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Pac-Man's 40th Anniversary

E

EightBit Man

Member

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Developer: Namco

Designed by Toru Iwatani & Shigeichi Ishimura

Programmed by Shigeo Funaki

Sound & Music by Shigeichi Ishimura & Toshio Kai

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Hardware: Namco Pac-Man

Main CPU : Z80 (1 × Z80 @ 3.072 MHz)
Sound Chip : Custom 3 channel 4-bit WSG
Video resoution : 256x224

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​

Born on May 22, 1980, PAC-MAN immediately rose to stardom, first in video game arcades, then on the pop culture stage with hit song “PAC-MAN Fever” and through an array of branding and entertainment appearances throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. With a brand recognition rate of 90% around the world, PAC-MAN’s image and brand continues to be one of the most recognized on the planet.

While PAC-MAN has transcended into the world of entertainment, his heart still resides in video games. As part of his 40th birthday celebrations, there will be new PAC-MAN video game offerings from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment starting with PAC-MAN LIVE STUDIO coming to the Twitch game platform in partnership with Amazon Games which will enable four players to compete in one maze in an all-out chomp-fest to see who will eat the most pellets and survive the stage. Players will also be able to create their own PAC-MAN mazes and share them with friends online or play the classic PAC-MAN game is they so choose.

For classic arcade experience connoisseurs, a special Tastemakers 40th Anniversary Arcade 1UP machine will also make its debut in 2020, followed by 40th Anniversary Counter-cade, Party Cade, and Head-to-Head.

Lastly, more additional new PAC-MAN games are on the way for the latter part of 2020.

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Japanese Techno legend Ken Ishii created some tracks last year for Pac-Man's 40th anniversary:






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Do you love Pac-Man? What's your favorite Pac-Man game?

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Pac-Man logo via DeviantArt. Other artwork Bandai Namco​
 
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#Phonepunk#

#Phonepunk#

Banned
damn 40 years ago this week you had the Empire Strikes Back, Devo's Freedom of Choice, and the release of Pac-Man! May 1980 must have been nerd heaven

personally i love Ms. Pac-Man. imo it is one of the few perfect video games created.

il_570xN.1724830796_fa3v.jpg


but i really love the original Championship Edition as well. just a great mindblowing update to a classic series.
 
E

EightBit Man

Member
My mum still plays the game on her Game Boy Advance on a regular basis.

Played it myself at my to-go arcade from time to time, had Ms. Pac-Man on Game Boy, had multiple iterations and spin-offs of the game on the Namco Museum compilations (the PlayStation series remains my favorite), and the first Pac-Man World game on PlayStation. I probably missed some.

My personal favorite iteration is probably the first Championship Edition. I wish Bandai Namco would do more with their earlier games (Galaga Legions was amazing as well).
 
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E

EightBit Man

Member
Starlight Lotice said:
Last week I played Champion Edition 2 (for free on PSN) and it is pretty challenging. It also got featured on RetroGamer which tells you how it was created and why the patterns of the Ghosts are how they are.
Click to expand...

Really great take on Pac-Man. It kinda points out the ideal route for the player, which sounds easy on paper, but with the time limit and all can be quite challenging after a while.
 
JohnSpartanLee

JohnSpartanLee

Member
#Phonepunk# said:
damn 40 years ago this week you had the Empire Strikes Back, Devo's Freedom of Choice, and the release of Pac-Man! May 1980 must have been nerd heaven

personally i love Ms. Pac-Man. imo it is one of the few perfect video games created.

il_570xN.1724830796_fa3v.jpg


but i really love the original Championship Edition as well. just a great mindblowing update to a classic series.
Click to expand...
What's the gameplay difference between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man? They look pretty much identical.
 
E

EightBit Man

Member
Wm05niR.jpg


The celebration of Pac-Man's 40th anniversary continues with a new statue from First 4 Figures. The 7″ Pac-Man PVC statue is pretty straightforward, but that's what makes it so fantastic. Unfortunately, there's no release date for the statue just yet, but we'll make sure to share that info when it comes available.
Click to expand...


