9. Namco Bandai

FY08 Revenue: $1,468M, +24% (Rank: 9)
FY08 Operating Profit/Loss: $149M (Rank: 8)
FY09 Revenue Expectations: $1,615M, +10%
Titles in Global Top 100: 1 (Rank: 16)
Units in Global Top 100: 0.7M (Rank: 17)
Review Average: 64% (Rank: 15)



Explanation of Ranking: The Game Contents business within Namco Bandai Holdings had the 6^th largest revenue of any third party during FY08 and an operating profit of nearly $150 million. Moreover, its revenues and operating profits have grown each of the past two years.

Namco Bandai's top-selling titles are based on the Naruto or Dragon Ball Z licenses, most often for the company's most-supported platform, the PlayStation 2. However, it is also a key company in the Nintendo DS market with 39 titles for the handheld in the past year.

Namco Bandai is gradually bringing its stable of franchises to the current crop of consoles. Already Dragon Ball Z games have appeared on the Wii. Ridge Racer launched on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, while Ace Combat has been an Xbox 360 exclusive since Fall 2007. Naruto has already made an appearance on the Xbox 360 and will make an appearance in 2008 on the PlayStation 3.

However, the company's financial statements make it clear where it sees growth for the next year: the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3. As Namco Bandai expects diminishing sales on both the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, it anticipates that unit sales will double on the Nintendo Wii and triple on the PlayStation 3. Namco Bandai's ability to capitalize on that shift in the market will determine its financials for the coming year.