RipTen Videogame Blog » pac-man

Five O’Clock Fan Art: Pac-Man

Dylan Duarte — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It’s sad that some of the most iconic videogame characters of all time where junkies. Mario loved his mushrooms, Sonic would die if he couldn’t get his rings, and Pac-Man would consume every pill in sight. No wonder he saw ghosts. Sigh. At least he got some fruit in his diet.

Five O’Clock Fan Art is perfect for wrapping up the work day. You don’t want to think anymore, you just want to look at awesome things. And there’s nothing more awesome than a well crafted piece of videogame fan art. If you don’t agree, what the hell are you doing at a gaming blog?

This is actually a Threadless shirt designed by Travis Pitts, so go get you some.

Street Fighter x Tekken Gets Mega Man, Pac-Man as Sony Exclusives – Trailer

Todd Schlickbernd — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:36 +0000

Fighting games with console exclusive characters are slowly becoming a thing. Soul Calibur IV did the whole Star Wars things with Darth Vader on PS3 and Yoda on Xbox 360 (presumably due to their natural color schemes) and Mortal Kombat had Kratos exclusively on PS3.

This time around Street Fighter x Tekken is getting a rather healthy cache of Sony exclusives including Mega Man… Okay now that that’s sunk in, his character is based on the US version Mega Man 1 box art. Which means he’s really goofy looking, and frankly rather out of shape. His Namco counterpart will be Pac-Man… Alright, cool, but not just Pac-Man in all his spherical glory, but Pac-Man atop Mokujin, the wooden block character from previous Tekken games. These two inclusions, while awesome shout outs to Capcom and Namco fans, are also a little zany. Hopefully they’ll be worthwhile characters to play, but at least they won’t be alone in the exclusives realm, joining Cole from Infamous and Kuro/Toro (strange Sony cat things) as PS3 and PS Vita exclusives. What a world we live in.

Check out the announcement trailer below.

Source: Capcom-Unity

Nintendo Download 9/1/2011

Justin Berube — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:31:27 +0000

Once again Nintendo has announced the latest additions to their digital libraries. This week the following titles will be added:

3DS eShop
PAC-MAN (Virtual Console)

DSiWare (And eShop)
House M.D. – Blue Meanie
GO Series Fishing Resort

WiiWare
Trenches Generals

Additionally, as announced yesterday, Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors can now download their 10 free NES titles! For more information on all of these games be sure to check out the official Press Release below.

Want to stay up to date on the latest Nintendo news, information, editorials, and more? Follow me on Twitter @KingNintendoFan or Like Me on Facebook. Be sure to let me know what you think about the latest Nintendo Download!

NINTENDO DOWNLOAD HIGHLIGHTS NEW DIGITAL CONTENT FOR NINTENDO SYSTEMS

This week’s Nintendo Download includes the following featured content:

Nintendo eShop
PAC-MAN® – PAC-MAN has arrived on the Nintendo 3DS™ system. Navigate through mazes and eat Power Dots while simultaneously avoiding the Ghosts. See how many mazes you can clear before losing all your lives. (For Nintendo 3DS)

WiiWare™
Trenches Generals – Command Royal British Expeditionary Forces as the defender of the free world. Your troops must take to the field to defend your bunker and use trenches located on the battlefield to hold their ground. (For Wii™)

Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare™
House M.D. – Blue Meanie – When an abrasive chef’s body turns blue, you must join Dr. Gregory House and his team to track down the correct diagnosis by interviewing and examining the patient, running lab tests and even performing surgery. (For Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSi™)

Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors
It’s the day Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors have been waiting for! Find out how to download your 10 free NES™ Virtual Console™ games. (For Nintendo 3DS)

Also new this week:
GO Series Fishing Resort (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)

To view this week’s Nintendo Download in its full graphical version, please visit: http://www.news2know.net/nintendo/download47dM26x9.php

In addition to video games available at retail stores, Nintendo also offers a variety of content that people can download directly to their systems. Nintendo adds new titles to the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS™ system, to the Nintendo DSi™ Shop for the Nintendo DSi system and to the Wii™ Shop Channel for the Wii console at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Thursdays.

The Nintendo eShop is a cash-based service and features games, applications and videos in both 2D and 3D. Users can add money to their virtual wallets using a credit card or by purchasing a Nintendo 3DS Prepaid Card at a retail store and entering the code from the card.

The Wii Shop Channel offers games and applications and uses Wii Points™, which can be purchased via the Wii Shop Channel. The Nintendo DSi Shop offers games and applications and uses Nintendo DSi Points™, which can be purchased in the Nintendo DSi Shop. A Nintendo Points Card™ can be purchased at retail locations. All points from one Nintendo Points Card must be redeemed in either the Wii Shop Channel or the Nintendo DSi Shop. They are not transferable and cannot be divided between the two systems.

