Namco Acquires Rights To Berenstain Bears

February 16, 2005, 3:49 pm EST
Total comments: 7

Disney's Country Bears are rumored to be quite jealous.

Namco Hometek Inc. To Bring The Beloved Berenstain Bears To Life Via New Video Game License Deal

Namco Enters ‘Berenstain Bear Country’—And Is Awarded The Exclusive Worldwide Video Game Publishing Rights To Renowned Property

Santa Clara, Ca., (February 16, 2005) – Global video games publisher, Namco Hometek Inc. announced today that Stan and Jan Berenstain have awarded Namco the exclusive worldwide interactive entertainment publishing rights to the classic children’s entertainment property, Berenstain Bears. The agreement allows Namco to create video games based on the adored Berenstain Bears characters for all game systems.

“We are honored to work with a cherished property such as the Berenstain Bears,” said Jeff Lujan, Business Director, Namco Hometek Inc. “The combination of Namco’s game development expertise and the appeal of the Berenstain characters is a winning proposition.”

The Berenstain Bears have appeared regularly on television in more than 50 overseas markets including Hong Kong, U.K., Mexico, France and Spain. Books have also been published in nearly 20 territories and current and previously licensed Berenstain Bears merchandise includes children’s apparel, footwear, backpacks, bedding and bath accessories, toys, DVDs and home videos.

Responsible for all video game product development, marketing and publishing, Namco will join the impressive list of Berenstain Bears licensing partners such as Fisher-Price, Columbia Tri-Star and Kelly Toys.

“Knowing Namco’s high quality reputation in the video games space, we couldn’t have chosen a better partner to make the Berenstain Bears video games a reality,” said Stan Berenstain, creator of the Berenstain Bears. “The Berenstain Bears family has been a part of the lives of so many people for more than four decades—we are proud to work with Namco to bring them to the interactive entertainment world.”

For more information about the Berenstain Bears please visit http://www.berenstainbears.com/.

For more information about Namco and its games visit www.namco.com/.

Talkback

Hostile CreationFebruary 16, 2005

Really now, could you make the news any more mundane than this? Just make one that says "Video game companies buy rights to everything".

FamicomFebruary 16, 2005

What the hell has gotten into game companies this year so far? Berenstain Bears, Gumbi, Popeye, who's next, Alf?

DjunknownFebruary 16, 2005

Ahh the Bernenstain Bears. Now that takes me back to my formative years. I can't believe its still around after all this time.

I remember there was Pop-eye game for the NES: It reminded me of a cleverly designed, more efficient version of Donkey Kong if memory serves.

Gumby? Is he making come-back or something? I haven't seen any new versions since the one from 1988. Hopfully they'll keep the claymation intact, but with the age of CGI, it looks doubtful.

Alf? "No Problem!"

edgeblade69February 16, 2005

Nope, Arthur (PBS) is next lol.

Hey I used to have Popeye for NES back in the day. It was fun for it's time.

And why in the world is Namco making a Berenstein Bears game? Isn't that more along the lines of the generic publishers territory?

VideoGamerJFebruary 16, 2005

Quote
Originally posted by: Hostile Creation
Really now, could you make the news any more mundane than this? Just make one that says "Video game companies buy rights to everything".

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing.

FamicomFebruary 16, 2005

Well, if you put it into perspective one could say the news of late is the calm before the upcoming storm we all know as E3. Everyone's keeping the good stuff under wraps.