It's pretty simple stuff on the surface. Move your ship anywhere on the screen with the left analog stick. With the right stick, you can place your ship's two satellite guns. These two guns can be dropped anywhere on the fly, with a quick tap in the direction you want the guns to autofire.

Your ship will autofire by default too, but you can choose to call your own shots with the right trigger. The point? Higher scoring bonuses. The whole mechanic makes a lot of sense and you'll need equal parts strategy, quick reflexes and pattern recognition to make it through all five areas.

Like the original Galaga, Legions throws wave after wave of enemy at the player. The formations are more varied in the XBLA update — those series of blue lines you see in the pictures draw on screen prior to each wave — and enemies can come from any direction at very high speeds. You'll have to quickly plan where your ship and your satellite guns should be to survive the crush of Galagas.

And like the original, you'll be able to add extra fighters to your assault team. This time, instead of the Galagas capturing your ship, you'll capture theirs. In some formations, a special freighter-style ship will appear. Shoot it, and the remaining Galagas will be absorbed and added to your forces. This addition of a few dozen fighters on your side of the screen adds a heaping help of chaos, but seeing the swarm of space bugs go after their former allies is awesome stuff.

Like Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga Legions looks to have copious replayability. It's not just a lovely looking freakshow, it's fun to play and a great example of how to update an old franchise.

"My mom is going to call me 'Pacman.' That is what it is. I can't change that," Jones said. "I'm not saying that my teammates won't call me 'Pacman' on the field. But for the most part, I want to be Adam or Mr. Jones."

So what he is saying there is that everyone is still going to call him Pacman, but he doesn't like it.

We tried to reach the actual Pac-Man for comment on the situation but were informed by sources that he is not real, which made me cry.

No more Pacman? Embattled Cowboys CB Jones drops nickname [ESPN]

After being dragged into one of the local Christian books stores by a relative I spotted this gem of a shirt. Torn between horror and facination I ended up snapping a few photos of it. These two are the only ones that turned out well enough for you to actually read the text under Blinky, Inky, and Clyde.

I snagged the best of the two pictures, but in case you still can't read it, the quote is "But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, do good to those that hate you. - Luke 6:27". I've been checking chat logs all morning but still can't see where Luke said that. Seems a bit out of character really. I'll follow up with him later.

Thanks, Barts!

Pac-Samurai [Pop Monkey - thanks, Drew!]

Crystal Sky is currently involved in producing the Tekken movie, a film that we just had our first peek at. We can only imagine that the Pac-Man flick won't be targeting the over-12 demographic, but desperately hope for something live action and thoroughly awful.

Crystal Sky signs $200 million deal [Variety]

This picture comes from an animation that gets annoying after about like 2 seconds. Turn down your speakers if you have easily startled house pets or children around. Fair warning.

Don't Do Drugs in Space! PLEASE! [ytmnd.com]

A little history here. If you make it past board No. 255 (I forget which key this is). a subroutine error crashes the game, splitting its screen into one-half playable and the other garbled. Its algorithm is looking to draw a fruit that doesn't exist. This creates a perhaps unintentionally finite gameplay experience. It probably was a good thing. Every pattern has a hiding space where Pac-Man can pause, untouched, while the gamer takes a pee (or, snicker, a dump), eats, or does whatever. That's been a part of Pac-Marathons since day one. A truly infinite Pac-Man could lead to world records limited only by hardware integrity, probably going nonstop for months at a time.

Hodges fixes that, and offers proof of his work. Assuming you know how to go in and apply the patch yourself, voila, unlimited Pac-Man. (I guess he didn't include the ROM to avoid the copyright hassle). Of course, to get there you either have to use a MAME warp cheat — or know the patterns up to the 9th Key, memorably invoked in Buckner & Garcia's hit "Pac-Man Fever" and included with the liner notes.

Pac-Man's Split Screen Level Analyzed and Fixed

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...)

