Pac-Man turns 25

[Lauren Tyler]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050614/ap_en_tv/pac_man_s_25th

 

Pac-Man has officially turned 25, and he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down apparently.

 

(What's ironic is that I'm also 25, so Pac-Man debuted the same year I was born!)

[Foxsolo2000]

Makes you feel real old to realise that so much time has passed. 25 years and it is still a popular classic.

[+Random Terrain]

Except for having patterns people could learn like dance steps (you were looked down upon if you didn't study them), it seems like it was the first 'perfect' game. It was fun, looked great, and the sounds were candy for the ears.

[Foxsolo2000]

Didn't the makers get wind of the so called pattern dance (as my friends called it at the time) and release a new game that the old trick would no longer work on? I never got the hang off learning the pattern and could only make it to the key stage by sheer luck and hard work on my part.

[Lord Helmet]

Didn't the makers get wind of the so called pattern dance (as my friends called it at the time) and release a new game that the old trick would no longer work on?  I never got the hang off learning the pattern and could only make it to the key stage by sheer luck and hard work on my part.

874616[/snapback]

 

 

IIRC there were several modifications that owners could make to the machines to make them more difficult.

 

Oh yea...happy birthday Pac-Man!

[Dr Galaga]

In this month's issue of Gameroom Magazine there is a picture of the 25th anniversary edition of Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man/Galgaga arcade game. Basically it is the same as the 20th anniversary Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga (since you could play Pac-Man too) but in a Pac-Man theme cabinet and not available in a cocktail.

[Rugxulo]

In this month's issue of Gameroom Magazine there is a picture of the 25th anniversary edition of Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man/Galgaga arcade game.  Basically it is the same as the 20th anniversary Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga (since you could play Pac-Man too) but in a Pac-Man theme cabinet and not available in a cocktail.

874788[/snapback]

 

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, the site below tells how to play the original Pac-Man in the Ms.Pac-Man/Galaga combo.

 

Easter Eggs

[Dr Galaga]

Finally found a color picture (Namco just had a red X):

[classicgamingguy]

Congratulations and happy birthday to my favorite video game character!

 

Steve

[keilbaca]

That cabinet is awesome, I doubt I'll see it anywhere around here though.

[Cassidy Nolen]

These cabs were being sold about two years ago in catalogs. I think you're more likely to see these at the mall than on location. For what one costs, I could restore one of each machine to perfection. Makes my games look like a steal to customers

 

BTW, I have seen some of that style cabinet that uses a sticker for a coin door. There is just a sheet of wood, and a coin sticker. Anybody else ever seen that? Wierd.

 

 

Happy B-Day to the yellow guy. There is a comedian I saw last week (Nicolas something or other...) talking about Pac Man..."you know, when I was a boy we played as a yellow circle. We gobbled dots and got chased by ghosts". That seems reasonable to me, although I think HALO would be more appealing to today's youth!

 

 

C

[Stingray]

I have seen some of that style cabinet that uses a sticker for a coin door. There is just a sheet of wood, and a coin sticker. Anybody else ever seen that? Wierd.

 

I've seen those too. I presume they're meant for home use, but who wouldn't want a real coin door? It's not like it adds that much to the overall cost. IMO, you aren't playing arcade video games unless you have to pump in quarters or tokens.

 

-S

[+batari]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050614/ap_en_tv/pac_man_s_25th

 

Pac-Man has officially turned 25, and he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down apparently.

 

(What's ironic is that I'm also 25, so Pac-Man debuted the same year I was born!)

874471[/snapback]

Hmmm... I didn't know anyone had managed this:

 

Billy Williams, the first and only person known to play a perfect game of Pac-Man (he racked up a score of 3,333,360 after clearing all 256 levels in more than six hours in 1999, according to video game record keepers Twin Galaxies).

 

For some reason, 6 hours doesn't seem very long for 256 levels, and wouldn't this require that he eat all four ghosts for every "power pill" (or whatever they are called)? I was never good at Pac-Man, but I remember watching people play, and sometimes the ghosts were blue for a fraction of a second. I don't see how this is actually possible. Anybody know?

