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Further Info, Video of Avi Arad’s Pac-Man TV Show

David Oxford — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:38:33 +0000

At E3 last week, Namco Bandai and ex-Marvel Studios producer Avi Arad came together to announce that, after 26 long years away, Pac-Man would be making his return to television in a new animated series. But beyond that, little was said and even less was seen, save for a few plot details, and that it would be shown in 3D.

Fortunately, as you can see above, GameTrailers managed to snag some off-screen footage of a promotional reel of the cartoon being played at the Expo in Los Angeles a week ago. Unfortunately, in addition to being recorded by a peripheral camera, the 3D is also in effect, making the video a little bit of an eyesore to watch as-is. So for those who don’t want to go to the trouble, but still wish to learn more, keep reading.

3D visuals aside, perhaps the most jarring thing one is likely to notice first is Pac-Man’s voice. Rather than the Jackie Gleason-esque voice from the original cartoon, the Pac-Man World voice, or even the simple video game sound effects used in his takeover of Microsoft, he sounds… young.

Very young.

Indeed, much like Mega Man and the Armored Adventures version of Iron Man, it seems that this Man, too, will instead be portrayed as but a boy.

Along with some classmates, Pac-Man learns that an evil menace which had been stripped of their corporeal forms and banished long ago has returned to conquer their world. No points for guessing how Pac-Man is supposed to handle these ghostly invaders.

However, as our hero soon learns, it’s just a little more complicated than just opening your mouth and chewing; he needs a bit of enhancement. A power-up, if you will. And so they use pellets from the “power palm tree” to give Pac-Man the strength (and appetite) needed to conquer the gooey ghosts.

The mentor figure seems ready to give Pac-Man everything he’ll need to conquer his foes (and likely make a killing in the toy aisle, maybe courtesy of Bandai’s toy division), except lunch. That little revelation does prompt a classic sound effect from the games, in case anyone was worried the producers had forgotten the franchise’s origins.

Meanwhile, an enemy vaguely reminiscent of Mezmaron from the original cartoon rallies his followers to go out and finish Pac-Man so that Pac-World will be theirs. As they depart, he humorously instructs the ghosts to “miss me!” as he ponders their return.

Pac-Man is then walking with his friends as a fierce ghost begins to attack. We also get what may be our first glimpse of the actual ghost characters from the games, which were previously said to be allied with the heroic dot-eater, but are otherwise unmentioned and unseen throughout the trailer.

Pac gets ready to lay down the smack, and the evil ghosts return to their lair, one disembodied set of eyeballs at a time. “At least they came back,” our resident villain happily proclaims.

And in the last scene of the trailer, just after the credit screen, we get a little of the “chase” cut scene music from the original arcade games as one of the colored ghosts chases Pac-Man across and off the screen before returning in dark blue, pursued by a giant Super(?) Pac-Man like the one seen earlier in the trailer.

The trailer does not do much to show the seeming social commentary spoken of previously, but it does give us a glimpse at what may turn out to be an all-new direction for Pac-Man. Gone is the Pac-Family-Man we’ve become familiar with over the past 30 years (speaking of which, one has to wonder if there are any plans for Ms. Pac-Man to join the series, what with him being “the only yellow character in Pac-Land”), and in his place stands a young hero who seems to be poised to realize his destiny as the savior of his world.

This animated series, which so far does not seem to have a determined release date, may or may not appeal to some gamers who grew up with Pac-Man titles over the many years he’s been around. But then, odds are that it’s not meant to. While some adults may in fact enjoy the show on its own merits, odds are that this is Namco Bandai’s big push to introduce the character to a new generation of children, those far removed from arcade games and wondering what an “Atari” is.

And in that regard, this show seems like it will have a pretty good shot at reaching its goals.

Of course, one must also wonder if this 3D television show will have any sort of tie-in to Nintendo’s 3DS, which has an unnamed Pac-Man title among its massive lineup. Namco Bandai’s press release doesn’t say much, however, only that the game is “totally reworked for the Nintendo 3DSTM and including all the classic game modes.”

For that matter, one is left to wonder if there will be a way to view the cartoon without a 3D television. That could potentially hurt the show in the long run.

Nonetheless, after seeing this, it’s hard to argue: Pac-Man has certainly come a long way from the drawings in Toru Iwatani’s notebook.

Famous Movie Scenes Remade Using GTA4

Dan Landis — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:40:39 +0000

Remember the end of Reservoir Dogs when everyone is suspicious of the next guy and they all shoot each other? Remember the scene in American History X where Edward Norton caps a bunch of dudes with his nazi wrath? Wouldn’t it be neat to see those scenes remade in Grand Theft Auto 4? Well, it doesn’t matter what you think because it’s been done anyways.

Some people by the names of Mentok/Burnt Toastt and Ultimate Chance/chance reborn (don’t ask ’cause I don’t know) used the in-game multiplayer to record the video while overdubbing the original movie audio. The result is akin to any other machinima, really. That’s why there’s a word for this type of thing. So anyways, here it is:

Update to source: We have been contacted by the original creators of the video, who explained that Joblo lifted the piece from their YouTube page, and then watermarked it as their own. Apparently Joblo’s media player isn’t the only thing that blows. To rectify the situation, we have decided to link to the original YouTube video instead.

Source:UltimateChance (via: JoBlo.com)

Confirmed: Enhanced PS3 Network & Movie Downloads This Summer

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:56:35 +0000

A stronger network and movie download capabilities? When Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony’s Video Game Division says to “expect more” from an evolving PS3 console, he means it.

Sony has officially announced that in addition to strengthening its PS3 network capabilities, they will begin a PlayStation 3 movie download service in the US this summer. The service will then expand into Japan and Europe at a later date.

Those outside the US can expect to receive more details about the expansion of service to their area sometime next month.

Source: AP

Netflix May Be Coming To Game Consoles

Cavin Smith — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:53:04 +0000

According to a pre-CES press release, Netflix is working with electronics giant LG to produce a set-top box capable of receiving rented movies over the internet. Console support for the company’s direct download service may not be far behind.

Netflix already allows subscribers to stream a selection of films to their computer screens at no extra cost. The new product would work under the same principal, except that rentals can now be watched on that old standby of the living room entertainment center — the TV. That, of course, means that a wider group of consumers would actually take advantage of the company’s video-on-demand.

The partnership with LG also means that the new unit may play both next-generation disc formats (HD-DVD and Blu-ray) in addition to streaming films.

That doesn’t necessarily imply neutrality in the war, though, as Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings has expressed interest in getting all “buddy-buddy” with other manufacturers, console-makers included. Considering that Microsoft already has the beginnings of a rental service in place on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and Sony’s had trouble getting any kind of real media distribution off the ground, the latter would seem to be a more beneficial choice.

On the other hand, Hastings is a member of Microsoft’s board and their extensive library of titles could further bolster the existing offerings. With rumors of Bill Gates making a big Xbox-related announcement at CES, we can’t help but wonder if this is in any way related.

That’s not to mention Sony’s preference for doing things “their own way” when it comes to format and distribution.

Lacking a storage device to help cache large video files, Nintendo’s Wii is likely out of the question (though Netflix’s streaming leaves no permanent copy of a film on a user’s hard drive).

We can’t do a whole lot more beyond speculating about console tie-ins at this point, but the LG device itself is set to debut in the second half of 2008.