(A couple of Pac-Man Power Girls enjoying Pac-Man Battle Royale at Amusement Expo 2010, back when it was a wee prototype)
(Thanks to Kevin Williams of The Stinger Report for the tip)
So I did hear about this a little late but not too late fortunately. Namco’s “Pac-Man Power Girls” were at select Dave & Busters locations tonight until Midnight and they will be there tomorrow as well from 9PM to Midnight, playing games, handing out Pac-Man Mardi Gras Necklaces and of course promoting the new Pac-Man Battle Royale Deluxe while they are at it. Full details can be found here. Also if you are curious, Namco has also uploaded a ton of pictures from the launch events of the new Deluxe version of the game, all found on their PMBR Facebook page.
And the Dave & Busters locations are:
Marietta, GA
Philadelphia, PA
Homestead, PA
Hollywood, FL
Miami, FL
Kensington, MD
Hanover, MD
Springdale, OH
Westlake, OH
Denver, CO
Utica, MI
New York, NY
Westbury, NY
West Nyack, NY
Orange, CA
Houston, TX (Katy Freeway location)
San Antonio, TX
Providence, RI
Milpitas, CA
San Diego, CA
When Namco told me they weren’t done promoting Pac-Man Battle Royale, they certainly weren’t kidding!
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I was just thinking the other day that Namco should make another Ms. Pac-Man. As far as I’m concerned, Ms. Pac-Man is the most popular game of all time. I remember when I was a kid that I constantly had to wait to play Ms. Pac-Man when it came out because all of the girls crowded the machine. You can pretty much find a Ms. Pac-Man machine in a laundromat, or other hole in the wall, thirty years later; often paired up with an equally old Galaga machine.
They could do a lot of fun things like work in Baby, Jr., and Super Pac-Man into the mix. Since Ms. Pac-Man was the literal red-headed stepchild, and has always been treated as such by Namco, I doubt we’ll ever see anything with Ms. Pac in it.
Shame too. A modern Ms. Pac machine would ALWAYS make money. While the kids play their crappy redemption games, and lame, violence-censored shooting games, mom could play the new Ms. Pac machine.
I just went to the D&B in West Nyack, NY yesterday. There was one Pac-man Power Girl there. She had a D&B card that she would swipe for you. So pretty much every game was free for the night. I was hoping they would hand out some t-shirts or give some freebies. The game is fun to play as long as you have a full 4 player setup. There are three rounds. Technically, the person who has the most wins (Which means last Pac-man on the board wins) but sometimes everyone will have 1 win so there is no tie breaker. The game is really made to not have a clear winner. At the end of the three rounds you either win for most pac-men eaten, most pellets eaten, most super pellets eaten, most ghosts eaten, or most fruits eaten. The game would be a little better if they gave you 5 rounds instead. It felt like the game was over to quick. No matter how well you did, you don’t get an automatic buy-in if you win. No matter what, the game ends for everyone after 3 rounds. If the person who ate the most pac-men can at least have a auto buy-in for the next match that would at least make you feel like winning was worth something. The games tries to condense aspects of the Pac-Man Championship game into a 2 min game when the average Pac-man Championship game is 6 mins long. I like the game for a quick 4-player match but it doesn’t have depth to keep me interested beyond playing once or twice with a group when I visit a D&B
Anyone else have any opinions of the game? Maybe I’m not giving the game enough of a chance.
The game can be set to 5 rounds instead of 3 rounds. Even when the game is set at 5 rounds it goes by really quick. The game is fun but as you mention there are many instances where there is a tie with no tie breaker. Another thing is that most places have it set on 2 credits and the winner doesn’t get to stay on. I’m not sure if this is something they can change in the dip switches/settings but that would make the game somewhat more worth the value.
As for releasing another Ms Pac-Man, Namco did re-release Namco reunion with both Ms. Pac and Galaga on a 25″ monitor. Yes it’s not quite a new game so to speak but the thing is that Namco Reunion machines are still making money so I doubt they would want to do anything to affect those earnings right now.
We reviewed the game on the Deluxe and standard cabs – it is fun in a group and is a quick play package. The aspect of lomgevity, that the original had has been ignored by the Japanese development team. A shame that the team did not focus on a mix of play styles rather than a impulse play narrative.
D&B shoulf find this a fun game for their facility, though I do not think it will be a A+ revenue generator compared to previous hits for them like GRID.
It is fun with a group and I realized this is the first “competitive” type arcade game they have released in a while where you play against other people. (Even though the game makes it look like everyone is a winner after three rounds.)
It should generate most of the money from people looking for the Pac-man play style with a twist. The deluxe cabinet presentation helps too. I was mesmerized by it.
While I am probably rehashing what I said before about this game,
It needs at least a little more gameplay depth or to increase the number of rounds from 3 to 5. It’s over way to quick and “Winner doesn’t stay”. There isn’t this “big incentive” to get better at the game. You have pretty much figured out the game by the 3rd or 4th time you play it. I am comparing it a little to the original PAC-MAN games but the original games had depth. Maybe if the game at D&B gave out a certain amount of coupons for completing certain tasks then that can make me play more. At least I can give more credit to the game if it added any combination of my suggestions. I believe other people may agree with some of my suggestions.
@Steve – I agree that the game could have done with achievements and progressive game play. Its a real shame but with the older development houses the details of what makes strong amusement play have to be relearned.
I was wondering if the game had been created as a app game with a amusement life? Also it felt like they may have been a video-redemption idea originally?
I completely agree that the gameplay is very lacking in Pac Man Battle Royale. It’s more of a game of luck since the power pellets are randomly placed on the maze and most of the time the person closest to the power pellet is the one who wins the round. I really hope that Namco offers an upgrade kit or comes out with a newer version to fix the unbalanced game play and offer a more challenging game rather than just simply eating your opponent.
It’s funny since the first time I played the game, I instantly thought this game would be ideal at a D&B location. Basically it’s a “party” type game and considering that most D&B patrons go there to drink and get drunk with friends this is the perfect combination. I can just seem a bunch of drunk friends continously swiping their power play card over and over again.
Actually it can be set by the operator for anywhere between 3-9 rounds. I have heard that many operators are putting it at 3 for some reason – I myself have set mine to 7 and people seem to like that a bit.
Has anyone played Pac-Man Championship Edition on xbox live arcade, DS, PSP or iOS/Android device? Now that’s a game that was well worthy of being a dedicated arcade game. Even considering it’s already out for the home/consumer market, I think this would still do well in the arcades.