The third set of DLC was released on August 20, 2020 alongside the second set. It contains the following games:

Bonus Games[]

In addition to the games listed above, Namcot Collection offers new Famicom ports of Pac-Man Championship Edition and Gaplus, two games that did not originally release on the Famicom. These two games are offered as bonuses for buying a certain amount of games. Pac-Man Championship Edition is unlocked after buying 10 games (or 1 DLC set), and Gaplus is unlocked after buying 20 games (or 2 DLC sets).[5]

Physical Release[]

Namcot Collection also had a physical release that had all the games from the first DLC set, Wagan Land, and Pac-Man Championship Edition as a bonus; however, it has since been pulled from retail. It was priced at ¥2,400.[6]

Namco Museum Archives[]

Namco Museum Archives was released to North American and European audiences on June 18, 2020, the same day Namcot Collection released in Japan. Unlike its Japanese counterpart, Archives was split into two separate compilations: Volume 1 and Volume 2. Each volume contains 11 games, adding up to a total of 22 games across both volumes.

Being a localization of Namcot Collection, Namco Museum Archives shares certain features with its Japanese counterpart, including the ability to make save states and rewind to them at any point. However, it also lacks Namcot Collection's customizable interface, replacing with a much simpler menu. Also unlike Namcot Collection, Archives does not require players to purchase DLC to play any of its games, making it more akin to a standard video game compilation.

Namco Museum Archives offers many of the games found in Namcot Collection, including the special demakes of Pac-Man Championship Edition and Gaplus. However, certain games featured in Namcot Collection (such as Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and Wagan Land) are not included in either volume of Archives. Moreover, Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 contains five games that are not present in Namcot Collection. These five games are:

External Links[]

Trivia[]

  • The covers of the DLC set catalogs are stylized after covers of NG Namco Community Magazine.
    • The symbols that appear alongside the volume numbers on each cover are the numerals "Ah," "Sheo," and "Oli" from the Xevi numeral system. They represent the numbers 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
  • The demake of Pac-Man Championship Edition featured in this compilation and Namco Museum Archives was originally a ROM hack developed by a user known as "coke774." The official release retains many of the aspects found in the original ROM hack, albeit new features were added and others, such as the title screen and the music, were changed.[7][8]
    • A Twitter thread created by Naoki Horii, the founder and CEO of M2, suggests that his company had planned to release a port of the ROM hack to the Nintendo 3DS[9] five years prior[10] to the release of Namcot Collection. According to Horii, the only change M2 had made to the ROM hack was replacing the sound effects and music.[11]
  • The menu that allows players to buy DLC in the Nintendo eShop in Namcot Collection is reused as the main game selection menu in Namco Museum Archives.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Artwork[]

Box Art from Namcot Collection's Website[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://nc.bn-ent.net/product/useful.php
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/naetoru60/status/1273406186633564160/photo/2
  3. ↑ https://twitter.com/bnei876/status/1273465475012296704
  4. ↑ https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/07/namcot_collection_series_1_pulled_from_japanese_eshop_after_customers_receive_wrong_games
  5. ↑ https://nc.bn-ent.net/product/collection.php
  6. ↑ https://nc.bn-ent.net/product/pkg.php
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/DailyPacMan/status/1344710032139710465
  8. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/07/we-traced-namcos-new-pac-man-demake-to-its-source-a-2008-fan-romhack/
  9. ↑ https://twitter.com/hor11/status/1268809492499542017
  10. ↑ https://twitter.com/hor11/status/1268812232101486593
  11. ↑ https://twitter.com/hor11/status/1268809712130076672
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