Finally, Designer Label Pac-Man Grenades

Artist Peter Gronquist's currently holding an exhibition in LA, where he takes famous designer labels and associates them with weapons. Think a Chanel RPG, Gucci AK-47, etc, and you're on the right track. One of his exhibits are these delightful, golden Pac-Man grenades. I've no idea which label they're meant to be, but at USD$350 a pop, the more affluent amongst you could do a lot worse if you were in the market for an expensive executive paperweight.

Peter Gronquist Solo Show [NOTCOT, via Hypebeast]

Fixing Pac-Man's 256th Board

My brother, Fletch, and I were 8 and 6 years old, respectively, when Pac-Man debuted. As this IM conversation demonstrates, to this day we approach the game with the same wide-eyed curiosity and emotional maturity as we did in 1980.

Tuesday, April 15
10:01:53 AM Owen: hey, pac-man question: how big were the dots and the energizers, in pixels
10:02:08 AM Fletch: You mean on the original video game screen?
10:02:16 AM Owen: yeah, 2x2 for dots, and roughly 8x8 for the energizers?
10:02:20 AM Fletch: i guess. I don't have bionic graphic measurement powers
10:02:37 AM Owen: I'm trying to figure how big a shit Pac-Man would take after one board.
(you've been warned...)

Confectionery Mods: Pac-Man Cookies

Pac-Man Eggs (Waka, Waka)

Major General Hammond Invokes Pac-Man

U.S. Major General Jeffery Hammond, delivering a press briefing on the progress of the 4th Infantry's efforts in Iraq, revealed the inspiration behind their current strategy for dealing with Al Qaeda operatives and Shiite extremists.

"I believe they have been degraded, we continue to PacMan, like the video game, away at their efforts, at their different levels," Major General Hammond said.

4th Infantry Update from Baghdad [KXRM Fox 21]

Someone call Scooby!

Yesterday we wrote about the haunted Ms. Pac-Man that a Bostonian was giving away because it made his little girl cry and his wife run screaming from the house.

We, and many of you, made jokes and laughed, saying how much we wish we could have gotten a free "haunted" Ms. Pac-Man cabinet. Well, apparently, the person who did land it isn't so happy today. Was it a scam? No, says the new owner, but it was freakin' haunted!!!

Delightfully Dorky Pac-Man Ben Sherman Shoes

Pac-Man Coasters! Coasters!!

Right now, recycled circuit board coasters are my living line of defense between condensation and the fragile finish of $30 coffee tables. (Yes, I spent as much on the coasters as the tables they protect). And even though these coasters really are pretty fantastic, they can be out-gunned during my larger gatherings that feature more condensation.

Needless to say, a coaster afficienado such as myself is consider the purchase of these Pac-Man coasters with box. For $22, my crappy furniture never slept so soundly. Here's a bonus pic:

Pac-Man Puzzles Virtual Console

It's the second Monday of 2008, and the second week in a row that the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console has been dealt two games instead of the usual three. It wouldn't be so bad were the games in question excellent, but this week's selection...well, let's just say it isn't going to turn many heads. You might as well stop reading now.

You never listen. Oh well, this week sees the addition of Pac-Attack for the SNES (800 points), a tetris-y Pac-Man game where you have to line up blocks while Pac-Man runs across the screen trying to eat ghosts. Huzzah! Also on the plate this week is Riot Zone for the TurboGrafx16 CD (800 points), a rather generic side-scrolling beat-em-up that sees two heroes fighting a mysterious organization who has kidnapped one of their girlfriends, because that's just what evil organizations did back in the day. Yay.

Are they running out of stuff to toss up, or are they cutting back to get ready for WiiWare? Either way, the charm of the whole retro thing is starting to wear thin. Ready for new games now!

Soulcalibur IV Director's Choice For A Cameo Fighter? Pac-Man

After playing Soulcalibur IV for a few hours last night, suffering many beatings at the hands of Siliconera's Spencer Yip and his Cassandra skills, Soul series director Katsutoshi Sasaki asked us what we thought of the game. We told him we were pleased, if a bit disappointed in the limited character selection in the early build. When we were done chatting about our own opinions, Yip inquired what Namco Bandai character Sasaki would like to have seen in the game, if he had his druthers.

I braced for something from Gundam lore, but Sasaki surprised us both with his choice: Pac-Man. The thing holding him back from a SC IV guest appearance, he said, was that Pac-Man doesn't have a weapon. Now, I could have sworn I'd seen Pac-Man sporting a helmet and lance at some point...

Atari Pac-Man Commercial

RetroGameVideos.com is just a treasure trove of these great videos that I love to post. This one is for the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man (which incidentally is one of the worst versions ever) and features the hideous eighties novelty song "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner and Garcia who brought us such other hideous video game themed hits as Do The Donkey Kong, Ode To A Centipede and the enduring classic Goin Berzerk.

"Drop Atari Pac-Man into your Atari video computer system and you'll be playing the hottest game since Space Invaders!"

Indeed.

Game Trees Are Totally In This Year

Ms. Pac-Man Looks Lovely on Hands

Pac-Man's Power Pills 'Pparently Pirated

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.

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