Nothing new on XBLA this week ... but there is Ms. Pac-Man

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jan 8th 2007 at 8:25PM }

Everything old is "classic" news now, with the Gamerscore blog revealing this week's Xbox Live Arcade release to be Ms. Pac-Man. Though many insist that it's far superior to the original Pac-Man, is it really different enough to warrant its own Wednesday release slot? In fact, wasn't it a free launch title for the original Xbox Live Arcade? Perhaps if we received the miss before (or instead of) the man, it wouldn't come across as just another hurdle to be leapt over in the race to fresher content.

Not to incite the pellet-munching hordes, but it seems that both Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo's Virtual Console regularly get the terms "old" and "classic" confused. We don't want all of the old games again, we want the best ones. True enough, not everyone agrees on what makes a quality arcade title, but taking greater care in choosing them in the first place would greatly enhance the lineups of both services. A true classic is something you'll pick up and play right this second, with nary a thought about graphics, sound or age -- and there aren't as many of those as you might think.

In those respects, perhaps Ms. Pac-Man is a classic. However, its familiar trappings don't demand an immediate 400 point ($5) purchase, especially not with Pac-Man already sitting on the same service and Worms being pushed away another 7 days. Games like this and New Rally-X only dilute the XBLA experience and a quick succession of them could steadily lead to more and more apathy.

Hell, it's not even that hard to defeat apathy. It just kind of lies there.

Tags: Ms. Pac-Man, Ms.Pac-man, MSFT, Virtual Console, VirtualConsole, XBLA, Xbox Live Arcade, XboxLiveArcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike @ Jan 8th 2007 8:29PM

I didn't see a co-author listed. Who is "we?" Are you pregnant or schizophrenic?

Tom @ Jan 8th 2007 8:35PM

Darn,I know i was being foolish,but I had high hopes they would get us worms earlier that ANYONE though.Heres hopeing "soon" means next week:)

Imadogg @ Jan 8th 2007 8:35PM

He means "we" as in "Ludwig and Imadogg."

Crazylink @ Jan 8th 2007 9:43PM

Oh so now you guys use Serious Cat? What's with all the 4chan memes.

Bipedal @ Jan 8th 2007 9:49PM

That's what I'm wondering. Anonymous might have to drop a raid on your asses. Enough with the stolen memes.

Jeff @ Jan 8th 2007 10:01PM

"In those respects, perhaps Ms. Pac-Man is a classic. However, its familiar trappings don't demand an immediate 400 point ($5) purchase"

Nor do *any* of the "classic" games on XBLA or any other service. None of these are *necessary* in the strict sense of the word, even to a gamer. Most of us already own these games in one form or another, sometimes for several systems. And like it or not, a lot of us probably have the MAME rom, which really *is* the original game, after all. (Heck, some of us probably have the original cabinet.) Personally, I don't much see the point in buying any of these games again. But then, that's just me.

But I don't see how Ms. Pac-Man is any less worthy than any other title on XBLA. It is most definitely a classic, and yes, it is a distinct game from Pac-Man. It has significant differences, the biggest of which is probably the inclusion of more than one game map. I suppose it's worth noting that it's so distinct, that it's not even technically part of the Pac-Man series. It was developed by an American company, GCC, under the name "Crazy Otto". They sold it to Midway, who converted it to Ms. Pac-Man. Midway only sold it to Namco after the fact to avoid getting sued. Namco had nothing to do with this game - it is actually one of the earliest cases of major video game copyright infringement. The fact that it's actually better than the original is something of a marvel, and the story behind the game just clinches its classic status.

Jonah Falcon @ Jan 8th 2007 10:07PM

Note to Joystiq: Ms. Pac-Man wasn't exactly free. You had to pay $4.95 for shipping and handling of the arcade disc.

miguelon @ Jan 8th 2007 10:45PM

Damn!! that cat is mean

LordMinogue @ Jan 8th 2007 10:45PM

Bring back X-Com: UFO Defense!!!

stiq of joy @ Jan 8th 2007 10:53PM

I am really disappointed with xbox live arcade. I have a ps3 and xbox 360 and the ps3 has tekken 5, gripsift, gran turismo. Wii has mario and all the classics i grew up on and xbox live has pacman and rally x. come on, i want games that are larger than 50 megs also. plus xbox arcade only gets 1 release a week and most of the time its an old boring title.

C8M @ Jan 8th 2007 10:55PM

Ms. Pac-Man is the best selling arcade machine of all time and this Joystiq blogger is questioning whether it is a "classic." The word clueless comes to mind. Comparing Ms. Pac-Man to Rally-X is really laughable.

Ms. Pac-Man will outsell Worms by a large margin. Ms. Pac-Man is still incredibly popular, Worms has never been a big seller. I could understand someone not wanting to pay $5 for Pac-Man since it is only 1 maze, but Ms. Pac-Man is a much bigger game with loads of mazes. Of all the games Namco has released on XBLA so far, (Pac-Man, Rally-X, Dig Dug, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man) Ms. Pac-Man is probably the only one that is actually worth $5.

Also I don't understand how someone can say they want fresher content and then lament not getting Worms. Worms is not fresh content. Worms was mildly popular back in the early to mid-90s. Truthfully Worms was never popular in America especially compared to a true classic like Ms. Pac-Man.