Source
 
00_Zer0

00_Zer0

Member
I really love Pac-Man games. I am glad Namco keeps trying to make new game experiences and experiment with Pac-Man even though some of the games fall flat sometimes. l am big fan of Pac-Man CE on XBOX 360(BC on XBox One) and then I have DX+ on Steam. Since my son and I have Two Switches we can enjoy Pac-Man Vs. on Switch through Namco Museum. I also have tried Pac-Man Battle Royale on the Steam version of Pac-Man Museum. There are fixes for resolution as well as a github mod that allows the game to be displayed and played just like the arcade version. It seems by this announcement that after Pac-Man Live Studio is released that there will be other new games to announce this year. Can't wait to find out what they are.
 
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Vawn

Vawn

Banned
While I was less than a year old when it first released, I was old enough to remember the heights of Pac-Man fever a few years later. My sister is seven years older than I am and Pac-Man was super cool.

Oh, the 1980s....
 
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U

UsualNoise

Member
I preferred the arcade games in this order:

Super Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Pac-Man

While Super Pac-Man might seem an odd choice, there was something so refreshing about being able to go crazy as super-size and super-speed Pac-Man. It felt like being over-powered in a good way after playing the originals so much. But I agree Ms. Pac-Man is superior to Pac-Man if only for the board variety.
 
Orta

Orta

Banned
Upon seeing this thread I rectified one glaring wrong of my gaming hobby, today I bought my first ever Pac-Man game. Checked numerous top 10 lists and it seems, putting nostalgia aside Championship Edition DX+ is as good as it gets for the little blob.

Got it for just €4 on Steam and have been having a blast. Its pure carnage the faster it gets, so simple and so addictive. And I love the simple strategic element built into the game with the bombs and sleeping ghosts dotted about each maze. Turning the tables on 20 chasing ghosts is hugely satisfying too :messenger_grinning_smiling:

So there we have it, got me a Pac-Man game at long last. Only took me 41 years! I never thought I'd have as much fun racking up high-scores again.


QuarrelsomeAnxiousEwe-size_restricted.gif
 
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E

EightBit Man

Member

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​
The first stand-alone art and design book on PAC-MAN, the 40th Anniversary book dives deep into the archives of BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, and is produced as a luxury coffee table art book. The full-color book will be available both as a standard hardcover and as a limited, special collector’s edition with several extras. Both editions will be available for pre-order worldwide July 2020, and ship November 2020.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with PAC-MAN’s original designers, marketing and sales staff, both in Japan and in the US, detail how PAC-MAN became the first true video game mascot, beloved by millions worldwide. As a game, PAC-MAN greatly expanded the expressive range of video games, while as a product its design philosophy made it uniquely suited to appeal to new types of video game players, forever changing the arcade and home video industry.

The history of PAC-MAN is researched on three continents, and is written by Arjan Terpstra (The Netherlands, author of Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book) and Tim Lapetino (USA, author of Art of Atari), with the help of Katsuaki Kato (Japan, former editor-in-chief Weekly Famitsu).

Source:
gonintendo.com

Cook and Becker and Bandai Namco Announce PAC-MAN 40th Anniversary Book

Game history 101
gonintendo.com gonintendo.com
 
wondermega

wondermega

Member
JohnSpartanLee said:
What's the gameplay difference between Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man? They look pretty much identical.
Click to expand...

Very different games, big issues are: Pacman only has a single repeating Maze design, Ms Pac has 4. Bonus items (fruit etc) appear stationary under the ghost house in Pacman, in Ms Pac they jaunt through the mazes briefly (you need to catch them). Otherwise the AI is more advanced as well, so you can't simply keep repeating patterns as in the first. Other differences are cosmetic.
The "Ms Pacman is faster" quote above refers to a popular speed-up board version of the game, where the player starts out with a huge advantage in being able to easily outrun the ghosts/clear mazes, before they eventually catch up several rounds later. It's popular in that the player is immediately overpowered, but the game is much less fun (in my opinion) removing much of the strategy, nuance, and rhythm.
 
