The ''Pac-Man'' 40th Anniversary was a celebration of the ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'' series of video games since the release of the arcade cabinet ''

'' on May 22, 1980.

Bandai Namco also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

celebrated the anniversary through business ventures with video games, events, clothing and other forms of merchandise. The anniversary took place throughout 2020, and ended in early 2021.

Games

New

Bandai Namco's first game to celebrate the anniversary was ''Pac-Man Geo'', releasing October 14, 2020 on Android and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

devices. An

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

mobile game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...

often compared with 2016 game ''

Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android ...

'' as both take advantage of real world maps, the whole idea of the game is to create and play on real world Pac-Man mazes utilising streets displayed on

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

. The game is currently available in 170 different regions. Interestingly a similar concept was developed for Google Maps for

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

2017. The next to follow in front of ''Geo'' was ''Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle'', which released the following month on November 17, exclusively on

Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

. The game, developed by

Heavy Iron Studios Heavy Iron Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Manhattan Beach, California. The studio was founded within THQ in August 1999 after the publisher acquired Steve Gray's Chemistry Entertainment. As part of a series of cost ...

, is battle royale that pits Pac-Man up against 63 other opponents in a large maze. Each player starts in their own independent mazes that are connected to a network of other mazes with the end goal being the last player standing. A free

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

was made available on October 27. In May 2020, a game called ''Pac-Man Live Studio'' was announced and was set to release the following month. It was to played via

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...

where viewers could play the game from the official Twitch channel. The game allows two to four player co-op where each player teams up in two modes that are focused on high scores. However, there has been no updates regarding the game following the announcement, with the official website only saying "coming soon". A reply from the social media account has stated the game is still being worked on, however news regarding the game has stayed silent afterwards. Game company Doppio Games launched a new game for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

in November 2020 called ''Pac-Man Waka Waka''. This version of Pac-Man is entirely voice activated where the player must guide Pac-Man through a maze entirely through voice commands.

Re-released

In addition to the new games that were released for the anniversary, Bandai Namco re-released many of their older titles on modern consoles, mainly under the ''

Namco Museum is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, ''Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series h ...

'' series. The first was the ''Namco Museum Collection'' which released on the 40th anniversary exclusively for the

Evercade The Evercade is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by UK company Blaze Entertainment. It focuses on retrogaming with ROM cartridges that each contain a number of emulated games. Development began in 2018, and the console was relea ...

. Uniquely, the compilation added the console versions of the titles, instead of the original arcade versions. The other collection to be released was the ''Namco Museum Archives'' known as the ''

Namcot Collection , also known as ''Namco Museum Archives'', is a 2020 product bundling, video game compilation published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Originally released in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, it was later localized for international territories as t ...

'' in Japan, which released on June 18, 2020 for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and PC. The collection was split into two volumes that contained games found on the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

and

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

, as well as a homebrew version of ''

Gaplus is a 1984 fixed shooter arcade game developed and released by Namco. It is the third game in the ''Galaxian'' series, serving as a direct sequel to ''Galaga'' (1981). In North America, a modification kit was later released to change the name to ' ...

'' and an 8-bit demake of ''

Pac-Man Championship Edition is a 2007 maze video game developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It has since appeared on several other platforms, including iOS, Android, and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable as a PSP mini title available on ...

'' (2007). The final re-release for the anniversary was for '' Pac-Man Championship Edition 2''. Through a press release, the game was said to have become completely free to download for PS4, Xbox One and PC users. The offer lasted from April 24 - May 10, 2020. However, no of the same plans were made for the Nintendo Switch version of the game, however the game was put on sale.

Machines

One of the first items released in 2020 as a part of the anniversary was the Pac-Man

Tamagotchi The is a handheld digital pet that was created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was released by Bandai on November 23, 1996 in Japan and in the USA on May 1, 1997, quickly becoming one of the biggest toy fads o ...

, which was revealed in November 2019 and released on March 15 2020. What makes the Tamagotchi unique besides the yellow or black exterior is the appearance of Pac-man elements in it, such as different minigames and animation inspired by the arcade game. Multiple different companies created

arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

s to celebrate the anniversary. The first were miniature quarter inch versions of ''

'' and ''

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to '' Pac-Man'' (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's ...

