Today marks the debut of Pac-itorial, a series of threads where I review Pac-Man games!
While Pac-Man World: Re-Pac won the poll, I figured it'd be more appropriate to talk about the latest release, Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs.
Follow along for the Pac-itorial!
A glitch in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U once occurred where if the game pauses as Pac-Man is charging a Smash Attack, he will be shown floating away from where he was standing.
This glitch was fixed when the game was first updated.
On August 12, 2019 the official Pac-Man Twitter account posted a picture of a woman named Samantha replacing Pinky in the lineup of ghosts.
It has never been specified who Samantha is, and she has yet to appear again.
In interviews for the launch of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, Bandai Namco representatives have stated that the Pac-Man we follow in the series is the son of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS was being developed at the same time Pac-Man's Ghostly Adventures era was in full swing.
Despite this, Masahiro Sakurai went with Pac-Man's iconic look, and would've considered dropping the character altogether if he had to use the redesign.
This infamous meme image unfortunately comes from the IGN staff's reaction to Nintendo's E3 2003 conference - when they unveiled Pac-Man Vs.
The ALT text explaning this comes from a 2011 article looking back on Nintendo's E3 history.
Pac-Man is the only character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS to feature a different life icon depending on which of the two consoles you are playing.
The Wii U version is on the left.
The 3DS version is on the right.
Bonus fact:
When Sakurai revisited the idea for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, he would've considered dropping Pac-Man altogether if he had to use the design seen in the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures branch, as he preferred the "old-school look" of the design he used.
According to Masahiro Sakurai's Famitsu Column, during development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Shigeru Miyamoto asked if him if he could include Pac-Man as a character.
At the time, Sakurai rejected the idea, as the original game sprite came to mind.
Pac-Man's reveal for the Super Smash Bros. games surprised and overjoyed even many at Bandai Namco, with director Masahiro Sakurai being told "I can't believe you made Pac-Man look this good!"
When Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's "EVERYONE IS HERE!" banner was first unveiled, Pac-Man was positioned between Ganondorf and Shulk.
As of Sora's reveal, he and Dark Samus have been moved next to Donkey Kong. This puts him closer to the middle of the overall picture.
For Pac-Man's 40th Anniversary, the Twitter account for Sonic the Hedgehog shared artwork of Sonic gifting Pac-Man a pair of his shoes.
For Sonic's 30th Anniversary, Pac-Man's Twitter returned the favor by sharing artwork of Pac-Man using those same shoes to keep up with Sonic.
In Pac-Man World 3, Pac-Man himself makes his introduction by asking "Did someone say cake?" However, this is the first time the word "cake" was ever said in the game.
NEWS:
Nintendo has just announced a new Pac-Man title exclusive for Nintendo Switch Online members named Pac-Man 99! This is a battle royale game similar to Tetris 99 and Super Mario Bros. 35 before it.
You can check out the trailer below for all the details about the game.
(Content warning: Language)
"THIS IS JOEY, PAUL, WILLIE, AND FRANKIE!"
Released in 1985 for MSX computers, "Oh Shit!" is a Pac-Man clone best known for its use of digitized speech. When the player loses a life, the game plays a sound byte exclaiming its title.
Here is what the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster would like if it only consisted of characters that made appearances alongside Pac-Man in games outside of this series.
NEWS:
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac has received a new update.
The credits have been expanded to include the staff of the original game, and the previously compressed music tracks have been enhanced in quality.
In addition, new paid DLC has released in the form of an in-game jukebox.
NEWS:
More Pac-Man World: Re-Pac details have been discussed on Bandai Namco's Anime Expo livestream.
-The hover jump lets Pac-Man flutter in the air for a bit
-Like the GBA version, rescuing the Pac-family is optional
-The UI is changed to make keeping track of items easier
Yesterday, a new DJ Pac-Man virtual concert preceded the "Bandai Namco Entertainment Festival 2nd" events currently being hosted by Asobistage
This 36-minute long show had Pac-Man jam out to music from various Bandai Namco IP such as Klonoa, Mr. Driller, Ridge Racer, Tekken, etc
Toru Iwatani once explained in a 2010 interview on pacman .com that Pac-Man does not consider what is right or wrong as he eats; if a policeman were holding a gun, Pac-Man would eat the gun under the basis that guns are bad.
