Namco Hometek, the San Jose, California-based US branch of Namco, has announced various changes within its managment. Nobuhiro Kasahara, who has headed Namco Hometek since September 2002, will now serve as CEO and president in a dual role. CFO Rob Ennis, while retaining his current position, has been appointed as the company's new COO. Furthermore, Rod Nakamoto, formerly with Vivendi Universal Games has been hired as executive vice president of research and development.

Last year, Namco Hometek published Monolith Soft's Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (The Will to Power) for PlayStation 2 in the US. Sometime this summer, the company will release the North American version of Tales Studio's GameCube RPG Tales of Symphonia.

• Yahoo! Asia