ms. pac-man – Obsolete Gamer

Developed by Bally, Midway and Namco, Ms. Pac-Man is the follow-up to the arcade hit, Pac-Man. Just like the original you guide Ms. Pac-Man through maze eating pellets as she is chased by Ghosts. You can eat the few power pellets that are around the maze to power you up and eat the ghosts that will then retreat to their home in the center of the maze to regenerate. You can also collect fruit and travels around the screen for additional points. Once you clear all the pellets from the board you move on to the next stage.

Table Top Games

Dan Epp

When Video Games Become Board Games: Part 1

It is important to remember that board games are not video games and neither should be expected to match the other’s total gaming experience. Video games of this era were all about constant motion, quick reflexes and split-second decision-making. Board games, however, are about measured decisions, random die rolls or card draws, and ever-changing strategies based on the play of your opponents. In addition, board games often have suggested ages for players. I have read several reviews over the years from adults who were unable to understand that a game meant for children would have limited appeal to adults (and who scored them based on their own experience of playing them as an adult), or from reviewers who also expected a board game to be a video game.

Pop Culture

J.A. Laraque

Robot Chicken: Pac-Man

Today’s video of the day comes from the Adult Swim show, Robot Chicken. You can always expect Seth Green and the gang to come up with some hilarious shorts, but his retro gaming parody’s are especially funny. Check out their latest one based on the classic arcade hit, Pac-Man.

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

Arcade Classics: What happened to them all?

Several arcade conversions have appeared on these popular treasure-hunting television programs in recent years, often without the people on the show seemingly aware of it. An episode of Pawn Stars saw someone bring three “Japanese Arcade Games” into the Las Vegas shop, two of which were conversions from Defender machines. The Ms. Pac-Man machine that appeared on an episode of Auction Hunters was actually a conversion of an original Pac-Man machine, a cabinet that is similar but quite different in many ways as well.

Editorials

Patrick Scott Patterson

Know Your History: Call of Duty critics should note the Pac-Man run of 1982

Also worth note is the fact that historians blame Super Pac-Man’s quick fade from popularity to be due to the massive changes in the basic Pac-Man gameplay concept. Ms. Pac-Man, however, changed little to the basic concept of the game and simply added new screens and features while running on the hardware of the previous game. Ms. Pac-Mansold a record number of arcade machines in the United States and continues to hold the record to the modern day. Ms. Pac-Man machines can still be found in many locations across the country, the only one of the four 1982 Pac sequels to do so.

Computer Games

Konstantinos Dimopoulos

Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection

Anyway. Namco’s Museum is an almost decent (budget) collection of some classic, some not so classic and a few pointless games, hoping to please retro gamers, to teach new gamers some old tricks, to teach young dogs strange tricks or to please the average casual gamer. There are 16 games on offer, two of which (PacMania and Galaga `88) are unlockable by attaining (pretty low) highscores in PacMan, Ms. PacMan or the original Galaga, which are actually three of the best titles available in this compilation, and are decently emulated.

Company Representatives

J.A. Laraque

Ryan Modjeski: Legacy Interactive

I make games.

Editorials

J.A. Laraque

Classic Gaming Beauty Pageant

This noble beauty believes in the more traditional role of fantasy princesses. Zelda spends most of her time either in a magically induced sleep or trapped in some dungeon waiting for a hero to save her. Being a lady of stature and prestige she refuses to show herself in anything beyond her royal gown, but we still like what we see. Zelda understands the key to being saved is looking good and patience, lots and lots of patience.