Franchise: Pac-Man
Pac-In-Time
Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
Pac-Land
Pac-Man: Adventures in Time
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Pac-Man Championship Edition
Pac-Man Vs.
Ms. Pac-Man
Pac-Man World
Pac-Land
Pac & Pal
Ms. Pac-Man
Pac-In-Time
Pac-Man
Pac-Man Museum+
PAC-MAN Doodle
Super Pac-Man Pinball
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Namco Museum Vol. 3
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2
Pac-Man World Re-Pac
Pac-Man Pinball Advance
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Pac-In-Time
Street Fighter X Tekken
Mario Kart Arcade GP
Pac-Man World 2
Pac-Man World Rally
Pac-Man Championship Edition
subdirectory_arrow_right Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 (Game)
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When asked by Kotaku what ghosts taste like in the Pac-Man universe, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2 director Kunito Komori answered:
He would then pause, possibly realizing that if the ghosts tasted bad then Pac-Man would be more hesistant to eat them, and changed his answer:
"As far as I know, they taste pretty… bad."
He would then pause, possibly realizing that if the ghosts tasted bad then Pac-Man would be more hesistant to eat them, and changed his answer:
"[Ghosts are] very, very tasty – like fruits."
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The first appearance of a yellow, spherical character named "Puck-Man" with a ravenous appetite was a 1974 bank toy by Tomy, which came in a variety of colors including yellow. It is unknown if the video game character was plagiarized or Pac-Man's design similarities are all a bizarre coincidence, with game creator Toru Iwatani claiming in an unrelated court hearing to have not heard of the toy until after the release of the game. No legal action was taken by Tomy, and the 1970's Tomy Puck-Man toys would be rebranded with Namco's Pac-Man after the success of the game.
Time Extension article:
https://www.timeextension.com/features/video-gamings-most-famous-anecdote-might-not-be-true-after-all
Puck-Man Toy Colors:
https://www.theoldrobots.com/Je-Je-Pac-Man.html
https://www.timeextension.com/features/video-gamings-most-famous-anecdote-might-not-be-true-after-all
Puck-Man Toy Colors:
https://www.theoldrobots.com/Je-Je-Pac-Man.html
subdirectory_arrow_right Pac-Man Championship Edition (Game)
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Pac-Man Championship Edition is the last game in the Pac-Man series to involve series creator Toru Iwatani before his retirement, of which was announced at the Pac-Man World Championship in New York City on June 5, 2007, and was preceded with this statement:
"It gives me great joy to know that my final contributions in my corporate career were to crown the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion and to leave the world with an amazing new 'Pac-Man' game for generations to enjoy."
Articles about Iwatani's involvement in the game and his retirement:
https://amp.smh.com.au/technology/one-last-hurrah-for-pac-man-20070608-gdqc22.html
https://www.gamesradar.com/pac-man-championship-edition-retrospective/
Database sources for the game and Iwatami's career:
https://www.backloggd.com/games/pac-man-championship-edition/
https://www.giantbomb.com/toru-iwatani/3040-93065/
https://amp.smh.com.au/technology/one-last-hurrah-for-pac-man-20070608-gdqc22.html
https://www.gamesradar.com/pac-man-championship-edition-retrospective/
Database sources for the game and Iwatami's career:
https://www.backloggd.com/games/pac-man-championship-edition/
https://www.giantbomb.com/toru-iwatani/3040-93065/
subdirectory_arrow_right Pac-Man Museum+ (Game), Pac 'n Roll (Game), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Game), Pac-Land (Game), Pac-Man World Re-Pac (Game), Ms. Pac-Man (Game), AtGames (Company), General Computer Corporation (GCC) (Company), Ms. Pac-Man (Collection)
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In 2019, AtGames, a company specializing in replica microconsoles containing compilations of retro or retro-styled games, acquired a portion of the rights to Ms. Pac-Man from General Computer Corporation, the company that made the original Ms. Pac-Man game for Midway and Namco - this led to a lawsuit over the IP, with an undisclosed turnout. After this, Ms. Pac-Man would begin to disappear from Pac-Man games, implying that AtGames won the case, with Ms. Pac being replaced by a character named Pac-Mom, who has a visual design resembling Ms. Pac-Man's mother from Pac 'N Roll.