The full quote can be viewed in the ALT text.
(Content warning: Strong language, drugs)
"Here comes Pac-Man..."
This infamous sequence from Bloodhound Gang's 1999 song, Mope, has an absolutely high Pac-Man offer the band members freebase.
NEWS:
The next Pac-Man game will be unveiled at the upcoming New York Comic Con occurring from October 12th-15th, according to an article from Gaming Age.
Other Pac-Man-related festivities at the convention will include a drone show, a pop-up shop, arcade games, and a live DJ.
The beginning cutscene in the original Pac-Man World has Toc-Man complain that the cake for his party "should be chocolate!"
The same scene in Pac-Man World: Re-Pac now shows the party does have a chocolate cake. However, Toc-Man instead remarks there are no strawberries on it.
I have been informed that Pac-Man's "teeth" in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is not actually teeth.
So I guess we *can't* believe it.
What's actually happening is that the light effect here is reflecting off of the roof of his mouth in a way that makes it look like he has teeth.
Just this morning, a surprise arrived to my doorstep from Bandai Namco! I was mailed a Nintendo Switch copy of Pac-Man World: Re-Pac, as well as the Chrome Noir Chogokin figure!
Thanks so much to the folks at
@officialpacman
for the package! I absolutely can't wait to play this!
This animated commercial for Pac-Land's release on the PC Engine (aka Turbografx-16) sees Pac-Man run and jump along with lots of other Pac-Men to capture the adventurous spirit of the game.
This video from costume company Total Fabrication provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a Pac-Man costume that would be used by Namco in the late 1990s for events such as E3.
Masahiro Sakurai recently uploaded a video on his YouTube channel demonstrating a wide variety of character attack animations from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in slow motion.
Here is a snippet of the video where Pac-Man's side special move is shown off in this manner.
As reported previously, the soundtrack for Pac-Man World: Re-Pac has seen quality improvements as part of the recent update.
Here is a comparison for how a few of the tracks sounded at launch and what they sound like now.
NEWS:
Bandai Namco has announced Pac-Man Museum+!
This new Pac-Man Museum is coming to all major platforms and features a whopping 14 Pac-Man titles from across the franchise's history!
Players can also customize their arcade and take on missions to unlock items for the room.
A couple months after Gorillaz debuted Pac-Man as part of Song Machine, animator Sandra D Rivas created this delightful tribute to the track.
The animation loop is complemented by an equally mesmerizing chiptune remix of the song, which was arranged by Ockeroid.
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac will be the first release in the series to be primarily developed by a Japanese team, that being Now Production.
The series was previously Western-orientated, with USA- and UK-based studios all having been involved with making the games prior.
NEWS:
Bandai Namco has just announced a full-on remake of Pac-Man World!
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac sees the original Playstation title rebuilt from the ground-up for modern platforms. It will be out for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC on August 26th.
At one point, Snoopy of Peanuts fame was planned to be a playable character in Pac-Man World Rally.
Recent findings in the files for the game's Xbox prototype include an early character icon, vehicle textures, and other related assets.
In Pac-Man World 2, there is a machine in Sue's Arcade you use to play mazes that you've unlocked by collecting Galaxians.
Very bizarrely, this machine utilizes a screenshot of Pac-Gal, a bootleg ROM hack of Ms. Pac-Man released in 1981.
At the end of Pac-Man World, Orson claims that "Nobody loves a ghost."
The original plan for Pac-Man's encounter with Orson was to have Pac-Man say "I love you, Orson." before eating him.
Without a voice to settle on or the budget/time to use subtitles, they kept Pac-Man mute.
These images of Pac-Man and co. are used on the "sustainability" website for Bandai Namco Holdings, each complementing information related to material issues for product quality and protection of IP.
This wallpaper illustration of Pac-Man's face was created by artist Katsuya Terada for the franchise's 30th Anniversary.
He describes the theme of the art as "a smile that makes people feel the Pac-Man’s experience over the past 30 years."
