Believe it or not, next year will see the 40th anniversary of gaming classic Pac-Man, and Bandai Namco is planning a year-long series of celebrations in honour of the ravenous yellow blob.
Pac-Man first appeared on the scene on 22nd May 1980, rising to fame as an arcade star before shifting to games consoles, mobile devices, and even Google Maps. Now you'll find the series' titular character appearing in games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, sitting side-by-side with some of gaming's most iconic stars.
A website has been set up to keep track of the celebrations, promising "activities, partnerships, and surprises" which will appear all throughout next year. Things have kicked off slightly early, though, with the official Pac-Man 40th-anniversary theme song called 'Join the PAC' already being released. You can check it out below; it was composed by the famed Japanese techno producer, DJ. Ken Ishii.
That original theme is just so good.
If that's got you in the mood for some Pac-Man on your Switch, make sure to check out Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus or Namco Museum Arcade Pac. Let us know if you'll be 'joining the PAC' in the comments below.
Comments 31
https://youtu.be/OfI6LD9t-hI
I'll just leave this here.
That is terrible, pac-man deserves better than this
Yes, I am old, I remember playing this in arcades. I seem to remember memorizing patterns and going many levels on a quarter. I guess I had a guide, even way back then.
But oddly, this game holds little nostalgia for me. And there is nothing like the arcade joystick.
Lots of nostalgia for me. I survived the first wave of Pac-Mania. I remember drawing dots and ghosts and Pac-Man on everything. Our teachers were probably just as sick of Pac-Man as modern teachers are of Fortnite.
Could really do with a decent collection of Pac Man games to celebrate. Was disappointed that the Namco pack didn't have more than just the original. Pac-land, Pac-mania and all the other older and newer games could easily make up a full compilation with cartoons etc and artwork included. They've already made a collection on Steam and previous gen consoles.
See, this is why people keep illegally uploading music from Smash Bros games. Club Mix sounds way better than this song.
A PHYSICAL -unlike the digital-only Space Invaders thing they're doing in 2020, a little late considering its 40th anniversary was in 2018- collection of the most emblematic games in the saga would be the right thing to do.
It'll never beat "Pac-Man Fever", the original song about what was, at the time, a cultural craze.
As far as "celebrations" go, I hope Namco will finally put a genuine effort into a compilation of their "Museum" of classic coin-op titles. Yes, I'm aware of the one on the Switch, but its selection pales in comparison to the 50th Anniversary Collection that was released all the way back on the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube. Pole Position, Xevious, Ms. Pac-Man, and so many others...while other publishers' retro compilations have gotten general larger and better, Namco's have strangely gotten smaller and stingier.
How about a good pacman game? I get the pacman formula is tough to deviate from the norm but could we at least get a pacman world 1+2 remake? I never either of these games as a kid and would jump at the chance to get them.
Fun video. I liked the pizza reference, the origin of the pac man shake of course
40 years? 40?
No. Nooooooooooooooooo.
I'm not convinced the music heard in the video and the music they dance to are one in the same.
If we could get a pacman world collection with 1, 2, and 3 i would die! Pleeeeease namco? 🥺
Namco hasn't been giving the Pac-Man series the care it deserves. We only get a new Pac-Man game every couple of years and the ones we get are usually are cheap mobile games.
Those "surprises" they plan on announcing next year better be something more substantial than "Pac-Man Tile Match 3 for IOS/Android".
Pac-man and I share the same birthday.
I would absolutely love it if Bandai Namco released another Namco Museum collection on the Switch. I'd die to have Ms. Pac-Man on there.
Pac-Man World 4 please !
This song is much better if you ignore the video.
I feel like the best way to celebrate the yellow fellow’s 40th is to release a another PAC-MAN maze game that combines elements from many different titles throughout these last 40 years, something worthy of the title of “PAC-MAN FOREVER”.
I hate to say it; but I don’t really think a ‘World’-style cute 3D platformer today is gonna celebrate the series as well as it did then. This game’s identity and branding is being taken much more seriously than it used to be, from those limited-quanity quarter-sized cabinets(one I bought as a x-mas gift for my mother), full-blown fancy artistic statues developed by Richard Orlinski, even appearing in the Rio to Tokyo Flag handover ceremony alongside Mario (the director of this also worked on this video) in addition to Super Smash Bros., a now more serious cross-over in gaming, considering we’ve seen them commission the “Oriental Techno God” (twice, since he did music for a VR game) (who is already celebrating 25 years of his own career) to make this music to define this milestone, it proves it.
Didn't we already have this article featuring this awful corporate "look how hip we are" dance song?
I am older than Pacman, what a depressing thought haha
4C Anniversary
Is that DEVO, lol?!?
Lloyd in Smash is rapidly looking super-likely.
@AtlanteanMan @Iacobus Yeah, I was hoping they would add DLC to the Switch collection with the missing games.
I bought the Switch collection on a 50% sale. Based on the limited content, that felt like the right price.
On the plus side, it supports vertical mode and I do have the Flip Grip.
I heard Apple Arcade got a good Pac-Man Party Royale game (you against three other players).
To celebrate how bout a nice big Pac man collection on a Switch card?? And don’t leave out Ms Pac Man this time!!
My deaf uncle loves pac man so much
Two seconds into it and I'm asking for those two seconds back.
Bring back Professor Pac-Man and Pac-Man & Chomp-Chomp you cowards!
@BalloonFighter, they didn’t forget about PAC-MAN & Chomp Chomp because it is actually a reskined PAC ‘N PAL.
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