Here are some never before seen images of an exhibit that ran back in 2010 for the 30th Anniversary of Pac-Man. The gallery, originally held at 3331 Arts Chiyoda just outside of Akihabara, Japan, showcased absolutely everything imaginable featuring the little Namco mascot we know and love.

Hit the jump below to see a full gallery of items Pac-Man related, such as pens, pencilboxes, games, shirts, cabinets, and much much more. READ ON »

If you’re into jewelry or accessories or anything like that (we’re not, but hey…), you might be interested in the adorable, hand-made Pac Man bracelet. The bracelet has, which you might expect, Pac Man eating and ghosts chasing him in a never-ending circle. If you’re into these kinds of things, you can get the bracelet here for $25.

Retro gamers (who happen to own an iPhone/iPod touch) rejoice! Namco Bandai has just let us know that Pac-Man Championship Edition has just been put up on the App Store for $2.99.

Included in Pac-Man Championship Edition is a timed Championship Mode with 5 coures (10 more available through DLC) and a Mission Mode with 20 missions (100 more through DLC). I don’t even need to say anything about the gameplay as if you don’t know what Pac-Man is like, you probably aren’t even reading this.

If you’re looking to pick this up you better do so fast as the $2.99 price point is just an introductory sale.

via appshopper

Pac-Man made its debut almost 30 years ago in 1980 and has seen countless remakes and variations ever since. However, despite being on the market for so long gamers are still working tirelessly to smash previous world records for the game.

The latest record set forth by David Race managed to get to level 256 while collecting every piece of fruit and pill in just 3 hours, 41 minutes and 22 seconds. This is 42 seconds faster than the previous record of 3 hours, 42 minutes and 4 seconds.

So folks, Mr. Race now claims the top Pac-Man spot. What have you done with your life?

via kotaku

If you ever wondered what a hybrid of Pac-Man and Katamari Damacy might look like, then you need look no farther than Bandai-Namco’s newest bizarre action title for the WIi, The Munchables.

In The Munchables, you’re part of a race of fuzzy little critters that inhabits the planet Star Ving, in which said critters do nothing but eat on a series of peaceful islands interconnected by rainbows.  You may wonder how critters that do nothing but eat can actually survive in their ecosystem–that’s thanks to the Legendary Orbs, gigantic stone structures that vaguely resemble…pudding?  I think that’s pudding.  But I’m terrified that it might be something much, much more disgusting.  Anyway, the Legendary Orbs generate a nonstop supply of food for the critters on the islands, and all is high-calorie heaven until a race of aliens shows up and steals the Legendary Orbs so that they too can become superpowerful monstrousities. All would be lost until one of the critters notices that, hey…these aliens, these “space pirates” as they’re called…look an awful lot like food.  And so, in what may be the single lowest point in interstellar diplomacy since Douglas Adams’ microscopic space fleet was inadvertently swallowed by a small dog, the Star Vingians proceed to eat their invaders.

And that is where you come in.  You’ll steer one of two Star Vingians around, eating anything that even vaguely looks edible and occasionally jumping.  If you find a food monster that is bigger than your mouth (you can tell by noting the “level” of both your character and the character you’re about to chow down on) you’ll have to attack it first to break it into smallish, bite-sized pieces.  Attacking boss characters is slightly more complex than this, however, and requires attacking weak points that will be clearly labelled for you.

As you grow in level, you’ll also PHYSICALLY grow–picture Katamari Damacy in which you don’t push the Katamari, but rather, you ARE the Katamari.  The control scheme is very simple, requiring the nunchuk to move your character around and a couple buttons on the Wiimote to perform the rest of your functions.  It’s also a fairly fun title.  Chowing down on the various enemies and swelling in size is an admittedly visceral thrill, but sometimes, the fun gets a little…strange.  See, at the end of every round, all that food you’ve eaten has to go somewhere…and where it goes…well, this is actually really creepy.  Your character will execute a one hundred eighty degree turn, visibly strain, and…spew a pile of sparkly multicolored orbs from its lower rear quadrant DIRECTLY onto an elderly onion.  Who will in turn seem very happy about this development, and assign you a letter grade based on how deep a pile of sparkly orbs you’ve landed him in.

I thought it was some kind of weird caffeine hallucination the first time I saw it, but then sure enough, the next round I’m burying an elderly onion in a pile of spherical dookie all over again.  And he’s happy about it.

This aside, The Munchables is a surprisingly fun title with some decent humor, graphics and gameplay.  it may not be a great long-term value but in the short term it almost certainly won’t disappoint.  A terrific rental, and possibly even a good buy, The Munchables is plenty tasty.

However annoying all of the invites are, I think one of the coolest features added to Facebook was the plethora of games that you can play right in the browser for free.

Well, it looks Namco is strolling down a different path recently announcing thtat they are now offering Facebook versions of PAC-MAN and DIG-DUG. Sounds peachy, right? Wrong!

Not only is a download required for these games, you have to pay for them if you want to play past the first 2 levels. Bogus? Yes. $10 for ancient games you can play for free elsewhere? No thanks.

via (Joystiq)

According to this Gamasutra report, Sonic co-creator Hirokazu Yasuhara is working on a new Pac-man game.

"We are in the midst of making Pac-Man come back because his 30th anniversary is in 2010 actually," said Namco Bandai Games America EVP Makoto Iwai. "As a group, we feel like we should do something to make him come back. So, there’s one project that we started working on, and [Yasuhara is] part of it."

Iwai mentioned that the company’s internal development team was split into several groups following the release of Afro Samurai. One of those divisions was tasked with the Pac-man game and is being led by Yasuhara.