On February 8th, 2019, Bandai Namco's USA Twitter account referenced Bloodhound Gang's "Mope" by paraphrasing lines from the part of the song where Pac-Man appears.
(Content warning for ALT text: Language)
Though some games in Pac-Man Museum+ had sprites altered to reflect the current appearance of Pac-Man's family, one instance was mistakenly left unchanged.
Ms. Pac-Man can still be spotted in the credits sequence for Pac-Man Arrangement (2005).
Namco Roulette is the first taunt in the Super Smash Bros. games to have an official name. This convention would later be followed by Demon's Wrath, the side taunt of Kazuya in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Although this title is not represented directly in the collection, Pac-Man Museum+ takes a lot of visual cues from Pac-Man World.
Not only is Pac-Man's family based on their appearances in Pac-Man World, but Pac-Man's own idle animations mimic those seen in the game as well.
It's established in the Mr. Driller series Toby "Kissy" Masuyo (from Baraduke) and Taizo Hori (Dig Dug) are Susumu's parents. However, the two eventually divorced
Though Kissy rarely made appearances, a few instances in Dig Dug-related media demonstrated their rocky relationship
NEWS:
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures will leave Netflix after December 31st.
The series remains available to watch on other streaming services such as Peacock, Tubi, Philo, and Sling TV. However, it is worth noting we have seen HBO Max drop it back in August.
Usually when creating the graphics for games in the 1980s, developers would use graph paper to sketch out their designs.
However, during development of Crazy Otto (before it ended up being Ms. Pac-Man), GCC instead used a Lite Brite toy to envision the game's sprites.
This year's Tokyo Toy Show saw Pac-Man and Blinky move around on the show floor as Bandai's first moving Gashapon machines.
Blinky is a capsule vendor, while Pac-Man is used for recycling empty capsules. The items available are part of the franchise's recent "Shine On" branding.
In Pole Position II and the Namco Museum re-release of Pole Position on GBA, there is a billboard that shows Blinky looking down and exclaiming "But Clyde!"
This is actually a redrawn still of a scene from the Pac-Man animated series, particularly the episode "Picnic in Pacland"
(Content warning: Ableism, gross-out)
The '90s was a different time...for better or for worse
In an attempt to embody the attitude of the decade, this TV ad for Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures compares the player's control over Pac-Man to having a "special friend" they can abuse
NEWS:
Pac-Man Museum+ is now available internationally, and for all of its designated platforms! The game is also available as part of Xbox Game Pass.
To commemorate the release of Pac-Man Museum+, Bandai Namco put out this lovely animated trailer!
A prototype for the SNES version of Ms. Pac-Man reveals early title screen artwork that depicts Ms. Pac herself with a completely different design. The final title screen reverts to how the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive version’s title screen looked.
As with many websites promoting video games, the website for Pac-Man World featured free goodies consumers could check out and / or download.
One of these goodies is a video of Pac-Man dancing in front of a black background.
Recently,
@Crazy_Otto_
obtained an image of the full Pac-Man World Rally cast from one of the game's developers - with the notable inclusion of Snoopy, strongly supporting the idea that he was planned to be in the game as a playable racer.
NEWS:
.........
Pac-Man 99 is shutting down on October 8th; paid themes and DLC will be delisted on August 8th and September 8th, respectively
The Switch battle royale is the third Pac-Man game this year to be closing, following Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle and Pac-Man Community
Pac-Man is amongst a fraction of characters in the Super Smash Bros. games to be able to wall jump.
In his own franchise, the only game where Pac-Man is able to naturally wall jump is in Pac-Man World 3. He can also do it in the Ghostly Adventures games, but just as Rubber Pac.
Although Ms. Pac-Man is not a fighter in the Super Smash Bros. games, she does make a cameo in the Pac-Land stage.
Just like in the Pac-Land game, she waits for the player to make it back home before the next trip begins.
Reminder:
-NFTs are extraordinarily harmful to the environment
-You only get a string of code acting as a certificate instead of the actual product (Basically nothing)
-No one should buy or sell NFTs
🧞♂️DROP ALERT🧞♀️
Wow!