Edited June 17, 2005 by batari

[sandmountainslim]

Pac Man is without a doubt the greatest video game of all time! Happy Birthday old buddy I remember when I was around 10 after church my grandparents would generally go to the grocery store and there was a Pac Man machine over by the magazine rack, I would sit in church every sunday wishing it was 12:00 and they had a BIG grocery list Hard to believe that was 25 years ago, where's my Geritol??

[NE146]

Hmmm... I didn't know anyone had managed this:

 

Billy Williams, the first and only person known to play a perfect game of Pac-Man (he racked up a score of 3,333,360 after clearing all 256 levels in more than six hours in 1999, according to video game record keepers Twin Galaxies).

 

For some reason, 6 hours doesn't seem very long for 256 levels, and wouldn't this require that he eat all four ghosts for every "power pill" (or whatever they are called)?  I was never good at Pac-Man, but I remember watching people play, and sometimes the ghosts were blue for a fraction of a second.  I don't see how this is actually possible.  Anybody know?

 

First of all.. it's Billy Mitchell. They got the name wrong

 

And second, yeah you'd have to eat all 4 ghosts each and every time including the time they are blue for only a fraction of a second. How do you do that? By grouping them! I aint good at it.. but people who are know how to lure the ghosts to the point where they're all bunched up. Do that when you're near a power pill and it's BAM BAM BAM BAM right after the other.

[Dr Galaga]

According to Twin Galaxies there are now four people who have done it:

[sandmountainslim]

According to Twin Galaxies there are now four people who have done it:

876428[/snapback]

Now who wants to be the first to get past the split screen??

[NE146]

Now who wants to be the first to get past the split screen??

 

Impossible. All 25+ years of players experience as well as actual dissasembly of the code shows it. There are some arcade hacks that remove the split screen bug though.

[Dav]

Now who wants to be the first to get past the split screen??

 

Impossible. All 25+ years of players experience as well as actual dissasembly of the code shows it. There are some arcade hacks that remove the split screen bug though.

877349[/snapback]

 

 

The funny part is there's still people that claim to know how to get past it, of course they don't want to show anyone how. They still argue about it on the twin galaxies forums.

[ATARIeric]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050614/ap_en_tv/pac_man_s_25th

 

Pac-Man has officially turned 25, and he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down apparently.

 

(What's ironic is that I'm also 25, so Pac-Man debuted the same year I was born!)

874471[/snapback]

 

 

I was playing pac man when you were in diapers & vomiting on your moms shoulder Happy Bday pac man!

[sandmountainslim]

Question for the experts I understand Pac debuted in Japan in June of '80 but does anyone know when the machines first hit the US?

[ATARIeric]

Question for the experts   I understand Pac debuted in Japan in June of '80 but does anyone know when the machines first hit the US?

879116[/snapback]

 

 

if all the machine says 1980 on the screen then that is when it came out for the states too.

[Big_Mo]

Question for the experts   I understand Pac debuted in Japan in June of '80 but does anyone know when the machines first hit the US?

879116[/snapback]

 

 

if all the machine says 1980 on the screen then that is when it came out for the states too.

879126[/snapback]

 

The reason the game has a 1980 Copyright on it was that the game was Copyrighted in the US in 1980. It was first shown domestically at CES in October 1980, I believe.

 

I had the pleasure of having dinner with PAC-MAN's creator a few months ago (one of the benefits of working at Namco). I got quite a bit of history on the game.

[ATARIeric]

Question for the experts   I understand Pac debuted in Japan in June of '80 but does anyone know when the machines first hit the US?

879116[/snapback]

 

 

if all the machine says 1980 on the screen then that is when it came out for the states too.

879126[/snapback]

 

The reason the game has a 1980 Copyright on it was that the game was Copyrighted in the US in 1980. It was first shown domestically at CES in October 1980, I believe.

 

I had the pleasure of having dinner with PAC-MAN's creator a few months ago (one of the benefits of working at Namco). I got quite a bit of history on the game.

879347[/snapback]

 

 

I wish you could ask if the patterns to clear each board were designed in house or if the patterns were created by game players

[mäsäxi]

I was playing pacman first time, when he was four years old... pac was much younger than me, and he was too hard to beat!