Hate sitting on your couch watching your Roomba do all the work? Boring you say? You could get off your ass and do it yourself, but that would require actual movement. No sweat. A team of geeked-out developers with a cleaning fetish hacked into a few Roomba units and dressed them up like Pac-Man, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde. Enjoy the power pellet vacuum fest below.

Thanks Engadget

Kotaku reports that the world record for playing Pac-Man has once again been broken. The last record was set by getting every pill, every possible ghost, every piece of fruit and playing until level 256, where the game crashes. The previous record for this was done in 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 4 seconds.

The new guy, David Race, has managed it in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds, 42 seconds faster. Although an impressive feat, it kind of makes me a little sad. These people have spent what is likely to be years practising a Pac-Man perfect run, simply to shave off 42 seconds. I’m not saying that they’ve wasted their time, but… well, actually, I am.

Thinking about it, if we were invaded by ghost-like aliens who turned blue when we ate big pills and chased us through mazes, I know who I’d go to for help. Maybe it wasn’t such a waste after all.

That’s right! That’s John Connor himself dancing in joy over a marshmallow-filled Pac-Man cereal. It’s hard to see the resemblance with him being so young, but a visit to Internet Movie Database confirmed it. Batman loves his marshmallow.

News from the world of the National Football League is that former 1st round draft pick by the Tennessee Titans, Adam “Pacman” Jones (currently with the Dallas Cowboys), has publicly requested to the press that he no longer be referred to as “Pacman”.

At one point in time, “Pacman” was synonymous with Adam Jones. The two were inseparable. Ask Forrest Gump, and he would tell you they were like “peas and carrots”. His NFL jersey even featured the initial “P”. If you are asking yourself, “why would Adam part ways with Pacman?”, allow us to explain…

“Pacman” was suspended for the duration of the 2007 NFL season due to his off the field antics which included tossing gobs (roughly 81 thousand dollars) of money into the air at a Las Vegas strip club, spitting in the face of stripper (who he accused of stealing his wallet), refusing to pay his valet charge, confrontation with the law, and failing to meet the requirements of his probation.

—- begin sarcasm —-

The sad thing is, that while “Pacman” was out causing problems, “Adam” was home watching Antiques Roadshow on PBS, eating Fig Newtons, and contemplating solutions for world peace. Despite Adam’s best efforts to control Pacman, the off the field antics continued.

—- end sarcasm —-

During his 2007 suspension from pro football, “Pacman” signed with TNA Wrestling, making several appearances on the program, and even sharing half of the tag team title despite a contract between his current NFL team and TNA which clearly stated that he would not take on any type of physical role.

—- begin sarcasm —-

This was the last straw for “Adam” — he was not about to let that evil “Pacman” ruin his good name any further.

—- end sarcasm —-

Run a quick search on Google for the word Pacman, and sadly you will get mixed results — some will be the character we all know and love as gamers, while the others will pertain to an overpaid immature athlete.

My heart goes out to Namco’s yellow ball of arcade nostalgia. Not only did Adam “Grow Up” Jones embrace the nickname of one of the most iconic figures in videogame history, he now intends to permanently tie his foolish and despicable past to the Pac-Man, as he attempts to break his ties with him forever.

Bad Pacman! Leave poor Adam alone!

P.S. The pleasure that Pacman once shared in being tied to Adam Jones, will now be passed on to Adam Jones, the Grammy Award-winning musician born in 1965.

Billy Scafuri, writer for the webcomic The Librarianist, tipped us off to a few great game-related comics from his website. Although the comic isn’t solely focused on games, a few of these will be instantly familiar to fans of classic games like Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Punch Out. Check out more after the jump.

The Librarianist is illustrated by Tim Bierbaum.

Source: The Librarianist

The golden era of videogames is a hot topic among gamers, mainly because many game enthusiasts don't agree when the gaming utopia took place.

Some feel that it occurred in the mid to late 80s with the introduction and domination of the NES. Others found the 16-bit epoch to be their own personal Shangri-La. Younger gamers feel that this current “next-gen” period we find ourselves in, with its online capabilities and cutting-edge graphics, is the pinnacle of gaming paradise.

Everyone feels differently because everyone has a different collection games that define them and their age bracket. But when bringing up the topic of arcades and the era in which they thrived, there is little room for debate. The golden era took place in the 80s and the king of the cabinets was Namco.

Like many other videogame companies, Namco's early beginnings can be found in business completely unrelated to the gaming industry. Started in the 1950s, the company scraped up its capital by selling mechanical rocking horses and kiddy rides. Namco first started making videogames in 1974 after they snatched the Japanese division of Atari. A few early games followed, but they were all just a preamble to the bomb that would be dropped in 1980.

Apparently inspired by a pizza pie (sans one slice) by Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man would arguably become the most famous videogame in the world. Every respectable arcade would house a Pac-Man machine.

The game would become instantly recognizable to all who heard that opening jingle, felt its battle-worn joystick, and guided that simple little sphere to strategically munch those delicious dots in a quest to tame his paranormal enemies. Pac-Man would do a lot more than build a videogame fan base the world over. It would bring videogames into the mainstream.

Having a background in amusement parks, Namco focused on developing its arcade library, which was the main vehicle to carry a gaming fix to the consumers of the day. If you were to take a stroll through a gallery displaying these works of art you would see an assortment of masterpieces.

There is Galaga, the superior sequel to 1979's Galaxian that would have kids around the world risking alien abduction in order to get a chance at doubling their firepower. Pole Position was a hugely successful racing game for the company. Dig Dug and Xevious (the world's first vertical shooter) would both be released in the same year.

Namco had a lot of “firsts” in the gaming industry, many of which have become clichés within the community. King and Balloon was the first game to use synthesized voices. Rally X was the first game to include the ever-popular bonus round. Dragon Buster introduced the idea of a life bar, and Splatterhouse was the first game to be branded with a parental advisory warning.

Arcades are still Namco's territory. Like their amusement parks, they continue to make fantastic rides for people of all ages and preferences. Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Time Crisis continue to push the envelopes of their respected genres, and Ridge Racer continues its legacy on the PS3.

The transition to consoles came initially with ports of their coin-op successes, but original games like the Ace Combat series and the Xenosaga series offer a nice alternative to the frenzied action of your standard quarter cruncher.

Namco Cybertainment Inc. has become the largest arcade company in the world, with roughly 30,000 games in their inventory. Two years ago Namco merged with the toy manufacturing giant Bandai. They now stand as the 3rd largest videogame entity in Japan.

The merger will deliver Namco's classics to a whole slew of fresh-faced customers. By developing versions of their classics for operation on either cell phones or Xbox Live, they are guaranteeing the longevity of their product.

We will be seeing Namco for generations to come, mainly because their great videogames tap into a digital fountain of youth, preventing them from ever getting old.

Must Haves:
Pac-Man Championship Edition (Xbox Live),
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Xbox 360).

Have Nots:
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2)
Dead to Rights (Multi)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

After initially delaying a formal announcement in June while the company calculated their “goodwill impairment charge” Atari of America, headquartered in New York, has released a financial statement today reporting a net loss of (cover your ears Pac-Man) $71.3 million. An impairment charge is the new term for writing off worthless goodwill, in case you were wondering.

New York-based Atari has released a statement regarding its annual financial figures today, after delaying the announcement in June as it calculated a “final determination regarding a goodwill impairment charge.”

The Infogrames subsidiary also confirmed that their goodwill impairment charge would be $54.1 million and that their net revenues would be $121.6 million give or take a power pellet or two.

Source: CFO.com