@genies
Asia have partnered with Bandai Namco for a special PAC-MAN 41st B-Day🎉 Wearable NFT Drop. Details:
📆Thursday, May 20
⏰7:00pm ET
🪖400 Helmets (Total)
📍
@opensea
👀 Sneak peek below
@flow_blockchain
MP coming this summer!
Pac-Man Ghost Zone was inspired in part by Super Mario 64; when the game was reworked into Pac-Man World, though, the inspiration also changed
The developers proceeded to take notes from none other than Crash Bandicoot. Designer Scott Rogers said this decision "saved our bacon"
Recently, a trailer of Pac-Man Ghost Zone has been shared by the game's lead designer, William Anderson.
This video was played during E3 1997 and features a variety of clips showing the game in action back when it was in development.
On February 12, 2021, the official Microsoft Edge Dev Twitter account promoted games like Pac-Man that were available through the Edge Extensions store
These were illegal extensions each containing an emulator with a ROM for the advertised game. The tweet has since been deleted
Unity has announced it will charge a "Runtime fee" to developers whenever their game is installed by a customer, potentially starting as high as $0.20 USD per install
To name a few, Pac-Man (mobile), Pac-Man 256, Pac-Man Museum+, and Pac-Man World Re-Pac are all made with Unity
(Content warning: Gore)
The January 1988 issue of NG Namco Community Magazine published works from a month-long art contest Namco held at the end of the October prior.
Over 800 people submitted artwork based on their interpretations of Pac-Man's anatomy.
Pac-Man was one of several animated characters that people could lend their voice to through Zoobe. Many a "Pac-Man, more like..." joke was made through the resulting 30-second videos posted online.
NEWS:
Bandai Namco has addressed that Ms. Pac-Man will be turning 40 this year.
In the portion of the news roundup discussing the game, there is a logo made specifically for the occasion.
Additionally:
-There will be extra polish to the platforming so Pac-Man doesn't slip off certain edges he jumps onto
-Pac-Man becomes "Mega Pac" when eating a Power Pellet
-Toc-Man has a jetpack and shoots at Pac-Man. He also appears to be involved in the King Galaxian battle
This animation of Pac-Man running around a beach, eating dots, and fighting enemies was created by Atsushi Saito for Bandai Namco in 2010 as part of conceptualizing a 3D Pac-Man platformer that would later be scrapped.
The project was known as "Pac-Man World."
While Pac-Man's representation in the Super Smash Bros. games mainly centers around the original arcade series up to Pac-Mania, the PictoChat 2 stage in the Nintendo 3DS version features an element directly inspired by Pac-Pix.
This is confirmed by Masahiro Sakurai via Miiverse.
This 1980s Pac-Man style guide was lately shown off in a livestream Hamster Corporation held for the Arcade Archives release of Galaga
The guide features plenty of Tadashi Yamashita's illustrations for Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Baby, and the ghosts (or "monsters," rather)
In late 2018, Bandai Namco expanded its American arcades beyond Level 257 (which got rebranded as Pac-Man Entertainment by this time) with smaller-scale locations known as Pac-Man Zone.
These were designed for mall spaces, and mainly housed modern-era arcade games.
NEWS:
A live-action Pac-Man movie is reported to be in development, in collaboration with Bandai Namco and Wayfarer Studios.
It will be based on an original idea from Chuck Williams of Lightbeam Entertainment, who previously worked on the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog film.
According to IGN, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil was once set to release for the Gamecube as a direct port of the Playstation 2 title with minor visual tweaks.
The game remained a PS2 exclusive until it was finally remastered for Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series twenty-one years later.
According to Masahiro Sakurai's Famitsu Column, during development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Shigeru Miyamoto asked if him if he could include Pac-Man as a character.
At the time, Sakurai rejected the idea, as the original game sprite came to mind.
Back in 2020, I spent a week prototyping a Pac-Man game I intended to pitch someday. And...I never did.
I call it "Pac-Man Slide"
Pac goes only one way until he hits a wall. Players are to figure out how to move around with this in mind.
I still enjoy the level with the ladders
Early screenshots and images of Pac-Man World 2 paint a noticeably different picture compared to what we know as the final product.
Check out that E3 2001 display!
NEWS:
The Wayfarer Studios website has a few details about their upcoming Pac-Man movie - namely writer and producer credits.
