March 21, 2008 - When Namco announced a few weeks back that it would be closing off 60 of its Japanese arcade centers, it put the blame on a number of factors, including the popularity of the Wii. A recent report from Asahi.com suggests, however, that the new rival game industry markets may be getting cozy before any fighting gets under way.
According to the report, Namco is looking into the development of arcade titles which link up with the Wii, exchanging data between the home and arcade. Sadly, the site did not elaborate.
Data may not be all that's exchanged between the two. Reflecting on the poor performance of arcades in comparison to the strong performance of the Wii, Namco advertising manager Hitoshi Yamagata told the site that arcades have placed the focus on core gamers while the Wii is something that anyone can play.
