Kotaku: blinky

The Haunted Ms. Pac Man

Brian Crecente — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:00:10 MDT

Everyone knows that Ms. Pac Man is filled with ghosts, four of them to be specific. But a fifth ghost?

That's what a Boston-area Craigslister claimed when he was contacted to ask why he was giving away a Ms. Pac Man cabinet for free.

Someone on ArcadeControls.com contacted the cabinet owner for the explanation, which involves poltergeist, a crying 3-year-old and a "dark figure."

I sent a message to see if anyone had claimed it and if they had any pics. I got a response back saying that it was available but no pictures. I emailed back asking why they where getting rid of it for free. Here is the response I got.
"When I bought this machine the previous owner told me it was haunted. I laughed, didn't believe him, because I didn't believe in that sort of thing.

Got a bad feeling the day it was delivered. Game started on its own in the middle of the night several times, had a tech service the machine three times (very pricy housecalls), but he couldn't find the problem.

Three-year old daughter started talking about the "man in the video machine", didn't think much of it, then my wife saw a dark figure move across the basement and into the machine. She ran out of the house, would not return until the machine was out of the house. I moved it to my business garage (two miles away), and several times I have opened the garage to find tools missing or scattered, things tipped over.

This is why I am giving away a $1000 machine for free."

Other forum goers who emailed the man were told that he was giving it away because he's a lucky man. So either he's changing his story, or has decided ditching a haunted cabinet would be easier if people didn't know the back story.

The Craigslist posting was still up when I checked this morning, so I emailed the owner, but haven't heard back. Maybe he's been sucked into the Ms. Pac Man.

Interesting Craigslist find [Arcade Controls, thanks Wesley]

Pac-Man's Power Pills 'Pparently Pirated

simonc — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:00:08 MST

OK, that's 'apparently' up in the headline, but the alliteration trip wouldn't let me spell it any other way.

In any case, smart arcade info site Arcade Renaissance has spotted a new lawsuit against an Illinois-based arcade game distributor for making Pac-Man arcade cabinets without their permission:

The suit claims that Eagle Distributing is currently in violation of Namco Bandai's properties through the sale of unauthorized and counterfeit products without authorization from the company. These products include their GameboX Multi-arcade systems and Ms. Pac-Man and More Cocktail and Upright cabinets. The lawsuit seeks damages, right of seizure, and a stop to any further violations from Eagle Distributing.

If nothing else, it's a testament to Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani's genius that companies are still pirating the game, more than 25 years after its 1980 debut.

Namco Bandai announces a lawsuit against Eagle Distributing [Arcade Renaissance]

Because Hippies Love Pac-Man Too...

fdemarco — Sun, 13 May 2007 14:03:55 MDT

Kotakuite Samo sends in this groovy photo of a two sided Pac-Man shirt taken at Hippie Fest 2007 otherwise known as Whole Earth Festival at UC Davis. According to the sign, it's part of the artist's new spring Organic Collection (read: hemp). I had no idea that people actually still bought tie-dyed anything, even ironically. Terrifying... Flynn De Marco