Christopher Yost is listed as the writer, and Chuck Williams and Andrew Lazar are the producers.
Although unofficial, Paul Neave's remake of Pac-Man is nevertheless a very important piece of Internet gaming history.
This game was so popular that if you were to go on just about *any* Flash game website throughout the 2000s, you'd find this version of Pac-Man ready to play!
Pac-Man Museum+ not only introduces Pac-Mom in place of Ms. Pac-Man, but other members of Pac-Man's family have been subject to the following name changes as well:
Pac-Jr. → Pac-Boy
Pac-Baby → Pac-Sis
Chomp Chomp → Pac-Buddy
Interestingly, Professor Pac remains unchanged.
Pac-Man appears as a faculty member in ShiftyLook's Namco High, a visual novel where - as a cousin of the Prince of All Cosmos - you hook up with one of many Bandai Namco (and even a few Homestuck) characters enrolling as students.
He'll always remind you to be true to yourself.
During the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate presentation showcasing Terry Bogard, Masahiro Sakurai mentions that he jokes with the Bandai Namco team by calling Pac-Man "your company's character."
They tend to play along with this by replying "Oh, yeah, our company's character."
The Super Famicom version of Shin Megami Tensei II contains an unused set of Pac-Man sprites buried in its data. These sprites are associated with the game's 2D map screens.
Today's Daily Pac-Man feature is a two-part interview with Scott Rogers, who helped design - and answer many a question about - Pac-Man World!
Part 1 is my interview I conducted in 2016.
Part 2 consists of questions you guys asked him!
Here is the interview thread!
Yesterday, it's been reported by some Twitter users that the Pac-Man social media briefly tweeted "pac-man world blinky clyde" before deleting it.
This screenshot by
@Eddy_SGH
shows the tweet presented as a phone notification.
NEWS:
Pac-Man 99's online service has been shut down, and the game can no longer be found on the eShop
Unlike previous Pac-Man game closures, players can still play offline if they have the DLC modes. Pac-Man 99 can also be re-downloaded if you deleted it off your Switch before
This October 22nd/23rd, the basketball teams owned by SEGA Sammy Group and Bandai Namco (Sunrockers and Susanoo Magic, respectively) will be facing off against each other.
To commemorate this occasion, Sonic and Pac-Man will be represented in the event's festivities.
Many unique artworks featuring Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and other Namco characters can be seen in the calendars that the company released in Japan from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
Here are some of those pieces.
Created by Shiftylook and Toonhound Studios in 2013, the Mappy animated series sees the title character get hired by his nemesis, Goro, to see what crime he is committing at his company, Nyamco.
Mappy is joined by Dig Dug, SkyKid, and a barrage of other Namco IP on the premises.
NEWS:
Pac-Man World: Re-Pac is now available internationally on consoles!
The game is ready to download on the Nintendo eShop, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live. You can expect retail stores to carry physical copies after the time of this writing, as well.
The SEGA Master System version of Pac-Mania contains an exclusive secret only accessible by eating all the dots in Block Town while leaving out the Power Pellets
This will allow the player to be transported to Coin World, a bonus stage variation of Block Town made of coins.
Look at Pac-Man go!
This recent Asobistore Expo event saw the yellow fella as a DJ jamming out to over a half hour's worth of tunes, including soundtracks from the Pac-Man, Idolmaster, and Tales franchises.
You can watch the video in its entirety here:
The Game Boy version of Pac-Man contains an unused sprite depicting the title character with a halo and wings.
It is not known what purpose this sprite could have served in-game.
The Toru Iwatani that plays a significant role in the movie Pixels is played by actor Denis Akiyama.
However, the real Toru Iwatani does make a brief cameo in the movie as an arcade technician.
NEWS:
Bandai Namco have provided some fresh PR for the upcoming Pac-Man Shine On event in New York.
Not only will the next Pac-Man game be unveiled there, but eventgoers will get to play it.
Admission is free, but space is limited.
SPY x ANYA: Operation Memories features a few minigames based directly on classic Namco games, including Pac-Man and Mappy - with Anya filling in for both title characters in their respective sequences.