Also I want to remind you that Ms. Pac-man will easily outsell all of the original XBLA games that came out last quarter (Roboblitz, Novadrome, Small Arms, Assault Heroes, etc.) Hearing these no-name games are on the service does not interest people. Look at the top 10 selling games on XBLA courtesy of Major Nelson:

1 **UNO**
2 **Street Fighter II**
3 Geometry Wars Evolved
4 Marble Blast Ultra
5 **PAC-MAN**
6 **DOOM**
7 **Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3**
8 **GALAGA**
9 **Gauntlet**
10 **Frogger**

The best selling games on XBLA are not the original games. 8 out of the top 10 are classic game franchises. The best selling games on XBLA are games like Ms. Pac-Man.

konajinx @ Jan 8th 2007 11:31PM

Quitcher bitchin, Joystiq. Ms. Pac-Man pwnz. Not worth 400 points when the subpar Pac-Man is sitting there? "Perhaps" it's a classic? Now I've seen it all. The only apathy I detect is your own.

LaughingMan @ Jan 8th 2007 11:33PM

I have no problem with old arcade games for the XBLA. But could we move past the early early games and maybe put some more interesting stuff on first like Rush N' Attack and Double Dragon? It's kind of frustrating to get only one a week (maybe) and when we do get it, it pales in comparison to some of the other cooler stuff that is comming down the XBLA pipeline.

uglyteeth @ Jan 8th 2007 11:48PM

Does anyone know if it will have the sped up version that goes really fast? That's the only Ms. Pac Man I can play. The original seems soooo sloooooooow.

Virtua Fanboy @ Jan 8th 2007 11:57PM

Whaaaaaaa...Ms. Pacman is a good game and it's got a slot welcome in my 360 arcade. You know, Novadrome and Assault Heroes made me feel like I was 10 years old playing video games again...in the bad way. They were a COMPLETE waste of time. Some of these newer Xbox Live Arcade game are crap. (Just my opinion though.) Give me something proven. I do agree that $5 bucks is a bit much for 20+ year old games. I would be happy w/$2 or so.

I think that the only way to fix this problem w/arcade Wensday's is to release a new Small Arms type title and a Ms. Pacman type title every week. What do ya'll think?

tack @ Jan 9th 2007 2:07AM

no worms? and we get pac-man in drag? This sucks.

Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jan 9th 2007 5:56AM

Thanks, C8M, for reminding me that high sales = quality. Not everyone in the world has to agree that Ms. Pac-Man is a classic. I certainly don't. :)

DrunkPenguin @ Jan 9th 2007 9:48AM

Since I first heard of Pac-Man coming to XBLA I said to myself "That game is boring, I am going to wait and see if Ms. Pac-Man is going to be released, that game rocked." At last my patience has been rewarded. Ms. Pac-Man is the ultimate in classic gaming and I welcome it to XBLA with open arms and an open wallet.

ahatter @ Jan 9th 2007 10:17AM

@16 yeah i really had my heart set on worms.

JJRR @ Jan 9th 2007 12:37PM

I just have to say, that cat is ridiculously hilarious.

James @ Jan 9th 2007 2:50PM

Yeah it's kind of a bitch they don't release more games. One game a week is pretty sad especially if it's not something you are into. Rally-X is awful and should never have been put up. I like Pacman. DigDug and Frogger are pretty good but I would like to see more original and more modern games like Geometry Wars. I prefer twitch games or strategy/puzzle games on XBLA. I can't believe they don't even have a tetris clone yet. The prices are also a little high for everything. It should be $10 for Pacman, Digdug, Frogger, MsPacman, and Rally X. They would see WAY more sales. These classic games are fun but have little depth.

I think they need to start releasing the classic arcade games as a group because 1 a week is way to little. More modern games could be stand alone if they are good enough. The Xbox is OVER a year old now and the XBLA is looking a little thin. There are TONS of possible games to be released. There is a great handful of independent PC games over the past few years that could be released and hundreds of excellent arcade and console titles. The Wii will well overtake the Xbox 360 in no time for retro games if it hasn't already.

nick @ Jan 9th 2007 7:40PM

I've said this time and time again, it doesn't matter what is published on XBLA....someone will always complain about it. When Roboblitz came out, there were complaints. When UNO came out, there were complaints. When Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting came out there were complaints. Same with Contra. Same with Small Arms.

You can't please everyone. And you'll never please everyone.

Doesn't matter if it's classic or if it's a new property. Complain. Complain. Complain.

Too bad Microsoft doesn't drop the Wednesday release schedule, which is another complaint people seem to have.

Just release a couple of games simultaneously, both old and new, and let the customers decide.

Twist @ Jan 10th 2007 9:16AM

I do most agree with the "old" verses "classic" argument but I do have to say that Ms. Pac-Man is a "classic" while Pac-Man is just "old".

I was very disappointed with Sega's recent VC games announcement in which they announced that two out of five or six games where games that I had actually hear of (and I had only played one of them). I am all for getting every "old" game ever made available on these services but could we stop trying to make the mediocre games like Rally-X and Time Pilot into big releases? Also Microsoft this whole one game a week (give or take) thing is getting old. Flood the damn thing already.