pac-man bracelet chomps its way around your wrist on [Technabob]

That's straight-up speculation. Siliconera hazarded the guess when it found the registration, and it sounds good to me, if only because it sounds better than the same old run-around (a maze).

Ready for a Pac-Man: Battle Royale? [Siliconera]

The book, which in recent years has trended strongly toward video game records (and, according to us apparently, is a "must-have") found that more American consumers recognized Pac-Man, beating Mario by 1 percent, 94 to 93.

I'd say Mario hasn't done so bad considering not only he has a humanoid form, but he also has changed repeatedly over the past 27 years, whereby Pac-Man has largely been the same yellow pie-shape (except for animated cartoons and other non- or semi-canonical appearances.)

Then again, I don't see Pac-Man putting out a hugely selling title this year, or being the public face of a major console-maker and games publisher. So, take Guinness's appraisal for what it is: The long memory of an entire nation, many of whom might not be gamers.

[via Go Nintendo]

I've played the original Pac-Man on iPhone and didn't really like it, for the same reason I don't really like most iPhone games: the controls sucked.

Since CE is better than Pac-Man, though, we're willing to give the iPhone port the benefit of the doubt.

Pac-Man CE should be out sometime today.

One part of that select group is the PlayStation Museum, which offers a fascinating little making of and post mortem on Pac-Man Ghost Zone, a fully 3D adventure starring the dot-hungry blob created by Toru Iwatani. It's a little rough around the edges in the early working version that PlayStation Museum played, closer to a Bubsy 3D than a Super Mario 64, as unkind as that sounds.

It's actually a sharp looking little game that Namco never got out the door, partly due to management level snafus, according to former Pac-Man Ghost Zone staffers.

Hit up PlayStation Museum for a look behind the scenes and video of a game you've likely never seen before.

Pac-Man Ghost Zone [PlayStation Museum]

Once for sale on Rachel's Etsy site, for $106, this set of Pac-Man rings is of course already sold out by people who can shop faster than you can even think about reading this. But hey, if she gets the hits/interest, who knows, one day, there may be more of them.

Pacman Ring Series- Sterling Silver and Black Onyx [Etsy, via Boing Boing]

Through Waze's "Road Goodies" program, cherries will be scattered across the map for you to find, then gobble up as your little yellow car icon passes over it. These cherries are placed in areas Waze's data is spotty, so a user driving over them helps improve the service. Everybody wins.

Sadly - and we're guessing this is for safety reasons - it's a Pac-Lite experience, as there are no ghosts forcing you to take handbrake corners and do 90 in a 40 zone. Ah well. There's still time to improve the thing.

Waze Turn-By-Turn App Lets You Play Pac-Man With Your Car [Gizmodo]

Roomba Pac-Man [site, via RipTen]

Four Zippos themed on classic Namco properties Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious and Galaxian are yours for the pre-ordering and importing, should you have the desire and funds to complete the transaction. I say that because, like the Sega Saturn and Mega Drive Zippos, these aren't cheap. Each is 10,000 yen, equating to a $108.90 USD price at importer National Console Support.

But if you're expecting to need a Zippo in January, these might be exactly what you're looking for.

ZIPPO Namco Classic Game Zippo Lighters - Import Preorder [NCSX]

Dane, creator of these two mash ups, we humbly request that you keep 'em coming. There's something satisfying about watching these types of crushing defeats.

The first perfect Pac-Man score was achieved by hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell in 1999, and once the perfect score was achieved, there was no way to top it, unless you did it faster. Until recently, the top speed record was held by Chris Ayra, who completed the game in 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 4 seconds back in 2000. Now Ayra slips to the number 2 position, as the suspiciously-named David race has been confirmed as the world's fastest, with a time of 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds, only 42 seconds faster than the previous record.

Achieving a perfect Pac-Man score requires the gamer to eat every dot, bonus fruit, and blue ghost possible across 256 levels, after which the game glitches out. The fact that people are still trying to beat records for doing this never ceases to amaze me.

Namco Bandai will be using the Namco Sounds label to release exclusive re-mastered tracks from its extensive stable of classic games. To inaugurate the launch of the label, songs from Pac-Man, Xevious, and SoulCalibur Suite: The Resonance of Souls and Swords are now available for purchase, with the latter being a special exclusive release in honor of the launch of SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny on the PSP. Additional tracks under the new label will be showing up on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.

It's always good to see more video game music showing up on iTunes, though I'd have to say that I've never sat back and thought to myself, "Gee, I wish I had Xevious music on my iPod." Should be interesting to see what other rarities the company makes available as the label progresses.

Sure, these could be fuzzy memories of something I wish I would've have experienced between the ages of 5 and 7 years old, but here it is, Pac-Man Land at theme park Six Flags Over Texas.

This Pac-Man children's play area was open from 1983-1985. It was awesome.

Pacman Land [Flickr via Technabob via Tiny Cartridge]

My brother and I spent those sweltering days in Maryland, Thailand and Korea coming up with ways to torment one another and sometimes even have fun together. From the fabled pine cone wars faux fought in the nearby woods, to endless games of tag, cops n' robbers and spotlight, we never ran out of things to do.

I can't pretend that children today have those same sorts of childhood experiences. Many spend their days inside watching TV, reading books and even playing video games. That's not a bad thing, but it does lack some of the sweaty charm of a day spent running with friends.

Here, mostly for my amusement, is a collection of games meant to be enjoyed outdoors. I've taken some of my favorite video games and tried to turn them into the sorts of games you play with friends on the lawn, in a park or anywhere there's space.

Included are homages to Katamari Damacy, Super Mario Bros. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Metal Gear Solid. Enjoy, but don't blame me if you break something... even a sweat.

Instead of straining your eyes trying to read all of these, how about just downloading the PDFs instead?
Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
Leapfrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Hear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros.

Images remixed by Kotaku. Originals by Eleanor Campbell, Keith Ward and Robert Childress.

Katamari StickWithMe
Pac-Tag
LeapFrogger
Dodge Space Invaders
Metal Gear Hide and Sneak
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 1
Super Hopscotch Bros. Part 2

People said to me that GTA was just like Pac-Man — he eats the dots, while you drive over the dots in GTA. The police chase you like the ghosts in Pac-Man.

Know what's missing from Pac-Man? Hookers. Radio stations, too. And guns.

David Jones: "GTA Same As Pac Man" [NowGamer] [Pic]

Of course, this is a limited edition, hand embroidered number, courtesy of Fummel & Kram. Why, it even comes with a tag that says "If lost, please return to ..." Because people who find lost scarves typically mail them back. And if they knew the price tag, they may be less inclined.

Rumor is Activision is threatening not to support Fummel & Kram unless it cuts the scarf's price by $100.

Fummel & Kram Pac-Man Scarf [ShopFatal, thanks Nelson N.]