10:03:15 AM Fletch: Isn't this begging the rather obvious question of the location of pac-man's anus?
10:03:30 AM Owen: ...
10:04:21 AM Fletch: I'm betting Pac anatomy would confound human xenobiologists
10:04:24 AM Owen: o_O

10:05:06 AM Owen: OK now, normal digestion, how much gets metabolized, how much is dookie, rough percentages.
10:05:25 AM Fletch: dunno, never saw pac-crap
10:06:14 AM Owen: neither have i, stupe.
10:06:18 AM Fletch: do we assume Pac's GI tract is reg'lar? Getting enuf dietery fiber?
10:06:22 AM Owen: this is for mature, healthy, nonsmoking male pac-adult
10:06:30 AM Fletch: that's the only way the word 'mature' ever gets into this conversation
10:07:00 AM Fletch: BRB

10:10:41 AM Fletch: OK, there are 266 dots on a screen
10:10:50 AM Fletch: roughly 2x2, so 4 pixels per dot
10:10:53 AM Owen: you google that?
10:11:00 AM Fletch: no- found a screeencap of the whole board at wikipedia, so I counted em
10:11:05 AM Owen: got damn you hardco
10:11:56 AM Fletch: nowait, I miscounted- thought the board was quadrilaterally symmetrical, but its only bilateral
10:12:05 AM Owen: O_o

10:12:30 AM Fletch: Ok dot count is 240- x 4 pixels is 960
10:12:38 AM Owen: alright, now the ghosts
10:12:47 AM Fletch: ghosts don't count towards crap, they ghosts.
10:13:04 AM Owen: no, he consumes their ghost costume but not their eyeballs. it's roughage.
10:13:17 AM Fletch: THEY GHOSTS
10:13:30 AM Owen: "ghost-monsters" according to teh cartoon
10:13:38 AM Fletch: Cartoon ain't canon
10:13:46 AM Owen: o_O

10:13:56 AM Owen: fine fuck the ghosts.
10:14:09 AM Fletch: damn straight. Now: energizers are 9x9- minus 12 for the corners, so that's 69.
10:14:21 AM Fletch: x 4 equals 276
10:14:29 AM Owen: wat about cherries
10:15:07 AM Owen: you get two of those per board
10:15:08 AM Fletch: they ain't on my screengrab
10:15:16 AM Owen: well dammit find another

10:16:50 AM Fletch: OK 98 pixels for cherries x 2 is 196
10:17:05 AM Owen: OK so that's 960 pixels for the dots, 276 for the energizers, 196 for the two fruit. i get 1432 pixels total consumed. now, let's say it's one of those high speed versions like we played at the pizza hut. so he's burning a ton of calories, and all of this stuff is super nutritious. and plus he reserves some that he'll convert to mass for when he goes supersize to chase blinky at the first intermission. so all but 25 pct is left in his intestines. that leaves:

10:17:25 AM Fletch: 358 pixel pac turd. let's say 360. what's the square root of 360
10:17:34 AM Owen: uh ...
10:22:50 AM Owen Good went away
10:22:55 AM Fletch: ohfercrissake
10:22:56 AM Owen Good (auto response) I am away from my computer right now.
10:22:59 AM Owen Good came back
10:23:01 AM Owen: uhhhh ... 11?
10:23:22 AM Fletch: 18.97, Mister Maf.
10:23:28 AM Owen: close enough

10:23:35 AM Fletch: so let's call it a square 19 pixels on each side
10:23:37 AM Fletch: now how big is pac. I'm betting he ain't that big
10:23:52 AM Owen: 16x16 at the max.
10:23:59 AM Fletch: 14x14. plus his butthole has to be only two or three pixels wide
10:24:09 AM Owen: owwwwwwwwwww
10:24:30 AM Fletch: so it ain't gonna come out square, it's going to be a big long squirt-dookie
10:24:35 AM Owen: ( O ) ___ ( o)

attachments:
To scale, pixel for pixel. Nearly 2x Pac-Man's mass.

Note the reddened, chafed Pac-butt.

This must be why the ghosts have to walk slowly through the tunnel.