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E

EightBit Man

Member
Al3x1s said:
This thing kinda looks like ass but back then it was strangely compelling to play. I guess it's kind of proto-Wonder Boy-ish?
Click to expand...

I don't think it was a bad-looking game at all, but yeah definitely regarding influence. The game was a pioneer; it was released before Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Capcom's Ghosts'n Goblins. Before that, platform games with fluid, multiple screens scrolling didn't exist.

Shigeru Miyamoto and Ryuichi Nishizawa were heavily inspired by the game.
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
EightBit Man said:
I don't think it was a bad-looking game at all, but yeah definitely regarding influence. The game was a pioneer; it was released before Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Capcom's Ghosts'n Goblins. Before that, platform games with fluid, multiple screens scrolling didn't exist.

Shigeru Miyamoto and Ryuichi Nishizawa were heavily inspired by the game.
Click to expand...
Well, I saw it years later so it did kinda look like ass for me, haha. I was born in 83 so it must have been around 1990 when I first saw it in an arcade :p

I did notice it's a rather old game when I searched for it to make that post, yeah.

That walking animation is pretty damn smooth too.
 
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Rayderism

Rayderism

Member
It's kinda funny, I had the urge to play both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-man just a couple days ago. I have both on PS4 since they were released on PSN some 4 years ago, but haven't played either in months. I was just feeling kind of nostalgic and played both for...mmm....about an hour. Didn't realize it was the 40th anniversary. Curious.

Just wish I could get Jr. Pac-man on current consoles, but as I understand, there is some sort of license dispute over that game, so we'll likely never see it out side of MAME and some legacy console ports. I liked how that one was like 3 screens wide and would scroll the maze. Felt like a natural progression of the Pac-Man series and I really enjoyed it.

I also have Pac-Man 256 and the Championship Edition on PS4, but I don't know, those just don't do it for me like the originals that started it all.
 
Tigerlord

Tigerlord

Member
An interesting fact: Pacman is the only videogame that was made into a cartoon and which were
made into games twice
Namco Pacman=> Hanna Barbera's Pacman=> Namco's Pacland
Pacman=> Pacman & ghostly adventures=> Namco's Pacman & ghostly adventures
 
protonion

protonion

Member
Fun fact (I made this post a decade ago in the mind-blowing facts thread):

The ghosts in Pac-Man have unique AIs.

Red- It tries to reduce it's distance from you. So it chases you almost directly.

Pink- It chases the tile four spaces in front of pacman (in the direction he faces).So this ghost ambushes you from the front.(it gets in front of you, then you face away from it and you are between the tile it chases and the ghost).

Blue- The tile it chases is the combination of the tile two spaces in front of you and the red's potition. It feels a bit random. The closer you are to the red the more predictable it is.

Orange- If it is far from you (over 8 tiles) it behaves like the red. If it is close it heads for the lower left corner.
 
Happosai

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
#Phonepunk# said:
damn 40 years ago this week you had the Empire Strikes Back, Devo's Freedom of Choice, and the release of Pac-Man! May 1980 must have been nerd heaven

personally i love Ms. Pac-Man. imo it is one of the few perfect video games created.

il_570xN.1724830796_fa3v.jpg


but i really love the original Championship Edition as well. just a great mindblowing update to a classic series.
Click to expand...
one of the few arcade games I still play today and used to have several comic books I made based on exaggerated forms of the characters. Side-note: I saw DEVO play the entire album Freedom of Choice live in 2009 (they even played b-sides like Turnaround and Be Stiff).
 
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Ceallach

Ceallach

Smells like fresh rosebuds
Did you know that the original name for Pac-Man was Puck-Man? You'd think it was because he looks like a hockey puck but it actually comes from the Japanese phrase 'Paku-Paku,' which means to flap one's mouth open and closed.
 
namekuseijin

namekuseijin

Banned
puck! I was 5 by then. Played on Atari, not sure I remember it from arcades back then, but I did play Galaga and Rally X, which was kind of a variant with scrolling maze and cars...
 
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