All Articles: Pac-Man

This is Bud Light’s “Real Life Pac-Man” Super Bowl XLIX commercial… and it is awesome

Budweiser isn’t waiting for Super Bowl XLIX to debut the next commercial in their “#UpForWhatever” series… and that’s alright with me. Titled “Real Life Pac-Man,” the commercial hands a giant quarter to a random Bud Light drinker and then drops it (and him) into the coin slot of life-sized simulation of the greatest arcade game of all time. There’s neon aplenty, pulsating techno music, and it looks like a good time was had by all.

I know it’s too early, but I think we may have already found the best commercial from this year’s Super Bowl.

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Pac-Man is a finalist for the National Toy Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013

strongtoyhalloffamefinalists-13The National Toy Hall of Fame, which is part of the National Museum of Play at The Strong, has announced the 12 finalists that are up for induction this year. Two toys will be selected as part of the class of 2013 and the classic ghost-chomper Pac-Man is among the contenders.

Pac-Man will be competing against bubbles, Chess, Clue, Fisher-Price Little People, Little Green Army Men, Magic 8 Ball, My Little Pony, Nerf toys, the Rubber Ducky, scooters, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line for the right to be called a Hall of Famer. A national committee will choose the two inductees, which will be announced during a special ceremony on November 7.

If Pac-Man makes the cut, it will join Nintendo’s Game Boy (2009) and the Atari 2600 (2007) as the only other representatives of the video game industry in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

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Nintendo Download: Tank! Tank! Tank! Free-To-Play, Mega Man, Pac-Man, more

megaman-nes-boxThe Wii U’s Virtual Console expands by two today as Nintendo has added the NES games Mega Man and Pac-Man to their next-generation gaming time machine. The 3DS Virtual Console also expands today thanks to the addition of Balloon Fight.

Another re-release makes the Wii U eShop a more interesting place today: the free-to-play version of Namco Bandai’s Tank! Tank! Tank! The game was originally released as a disc-based game in November. The new free-to-play version will offer the “base game” as a free download with the remainder of the modes and missions available as ten separate pieces of downloadable content.

If you’d prefer something new from your Wii U shopping experience, Neko Entertainment has published the puzzle platformer Kung Fu Rabbit on the Wii U eShop.

More information on all of these games, and other new releases this week, can be found after the break. (more…)

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“The Art of Video Games” opens in March at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Starting March 16th, the Smithsonian American Art Museum will be showcasing the forty year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on visual effects and technology. It will feature some of the most influential artists and designers in the industry, and games for twenty gaming systems.

Chris Melissinos, the curator of the exhibition, worked with the public and an advisory group of people from varying fields within the video game industry to select the 80 games included in the exhibition.

Five games will be featured to show player interaction with virtual worlds, and highlight design innovations that set the standards for the games that came after them. These games are Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and Flower.

The exhibition will start with “Game Fest”, a three-day festival which will feature panel discussions, movie screenings, and live bands.

“The Art of Video Games” will run from March 16th through September 30th, and will travel to ten cities in the US following it’s presentation in Washington DC. For more information, visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s web site.

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