Pac-Mom first appeared in the Arcade Archives release of Pac-Land through graphical modification to the original ROM, and would then be named for the first time in Pac-Man Museum+ alongside modifications to other games that originally featured Ms. Pac-Man such as Pac-in-Time, and would appear again in Pac-Man World: Re-Pac in place of Ms. Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man's final appearance in an original title would be on the Pac-Land stage in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Pac-Mom first appeared in the Arcade Archives release of Pac-Land through graphical modification to the original ROM, and would then be named for the first time in Pac-Man Museum+ alongside modifications to other games that originally featured Ms. Pac-Man such as Pac-in-Time, and would appear again in Pac-Man World: Re-Pac in place of Ms. Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man's final appearance in an original title would be on the Pac-Land stage in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Lawsuit articles:
https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/26/20886032/ms-pac-man-lawsuit-bandai-namco-atgames-rights-royalties
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/bandai-namco-atgames-resolve-legal-dispute
Pac-Mom article:
https://www.eurogamer.net/pac-man-world-remake-replaces-ms-pac-man-with-pac-mom
Pac-Master's Wife/Ms. Pac-Man's mom in Pac 'N Roll:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SatrSV4EMW0#t=72
https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/26/20886032/ms-pac-man-lawsuit-bandai-namco-atgames-rights-royalties
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/bandai-namco-atgames-resolve-legal-dispute
Pac-Mom article:
https://www.eurogamer.net/pac-man-world-remake-replaces-ms-pac-man-with-pac-mom
Pac-Master's Wife/Ms. Pac-Man's mom in Pac 'N Roll:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SatrSV4EMW0#t=72
subdirectory_arrow_right Pac-Land (Game)
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"ZIP, CARTOON - FIJIT REWIND 02", a common cartoon sound effect originating from the Hanna-Barbera sound library, is a sped up and reversed version of the Pac-Man cartoon theme song, better known as the theme song to Pac-Land.
Sound effect alterations to reveal source material:
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Sound_Ideas,_ZIP,_CARTOON_-_FIJIT_REWIND_02
Pac-Man cartoon 1982 theme song:
https://youtu.be/t-Ex3Ce1KNU
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Sound_Ideas,_ZIP,_CARTOON_-_FIJIT_REWIND_02
Pac-Man cartoon 1982 theme song:
https://youtu.be/t-Ex3Ce1KNU
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In a 1986 interview published in the out-of-print book "Programmers at Work" by Susan M. Lammers, series creator Toru Iwatami explained the kind of character he intended Pac-Man to be:
"Pac Man’s character is difficult to explain even to the Japanese–he is an innocent character. He hasn’t been educated to discern between good and evil. He acts more like a small child than a grown-up person. Think of him as a child learning in the course of his daily activities. If someone tells him guns are evil, he would be the type to rush out and eat guns. But he would most probably eat any gun, even the pistols of policemen who need them. He’s indiscriminate because he’s naive. But he learns from experience that some people, like policemen, should have pistols and that he can’t eat just any pistol in sight."
Archived copy of "Programmers at Work":
https://archive.org/details/programmersatwor00lamm_0
Toru Iwatami interview:
https://programmersatwork.wordpress.com/toru-iwatani-1986-pacman-designer/
https://archive.org/details/programmersatwor00lamm_0
Toru Iwatami interview:
https://programmersatwork.wordpress.com/toru-iwatani-1986-pacman-designer/
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In a 2020 interview with IGN, series creator Toru Iwatani revealed that the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, were inspired by the Japanese manga "Little Ghost Q-Taro" and the American cartoon character "Casper the Friendly Ghost". He also revealed that the ghosts were conceived to always be ghosts, meaning that they never died to become ghosts, and are more akin to Yōkai in Japanese culture as "ethereal beings and concepts that reside among nature that were simply 'there' from the very beginning."
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In 2004, Namco contacted Don Bluth (known for Dragon's Lair and Space Ace) to do designs for a new Pac-Man game, under the working title "Pac Man Adventures". Don did concept drawings for the game, but it was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons. Some of the ideas for the game were later used in Pac-Man World 3.
Gallery:
http://ecollections.scad.edu/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000278&sp=T&sp=1&suite=def
Don Bluth tweet:
https://x.com/DonBluth/status/1816999345696477511
http://ecollections.scad.edu/iii/cpro/DigitalItemViewPage.external?lang=eng&sp=1000278&sp=T&sp=1&suite=def
Don Bluth tweet:
https://x.com/DonBluth/status/1816999345696477511
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During an interview with Namco Bandai's Mike Chang, it was confirmed that the Pac-Man in the Ghostly Adventures series is actually the son of the original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.