Namco Museum Essentials is coming to the PlayStation Network net month, bringing with it an updated version of arcade classic shooter Xevious and a Namco Bandai space in PlayStation Home.
Namco Museum Essentials is essentially what one would expect, repackaging Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Dragon Spirit, and Xevious for download via the PlayStation Network. And while the re-imagining of Xevious as the visually enhanced 1080p Xevious Resurrection looks nice, it's still and older game made prettier. No, the real draw of the Namco Museum Essentials lies in corresponding release of the Namco Bandai space for PlayStation Home.
The Namco Bandai Home space features a virtual arcade where players can try out demos of the Museum titles, view the latest trailers for Namco Bandai titles, and - most importantly - collect 50 different classic Namco and The Idolm@ster items to show off to your friends in PlayStation Home.
Players will also be able to win PlayStation Home items playing through Namco Museum Essentials, making it one of the first games to implement the original the rewards system shown off during the initial announcement of PlayStation Home.
Both Namco Museum Essentials and the Namco Bandai Home space will be available on a PlayStation 3 near you next month.