This agreement will run for five years beginning in January 2010 and supersedes the existing rights granted to publish titles on the NDS, Wii, PS3 , PSP, and Xbox 360.
Additionally, Namco Bandai Games America Inc. has secured the right to initially publish three titles in 2009, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo exclusively for Wii, and Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans exclusively for NDS.
The Dragon Ball anime and manga series is a worldwide multi-million dollar entertainment franchise. Originally penned by famed Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama in 1984, the Dragon Ball series has spawned several entertainment franchise sequels (Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT) spanning 11 years of manga, over 500 television episodes, 23 feature films, and countless mass merchandising products. FUNimation Entertainment currently holds all U.S. distribution rights to the anime series.
The Dragon Ball Saga follows the orphaned martial arts boy Goku as he grows and matures into an adult throughout his many adventures. During his early formative years, Goku meets life long comrades, defeats diabolical superhuman enemies, and eventually settles down and forms a family. The Dragon Ball series is known for its often comical action adventure themes which are interspersed with long standing testosterone-driven action-impacted battles which escalate drastically over time into full-on conflicts for the survival of mankind. By the end of the Dragon Ball saga, the baton of planetary savior is passed to Gohan and Goten, Goku’s son and grandson respectively.
Commenting on the announcement Makoto Iwai, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Namco Bandai Games America Inc. said: “We are very excited to have signed this long term agreement with Toei Animation Co., Ltd and FUNimation Entertainment, which grants Namco Bandai Games North American multi-platform rights to the testosterone driven action packed world of Dragon Ball. This move reunites Namco Bandai Games with the Dragon Ball series in North America which will considerably increase our ability to develop titles that perfectly capture every nuance of what makes the Dragon Ball world exciting to the consumer.”