13:40:28 PM Owen: lol blinky's all !!! omfg
13:40:33 PM Fletch: thanx
13:40:45 PM Owen: so i was trying to figure
13:40:49 PM Owen: what would the men's room look like after one round of Tapper
13:40:52 PM Fletch: I have to go now.

Images courtesy of Fletch Brendan Good

Is that a roll of quarters in your pocket or are you happy to see me?

Ms. Pac-Man Whores It Up [Joystick Division via Topless Robot]

Perhaps no longer. You can grab an official record this coming Thursday if you live in, or can get to, Brooklyn, N.Y. — and have mad skills in one of five classic arcade games. Guinness World Records is hosting a competition to coincide with the release of its inagural Gamers' Edition.

The five titles up for grabs:

• Fastest Time to Beat Five Boards on Ms. Pac Man
• Fastest Time to Beat Five Boards on Tapper
• Highest Out-Run Score
• Highest Ghosts 'n Goblins Score
• Highest Donkey Kong Score Without Using the Hammer

I like how the records are some feat within the play of the regular game — except for Ghosts 'n Goblins, which is so goddamn impossible that just getting the all time highest score is badass enough. Arcade-History.com says the record is 811,000 points. Good luck with that.

A news release advises that "the public at large is invited to try their hand at the joystick of destiny," provided you're 21 or over and have an ID. (Barcade is, well, a bar.) The event is 7:30 pm Thursday, April 10, and the location is 388 Union Ave., Brooklyn, NY.

We won't lie. The instructions are for advanced modders only. But if you're up for the challenge, hit the jump for the full step-by-step instructions.

Intermediate Recipe
1. Buy sugar cookies
2. Cut little Pac-Man wedges

Advanced Recipe (TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK! WE ASSUME NO LIABILITY!)
1. Buy "break and bake" sugar cookies
2. Break
3. Bake
4. Cut little Pac-Man wedges

Enjoy!

"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]

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!!!

Free arcade game Ms Pacman. We got this game yesterday from CL. The owner warned us this was haunted and based on what we experienced last night we don't want this in our house anymore.

Game is in our backyard and under blue tarp. THE FIRST person who picks it up gets it. The person who takes it must understand this is not a joke but that this is serious.

WE WILL NOT ANSWER YOU E-MAILS OR QUESTIONS. WE DON"T WANT TO GIVE OUR ADDRESS OUT TO THOUISANDS OF STRANGERS. WE WILL PICK ONE PERSON, WE WILL CONTACT THAT PERSON ONLY. WE WILL REMOVE THE AD FROM CRASGS LIST WHEN THIS MACHINE IS GONE.

I of course emailed the guy immediately asking for both the cabinet and an interview. We have no way of knowing if this really is the guy who got the cabinet, but it still equally amuses and frightens me... mostly amuses though.

And for the love of God, if you are the one who ends up getting this haunted cabinet... take video and send it our way. It's been a day or two since I saw drunken gnomes and a I need a good supernatural laugh.

READ ENTIRE AD: free aracde game [Craigslist, thanks for all of the tips]

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]

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:

Coasters [Etsy via GeekAlerts]

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!

WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO NEW CLASSIC GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

Jan. 14, 2008

This week you can spend your time carefully planning puzzle strategies or rescuing a damsel in distress. Help one of the most iconic characters in all of video gamedom eat some troublesome ghosts or set off to defeat an evil organization using only your furious fists. The choice is yours. What are you in the mood for?

Nintendo adds new games to the Wii™ Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

Pac-Attack (Super NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Pac-Man makes a rare appearance outside of a maze environment in Pac-Attack, a fun and quirky puzzle game. This unique entry in the genre puts its own twist on established conventions and adds one of gaming's most iconic characters to the mix. The goal is simple: Keep your screen clear of falling blocks and ghosts by lining up blocks horizontally, causing them to disappear. Clearing the ghosts, though, requires the help of a hungry Pac-Man (who just happens to swing by every so often for a snack). It's up to you to get all of the ghosts lined up for him, because Pac-Man will keep eating them until he is stopped by a block or he runs out of ghosts. In addition, his range of movement on the playing field is limited to horizontal or downward—thus adding further strategy. There are three game modes to choose from: 1 Player Normal, 2 Player VS., and the challenging 1 Player Puzzle. Feel like gobbling up some ghosts?