Remember that Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage some of the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii, http://www.nintendo.com/3ds or http://www.nintendo.com/ds/systems/dsi.

Five O’Clock Fan Art: Pacbusters

Dylan Duarte — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:02 +0000

When you’ve got a ghost problem and power pellets just aren’t getting the job done, who ya gonna call?

Splashed-ink knows what’s up.

Namco Celebrates Valentine’s Day With iOS Sale

Sam Naylor — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:29:23 +0000

Namco are celebrating Valentine’s Day by reducing the prices across its range of iOS titles in the app store.

The sale runs from 5 pm PST February 9 to 5 pm PST February 15, and the list of games with their price in dollars is below.

i Love Katamari $2.99

Time Crisis Strike $0.99

Galaga REMIX $0.99

DigDug REMIX $0.99

PAC-MAN REMIX $0.99

ACE COMBAT Xi Skies of Incursion $2.99

PAC-MAN Championship Edition $2.99

RIDGE RACER ACCELERATED $2.99

NOBY NOBY BOY $0.99

AVATWEE $0.99

PAC-CHAIN $0.99

TIME CRISIS 2ND STRIKE $2.99

PAC-CHAIN Compact $0.99

PAC-ATTACK $0.99

SPLATTERHOUSE $0.99

PAC-MANIA $0.99

TIME CRISIS 2ND STRIKE HD $3.99*

Puzzle Quest 2 $4.99

House of Glass $2.99*

Isaac Newton’s Gravity – iPhone $0.99

Lost in Time: The Clockwork Tower $2.99

Mishap $1.99

Mishap for iPad $1.99

More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima $1.99

More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima HD $1.99

Mr. Driller $0.99

Ms. PAC-MAN $1.99

PAC-MAN 1.99

PAC-MAN for iPad $1.99

Pole Position: Remix $0.99

Star Trigon $0.99

Stroke of Midnight $3.99*

Tamagotchi: ‘Round the World $0.99

* Denotes InApp purchase

If you’re interested the “Lite” version of Pac-Man will feature a new themed skin (seen above) for a limited time, with the full version keeping the skin forever more.

Namco: 3DS One of the Most Important Launches in Gaming History

Sam Naylor — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:52:27 +0000

Lee Kirton, Head of Marketing at Namco Bandai UK, has made the strong statement that the 3DS is “one of the most important launches in gaming history.”

“We are very confident of the Nintendo 3DS. We also have a strong line up of titles, including Ridge Racer 3D, Duel Pen Sports and Pac Man/Galaga,” he said. “We see it as one of the most important launches in gaming history and we’re very confident of all of our new titles.”

Big words, but what do you expect from a Head of Marketing? They don’t get those sorts of jobs by shying away, you know. What do you think? Is the 3DS really that important? Let us know in the comments.

Via Destructoid

Video: “Human Pac-Man” Starring 111 People

Garrett Hartman — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:58:33 +0000

“Pac-Man is made out of…people!” Check out this video created by artist Guillaume Reymond.

“Human Pac-Man”, as the video is called, took 111 people four hours to complete. Interesting and definitely something to watch on a slow news Sunday.

Source

Pac-Man Entering Video Game Hall of Fame

Sam Naylor — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:10:02 +0000

Pac-Man and Namco founder Masaya Nakamura are to be entered into the International Video Game Hall of Fame in a few weeks’ time. This comes as a part of the Hall of Fame’s “Big Bang 2010″ event, which will feature tournaments, celebrities, concerts, and a whole lot of Pac-Man.

“We’re going to be focusing a ton on Pac Man,” said Dan Canny, vice president of the IVGHOF board. Unfortunately Nakamura won’t be attending the ceremony, but ““A team of corporate folks from Namco [are coming]… We’re still working out their schedule.”

Ottumwa Central Park is even being renamed “Pac Man Park” for the duration of the event.

I just have one question about all the celebrations and inductions:

How has Pac-Man not been inducted into the Hall of Fame already?

[Via GoNintendo]

Threadless T-Shirt Explains Where Tetris Pieces Come From

David Oxford — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:41:20 +0000

Simpler than any so-called “casual” game, yet more addictive than perhaps any other title to carry the “hardcore” label, Tetris has been a tested, tried and true phenomenon for decades. No story, no flashy cutscenes, not even any real characters to speak of.

But admit it: you’ve always wondered where those pieces come from.

The answer is amazingly simple, as it turns out, and yet it will shock and amaze you just the same. As you can see above, a t-shirt from Threadless has stumbled upon the secret. For those of you who wish to have a closer look at what is transpiring, just cast your gaze below:

It all seems so obvious now: the tetrises (tetrii?) of the future are built upon the bones of video gaming’s past.