'' in July made by Numskull. The two were released as "Collector Editions" so only 10,000 units were made. Another company was Arcade1UP, who only release one arcade cabinet. In July, they released a special edition cabinet that could play the original version along with ''

Pac-Man Plus ''Pac-Man Plus'' is an arcade game that was released by Bally Midway on March 13, 1982, and it is the third title in the '' Pac-Man'' series of games. Gameplay The gameplay in ''Pac-Man Plus'' is nearly identical to that of the original ''P ...

'', ''

Super Pac-Man is a 1982 maze chase arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Midway Games. ''Super Pac-Man'' is Namco's take on a sequel to the original ''Pac-Man''; Midway had previously released ''Ms. Pac-Man'', w ...

'', ''

Pac & Pal is a 1983 maze chase arcade game developed and published by Namco. It is part of the company's ''Pac-Man'' series, is the third to have been produced in-house. Players control Pac-Man as he must eat the items in an enclosed maze while avoiding f ...

'', ''

Pac-Land is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man (character), Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of eac ...

'' and ''

Pac-Mania is a Oblique_projection #Cavalier_projection, cavalier perspective maze game that was developed and released by Namco for arcade game, arcades in 1987. In the game, the player controls Pac-Man (character), Pac-Man as he must eat all of the dot ...

'' alongside ''

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. In North America, it was released by Midway Manufacturing. It is the sequel to ''Galaxian'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starshi ...

''. Micro Arcade converted Pac-Man into one of their mini arcade series consoles. Finally, Super Impulse released two different versions of Pac-man under their "Tiny Arcade" line-up, one as a

tabletop Tabletop may refer to: Mountains * Table Top Mountain in Rangeville, Queensland, Australia * Table Top Mountain (New York) * Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa * Tepui, flat top mountains in South America Places * Tabletop, New South Wal ...

and the other as a cabinet. The final miniature arcade machines released for the anniversary were released by My Arcade which released in the summer. The cabinet features a gold stick and buttons.

Merchandise

Throughout the anniversary, Bandai Namco released plenty of Pac-Man-themed merchandise alongside the celebration, typically collaborating with other brands. The types of merchandise ranged from toys, clothing, and memorabilia releasing across all of 2020.

Clothing

Clothing became the biggest form of merchandise for the anniversary celebration, with partnerships with multiple different

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

. The celebration began with the introduction of a wide range of

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

suitcase A suitcase is a form of luggage. It is a rectangular container with a handle typically used to carry one's clothes and other belongings while traveling. The first suitcases appeared in the late 19th century due to the increased popularity of ma ...

s and pouches themed after Pac-Man by Belgian brand

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

releasing in the beginning of the year. Other brands of clothing includes

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

and American streetwear brand BAIT. In August 2020, a recently introduced German shoe brand called VIER released a launch collection called "The Arcade Line" which included a pair of shoes detailed with a Pac-man maze. Another shoe brand to collaborate for the anniversary was Puma who released a Pac-man themed pair of sneakers. One of the most recognisable branding appeals for the anniversary was special edition memorial

blouson A blouson or blouse jacket is a jacket that is drawn tight at the waist, causing it to blouse out and hang over the waistband. Originating in military uniforms of the mid-20th century, versions continue to be used as part of military and polic ...

plastered with the phrase “Coffee Breakers Since 1980” which was released by Bandai Namco on September 3, 2020. It is a

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

of Ken Ishii's jacket from the "Join the Pac" music video. Along with the arcade cabinet, Numskull also released pairs of anniversary socks.

Other

One of the big pieces of merchandise to release was the collaborative project between

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

and

, a Pac-Man themed

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

board game. Releasing on August 1, 2020, the game utilises a miniature arcade cabinet to play Pac-Man which has a number of uses. Neomedia released a line of Pac-Man figurines in a variety of shapes and sizes to celebrate the anniversary. For the Bandai Namco store, they released a mystery box filled with different Pac-Man themed items. They were released on December 1 in limited supply. In Japan, 5 metallic bottles of Junmai-shu flavoured

Sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

each representing Pac-Man and the

ghosts A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

released to various liquor-based stores on July 4, 2020.