Riot Zone (TurboGrafx16 CD-ROM, 1 player, Rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Older - Tobacco Reference, Violence, 800 Wii Points): Riot Zone is a side-scrolling fighting game that follows two heroes as they fight to take down an evil organization. The crime syndicate Dragon Zone has kidnapped Hawk's girlfriend and it's up to him and his partner detective, Tony, to get her back. Join them as they jump "fists first" into the grim Kowloon district. Play as Hawk or Tony and fight through all five stages in the deadly Kowloon district. Smash down the Dragon Zone goons in areas like the Harbor, Abandoned Warehouse and the Ghetto. Both characters have unique skills and attacks. Hawk is a master of karate, while Tony is a hard-hitter. That being said, both guys are massive and possess killer techniques. The hard-boiled action is enhanced by the game's realistic sound effects.

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...

New Era Non-Team [Fuctard via High Snobiety]

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

Indeed.

I found this gem while shopping at a outlet Jeans West story here in Australia. It may not be the coolest gaming shirt I own, but at $5 Australian it sure is the cheapest. I just wish there were more Pac Man ghosts on the shirt.

Ms. Pac-Man [stars + infinite darkness]

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]

Fear not though, IF arcade fans. A number of years ago a few key players in the IF community came together to create IF Arcade, a set of clever and well-written arcade-to-IF adaptations. Games represented include Centipede, Donkey Kong, Joust, and Pong.

An excerpt from Adam Cadre's excellent Pac-Man IF, after the jump.

Intersection The streets are all the same, dark alleys with glowing borders keeping the riff-raff like the Pac-Man away from the Elect and their pleasure palaces. Here two of them cross, paths stretching into the darkness in all four directions known to mankind.

"Need to get well," Pac-Man mutters, shivering. "I just need to get well."

There is a food dot here.

> eat dot
Pac-Man chokes down the food dot.

Thankfully, the industrious LiveJournalists of the world with ROM hacking skills took the liberty of fashioning themselves a Pac-Gentleman binary playable in MAME. It seems very much like the original, but with mustachioed ghosts, a derby wearing protagonist and period appropriate language.

Pac Gentleman [S.D. Lawrence, ESQ LTD. via MAKE]

Pac-Txt [via Digg]

While I honestly believe that dressing up your dog in a costume is just two steps away from tying them up in a burlap sack and tossing them in a river on the dog cruelty scale, I have to admit that this gathering of pugs dressed up as Pac-Man characters is kind of entertaining. If I had a dog and wished to dress him up in a costume for Halloween, these would be the designs they found on my drawing table next to my dead body, my brain having exploded to save me from the embarrassment of actually dressing up my pet. Everyone knows I am a cat person anyway, and cats are just begging to be fitted with samurai armor. Thanks, Long Le, for the vid!

They were carved with love for all games old school.

Pacman Grim Reaper Halloween Ghost t-shirt [Etsy]

Hit the link for advice on making your own. But know by clicking it, you are picking a side in a war as important as the fabled "wwwwwwwwww vs. lol" chronicles. Oh yes, this will get messy. Because pumpkins bleed and get all sticky on your hands and stuff.

Easy halloween project: 8-bit gourds! [via playgadgets]

PAC TO REALITY

INTRODUCING 'PAC-MAN PLUS'. IT'S PAC-MAN, ONLY FOR REAL...

www.pacman-plus.com

Admit it, it's a dream come true. Your chance to actually live a computer game. You could buy a skateboard and attempt to rail grind between buildings, but that leads to something called 'being dead'. Jacking cars in reality comes with an unwanted side quest in a place called 'jail'. Pac-Man? Where are you even going to find GHOSTS?!

At the Plus International Design Festival (http://www.youplusus.net), taking place October 17th - 21st at Wild Building, 93-96 Floodgate Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SR. We'll also supply the power pills and big maze to run about in, as a 1980s videogame classic comes alive before your very eyes.