To get your own shirt so that you may better inform those around you of the truth behind Tetris, just click here. They cost $18 a piece, and come in all variety of sizes… well, except for men’s double-XL. For some reason, that one seems to be sold out.

Source: via Destructoid

3D Pac-Man Cartoon Expected to Premiere in 2012

Dylan Duarte — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:56:24 +0000

Aside from the upcoming Mayan apocalypse, we now have another reason to fear the year 2012: that’s when the 3D Pac-Man cartoon is expected to air. Ripten mentioned a newly-announced Pac-Man show a while back that producer Avi Arad was involved with and I think it’s safe to say that this is the same show. Namco Bandai plans to air 26 episodes in 2012, which is roughly the normal episode count for a season of network television.

Be sure to check out our initial announcement of the show and then our follow-up post, which is loaded with info and even has video of the show. Now that we have a release year, 2012 can’t come fast enough. I’m as curious as a cat to see what this show is going to be like. I wouldn’t say I’m excited, because by all means this show should be awful, but I can’t wait to see carefree, high school-era Pac-Man chomp down some power pellets, ghosts, and hamburgers. Gluttony seems to be a big theme with this show.

Okay, maybe I’m a little excited. What about you guys?

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.

Play Google’s Pac-Man Logo Game Forever

Chad Lakkis — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:33:19 +0000

If you’re like me, you visited the Google Home Page today and immediately frowned at the realization the interactive Pac-Man logo we yearned to play again was gone.

We knew Google couldn’t use it forever, but now, thanks to some nifty code archiving, we can all relive the interactive work of art whenever we like.

Click this MediaFire link and unzip the “GooglePacman” folder to your desktop. Locate the “Play GooglePacman.html” file. As the “Read Me” file clearly explains, if you get no audio, you’ll need to do the following:

If you get no sound open the adobe link, and add the -”*your location* GooglePacman\logos\swf\pacman10-hp-sound.swf”to the always trust files in these locations:with the flash settings manager

Hope this makes you as happy as it made me. Enjoy.

Google Celebrates Pac-Man’s 30th Birthday With Playable Logo Game

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:34:08 +0000

If you head on over to Google.com today you’ll be treated to a classic pac-dot eating power pellet chomping chase down of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde in celebration of Pac-Man’s 30th birthday. Chomp alone, or hit Insert Coin a second time to be joined by Ms. Pac-Man herself.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first time Google has made the jump from graphically altered logo to an interactive gaming logo, and they did an excellent job with it.

Our own Sam Naylor said it best:

“Congratulations to Namco for making one of the most iconic characters of the last century, and here’s to another 30 years of remakes and shit 3D sequels that will never match the genius of the initial release.

I just can’t wait for Google’s logo when Crysis is 30 years old.”

Enough reading, get on over there and play it.

[Thanks Denise]

Merry Christmas from Ripten (Special Video Collection)

Chad Lakkis — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:21:10 +0000

Outside of spending time with family, stuffing my face with food, and opening a crap-load of presents, my favorite thing about Christmas (and just about every other holiday) is the specials that appear on TV.

Remember that time Pac-Man saved Christmas? How about that age old Christmas carol that talks about the Batmobile losing a wheel and Joker getting away? Well, surely you remember the Star Wars Holiday special that aired once in 1978? Don’t feel bad about that last one. Even Harrison Ford and George Lucas themselves have claimed to have no recollection of it.

I’ve collected a bunch of Christmas specials, listed below in no particular order, so feel free to enjoy them after all your gifts have been unwrapped. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good chomp.

Pac-Man – Christmas Comes To Pacland (1982)

X-Men: Have Yourself a Morlock Little Christmas (1995)

Batman: Christmas with the Joker (1992)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Christmas Aliens (2003)

The Spectacular Spider-Man: (Christmas) Reinforcements (2008)

A Christmas Story (1983)

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Sonic Christmas Blast (1996)

South Park: A Very Crappy Christmas (2000)

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103893

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special (1987)

The Simpsons Christmas Special

Pac-Man Hacked Roombas Mix Futuristic Cleaning with Retro Gaming

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:40:28 +0000

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

Pac-Man World Record broken, again

Sam Naylor — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:31:27 +0000

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.

Pac-Man Cereal Commercial with Christian Bale

Dylan Duarte — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:25:10 +0000

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.

Pac-Man Did It: NFL Player Adam Jones Ditches Evil Videogame Nickname

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:47:12 +0000

We can’t wait to read his book “How Pacman ruined my life”

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.

Videogame Comics From The Librarianist

Andrew Podolsky — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:20:34 +0000

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

Top Ten Developers – #2 Namco

James Fleming — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:16:09 +0000

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