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Pac-Man: Your Thoughts on the Pie Guy!
Pac-ManPac-Man fever! That's what I have now that I've started work on the Pac-Man chapter in the book I'm currently writing with Bill Loguidice, the acclaimed collector and game historian. :) As usual, I started off by reading the wikipedia entry on the game, which this time was actually extremely detailed and helpful. One interesting thing about the wikipedia article is that it claims that the game designer, Toru Iwatani, was not inspired by a pizza as the old story goes. The article cites a book called Programmers at Work: Interviews, which I unfortunately do not own. If anyone does have this book or has thoughts on this matter, please let me know!
As I see it, there are at least three reasons why Pac-Man is an important game. First, it got the whole mascot and game character thing really rolling. Some sources claim Pac-Man is even better known than Mario, even today! I mean, before that you had stuff like Space Invaders and Asteroids, but I can't think of any truly memorable characters in those games. Second, it was big on the licensed merchandise. Now, I remember having a tape and book based on the game Asteroids back in the early 1980s, but obviously no game before Pac-Man attracted nearly as much licensing deals. Thirdly, Pac-Man is interesting from a modding and legal perspective, since there was that business with Ms. Pac-Man, which began as an unauthorized but commercially available mod from a third party. Of course, many people think Ms. Pac-Man is superior, so that naturally aroused Namco's concern.
There are also other fun things to talk about here. One is the infamously bad Pac-Man game for the Atari 2600, which some claim caused or at least helped to cause (along with E.T.) the videogame crash. I don't buy that myself, but would be interested to know what you think. There are also the tons of clones, which range from things like K.C. Munchkin to a Commodore clone I played where the Pac-Man had been replaced with a Commodore logo. I don't remember the name of this game, though, and can't seem to find it online.
I am also aware of some of the better remakes, updates, and so on for the game, including the celebrated one for Xbox Live that involved the original designer. If you have a favorite remake, let us know.
All in all, it's shaping up to be a fun chapter to research and write, but I'd love to hear from you. Chime in with your thoughts on one of the greatest games ever made!
Fun video about a Commodore 64 Pac-Man clone.
- Matt Barton's blog
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Comments
Agreed
I think it's mostly the work of ColecoVision maestro Eduardo Muello. No, it's not licensed and for obvious reasons (none of Opcode's stuff is). Yes, those are the real sounds.
Here is Muello's announcement on the AtariAge forums: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=131570
You can see how the box is going to look in his avatar on there. Typical top-notch Opcode job.
And the older Opcode games page: http://www.opcodegames.com/pacmancol_cv.htm
Yes, I think this will be among the finest non-emulated Pac-Man games ever, and that's saying a lot considering it's the ColecoVision...
I also received my pair of custom Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man Coleco controllers not too long ago: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=133173&hl=pac-troller
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Awesome!
Not only does it look fantastic, it SOUNDS fantastic too. Are those the actual Colecovision sound FX running in the game?
I bought the Jakks "TV Games" Pac Man deal a few years back and felt really burned; none of the games (particularly Pac Man) were anywhere true to the original games (although "Bosconian" was pretty close, but the joystick didn't support diagonal movement, ruining the game). Their "Pac Man" version was horrible, far worse than this new "Colecovison" version.
This "Colecovision" version is clearly the best 8-bit version of "Pac Man" and "Ms. Pac Man" ever released. Kudos to the programmer(s) involved.
P.S. Is this "Colecovision" version actually licensed by Namco?????
P.P.S. Jakks "TV Games" really redeemed themselves with the "MS. Pac Man" deal; all the games (Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Mappy, and Xevious) were so close to the arcade versions to make this package well worth purchasing, especially for under $20(US)! I recommend it to retro enthusiasts on the go!
qoj hpmoj o+ 6uo73q 3Jv 3svq jnoh 77V
Sneak Peak at Pac-Man Collection on the ColecoVision
Apparently the flickering will not be as noticeable on the real thing:
Vintage Games book!
Xbox 360: billlog | Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Amazing Karate game on the 1976 VES
OK, now I REALLY have to bow down to this guy's genius: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=129210&view=findpo...
It will be a CRIME if he doesn't release this on cartridge. I don't know what voodoo he's using to create these, but I want in!
By the way, for those who don't own a VES or Channel F System II, here's what some of the original released games look like: http://www.vgmuseum.com/channelf.htm
So tell me how he can create Pac-Man and International Karate like that on a system that has games like that!?
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Hehe...Nice!
Hehe...Nice!
Pac-Man Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES), Channel F
Absolute genius considering the technology!:
I can't wait for the cartridge.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Pac Man, MameDB, and Game Characters
Good one! I used to play that all the time when I was a little boy with my Atari 2600: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=144
I forgot the name of that game, so I had to do a search on MameDB. As I said, there were several similar-looking games that are listed from the same year, so I'm not sure which came first.
However, in my search for the game, I didn't notice ANY games that seemed to have a notable "character" in it. It could very well be that PacMan is the first game to make the "characters" a central part of the game (the enemies even had nicknames!). I did see a "Lupin III" game that apparently predated Pacman, but the graphics and gameplay looked too primitive to emote any character, seemingly relying on the players' familiarity with the book and cartoon series...
qoj hpmoj o+ 6uo73q 3Jv 3svq jnoh 77V
Nice!
Surprising Pre-Pacman Game
Good one! I used to play that all the time when I was a little boy with my Atari 2600: http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=144
I used to have a pattern for playing it. It was very, very difficult and fast.
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
Pac Man is Personal for me!
Here's a game where you roam around a maze, collecting dots, while avoiding enemies, and it came out BEFORE Pac Man!
Surprising Pre-Pacman Game
There are several similar "clones" of this game listed at MameDB. Perhaps this game had at least some influence on Pac Man's game design, and might be noteworthy for historical reference.
Granted, it has none of the charm of Pacman, and was actually hard to play because you had very little control of your character, but I remember pumping more than a few quarters into the machine back in the day.
Personally, Pac Man was not only a fun game, it is a major part of my childhood, because it actually
became a major family activity! Nearly every weekend, my relatives (mother's side) would come over and play Pac Man on my Atari 800. I'm not kidding, my house became a Pac Man MARATHON nearly every weekend for probably TWO YEARS. My parents, two uncles, two aunts, my grandmother, and my two cousins went crazy over this game! They would take turns playing the "fast" mode (going straight to the "key" level), and every time the key appeared, they would yell "Kagi! Kagi!" (that's Japanese for "key").
Humorously, they even found a unique way of holding the Atari joystick (remember that thing?). After gripping the joystick for hours on end, they would get cramps and blisters on their hand, so they actually sat on the floor, bracing the joystick on the floor between their FEET, wrapped the joystick with a TOWEL, and manipulated the joystick with their free hand. Even with all this playing, none of them could top my high score, even though I didn't play Pac Man nearly as much as they did (come on, I'm a REAL gamer! ;-) ).
Pac Man was not just a game, it was something that actually helped bring my family closer together.
qoj hpmoj o+ 6uo73q 3Jv 3svq jnoh 77V
There's an Excel spreadsheet
There's an Excel spreadsheet available that plays an excellent game of Pacman - the cells are sized down to pixels and VBScript runs the game- it is extremely impressive - really close to the arcade original - and worth hunting the web for (it is actually very easy to find!).