Is it art? Who knows/cares. Is it going to be brilliant fun? No doubt about it. Pac-Man Plus gives you a host of amazing options. Maybe you want to be a ghost, and chase down the hero and make him eat his own head with a wibbly blip. Maybe you want to be Pac-Man, and feel the terror of having your destiny in a player's hands. You can't move on your own, Player 1 will tell you where to go. Pac-Man doesn't think, he just does. What if Player 1 has been drinking? Your life is literally in his hands. Perhaps you want to wield the same power as you usually have in gaming, seeing the bigger picture and giving Pac-Man the information he needs to stay alive.

How is it going to work? A player dressed as Pac-Man will enter the maze, and lying in wait will be two ghosts - Blinky and Inky. Pac-Man's movements will then be directed via a one-way headset linked to another player outside the maze (the Controller), who will be watching the action top-down on a large projection screen. The goal of the game for Pacman and his Controller will be to collect the four Powerpills inside the maze and then stay alive! The high score table beckons....

Tickets are available from http://www.youplusus.net/?page_id=88

If you need any more information it'd be an excellent idea to email pacmanplus@mail.com and ask for it. Before you do though, check we haven't already answered your question below. But the release ends here formally, in case you're bored already. Come and play with us, it'll be great.

Q & A

Q: I want to be a woman. Can I be a woman?
A: We hope you're asking if you can be Ms. Pac-Man. And yes you can! We'll have a bow on hand to feminise you where required. If you didn't mean that, umm, you're weird.

Q: How many players are needed for Pac-Man Plus?
A: Five. There are three players in the maze (Pac-Man & two Ghosts) and two players outside, directing proceedings. One of the players outside the maze is linked to Pac-Man via a one way headset, so the player can control Pac-Man, but as we all know, Pac-Man can't speak back to the player. The other player outside the game controls the Ghosts.

Q: Is there any skill involved in Pac-Man Plus?
A: The game controller is the key person in the game. They need to give the directions to Pac-Man in a quick, but clear manner, and always from the perspective of the Pac-Man, not simply from what they see on the projector.

Q: How many lives does Pac-Man get?
A: The same as you would in real life if some GHOSTS KILLED YOU. That is, one. No second chances. Dead = game over.

Q: Are there real 'dots' in the maze?
A: Nope. The lack of dots is a change that we've had to make from the original game. However we've added a few gameplay elements that will make up for the lack of dots - this is Pac-Man Plus after all.

Q: Are there really "Powerpills" in the maze?
A: Yep, but nothing that you need to involve the police about. There are pills to grab as Pac-Man moves around the maze.

Q: How do the ghosts "eat" Pac-Man?
A: The ghosts simply have to touch Pacman to effectively 'eat' him and end the game.

Q: How do the other ghosts know when Pac-Man has eaten a Power Pill?
A: A sound will be played that will notify the Ghosts that Pac-Man has eaten the powerpill. Then the hunted becomes the hunter and ghosts brown trouser it.

Q: How long does a game usually last?
A: Like in real Pac-Man, the game can last from five seconds to five hours, however we're confident that if the ghosts and their controller work together Pacman won't last for more than 10 minutes.

Q. What is the objective of the game?
A: The objective of Pac-Man Plus is to collect all the powerpills and then survive for as long as possible.

Q: Can I play?
A: Of course! If you can make it to the Plus international Design Festival 2007 http://www.youplusus.net/ you can take your turn.

Q: Are you planning on doing Pacman Plus at other events?
A: We would love to do Pacman Plus at other events across the UK and even across the world. Please feel free to get in touch if you can think of an event that would suit the project. Email us at pacmanplus [at] mail.com

Q What is next for the Pacman Plus
A: Technology - that's what! At the moment the projection of the game is a direct presentation of what is happening in the real world - in the future we would like to combine the real world game with computer technology to produce an augmented reality version of the game, complete with dots!

Slightly NSFW Costumes [3wishes via Dark Diamond]

PAC-MAN Leather MP3 Player Case [Club Namco]
[via the bbps]