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

released a

model kit A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

of Pac-Man under their Entry Grade series. During ComplexCon in November 2019, it was revealed that the

Timex Group Timex Group B.V., or Timex Group, is an American - Dutch holding company headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands and Middlebury, Connecticut. It is the corporate parent of several global watchmaking companies including Timex Group USA, Inc., ...

would release a special edition version of their T80

digital watches A watch is a portable Clock, timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, atta ...

which was plastered with Pac-man attire in July and August 2020. They were released in two colours, silver and gold. Both Numskull and Pinfinity released a set of pins, with Pinfinity's fitted with AR capabilities. One of the last partnerships was in November 2020, participants could sign up to receive one of six limited edition

payment cards Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and ma ...

from

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

bank KB.

Music

commissioned Japanese

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

musician

Ken Ishii is a Japanese Disc_jockey, DJ and record producer from Sapporo. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms: FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun. Strongly influenced by De ...

to create an official

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the anniversary, which was titled "Join the Pac", which is also the slogan for the anniversary. This song was featured on an album of the same name, which released on October 28, 2020. The album, released as a joint venture between Bandai Namco and Iam8bit, contained two volumes. The first was a

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

of songs from different Japanese artists who

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed Pac-Man

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

, the second compiles a list of music and sound effects from different

Pac-Man games ''Pac-Man Games'' was an iOS application by Namco Bandai Games that contained timed "S" (Score Attack) versions of six different Namco games, with the games being '' Pac-Man S'', '' Dig Dug S'', '' Galaga S'', '' Rally-X S'', '' Gator Panic S' ...

. In addition, other artists created songs to commemorate the arcade game. One of the largest songs that celebrated the anniversary was composed by British

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...

aptly named "

PAC-MAN originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

". The song was made for their seventh studio album and featured American rapper

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...

. The song, which released in July 2020, managed to appear on the

New Zealand Hot Singles Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

, where the song peaked at 30.

Events

One of the biggest collaborations for the celebration was the addition of the Pac-Man texture pack in

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

. The texture pack introduced a new map, minigame and enemy in the form of a green ghost that resembles a Creeper. In addition,

Tekken 7 is a fighting game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the seventh main and ninth overall installment in the ''Tekken '' series. ''Tekken 7'' was released to arcades in March 2015. An updated arcade version, ''Tekken 7 ...

introduced a Pac-Man themed stage and items as part of DLC 16 for the game on November 10, 2020, featuring the songs, "Pac Twin Attack" and "Pac Sky Emotion" from Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus. Other companies celebrated the anniversaries by creating variations of the original arcade game.

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

reintroduced the Pac-Man

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

that was used for the 30th anniversary in 2010. Japanese candy manufacture

Morinaga & Company is a confectionery company in Tokyo, Japan, in operation since 1899. Their products include candy and other confectioneries. Morinaga has had Ayumi Hamasaki and Mao Asada appear in their commercials, and in the past has used stars such as the ...

created a variation where the power pellets where replaced with their

Hi-Chew is a Japanese fruit candy sold by Morinaga & Company. Origin Hi-Chew candy was first released in 1975. It was re-released in the packaging of individually wrapped candies in February 1996. The origins of Hi-Chew began when Taichiro Morinaga ...

candy. In May,

NVidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

revealed that they created the entire game of Pac-Man solely using AI. Construction corporation

Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

set up a giant game of Pac-Man using over 6,880 yards of dirt and five

excavator Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

. Due to

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

, Namco partnered with Giants Enterprises to create a virtual challenge to keep people healthy and fit, allowing said participants to earn rewards. As part of the anniversary,

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...

announced in November 2020 that they will be inducting Pac-Man into the

Comic-Con Museum The Comic-Con Museum is a museum dedicated to comics and popular arts located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The museum is a part of the San Diego Comic-Con International. History The Comic-Con Museum is a year-round experience dedic ...

's "Video Game Character Hall of Fame."

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Pac-Man series Anniversaries Pac-Man Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry 2020 in video gaming

Games

New

Re-released

Machines

Merchandise

Clothing

Other

Music

Events

See also

Notes

References

External links