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'Next evolution' of Pac-Man premiering at E3

Namco Bandai will debut new console, mobile, and arcade titles featuring the spherical pellet-muncher; ex-Marvel CEO Avi Arad to unveil mystery project.

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With the Electronic Entertainment Expo just over a month away, various game companies are scheduling a series of press events. Following Project Natal's June 13 premiere, Microsoft's and Ubisoft's June 14 media briefings, Namco Bandai will hold an evening gathering following and Sony's and Nintendo's press conferences on June 15.

The Japanese publisher's soiree has a threefold purpose. First, it is to celebrate the 30th birthday of the first arcade game to feature Namco's iconic Pac-Man. A presentation will look back on the character's pop-culture influence, including the Pac-Man craze that swept the US in the early 1980s. GameSpot also recenty debuted its own video retrospective on the Pac-Man phenomenon (see below) as part of Video Game History Month.

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Secondly, and more importantly to those under 30, Namco will be using the event to unveil the "next evolution" of Pac-Man. The glimpse of the "future of the franchise" will include a look at "unreleased titles on console, mobile, arcade, and more." No more specific details were offered, but the invite to the event (pictured above) hints at a radical makeover of the spherical pellet-muncher. The last major non-mobile Pac-Man title was 2007's Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox Live Arcade. The last all-new game to feature the character was 2006's critically drubbed racer Pac-Man World Rally.

Lastly, Namco Bandai's event will be where former Marvel CEO Avi Arad will "offer insight into the worldwide premiere of his newest Pac-Man project." Though it's unclear what exactly the project is, Arad has been a prolific producer of movies and televisions shows over the past two decades. He is currently developing films based on Mass Effect, Lost Planet, and Uncharted.

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brian_13un

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Hope he looks good in this one

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XXXJOHNY

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NARUTO ULTIMATE NINJA STORM 2 PLZZZZZZZ

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DrEvilKoala

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@Iamshmee That would actually be... AMAZING! Why the hell aren't you working as a game designer? You could be earning millions right now. MILLIONS I TELL YOU! But in all seriousness, I'm actually pretty curious about what they have in store for us.

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Gamewako

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THE BEST PACMAN GAME EVAR: Pacman 2: The New Adventures! I @#$%ing HATE that game!

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AllDATanNsum

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I shot pac-man dead last week!

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deactivated-601c0fd238ca0

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Use Project Natal to munch the orbs yourself! In this newest installment you become Pacman yourself! The game comes with a giant Pacman style suit, and a mouth extension so you control the action!!! (warning: mouth piece may have cause cancer or an allergic affect.) (processed in a factory that also processes:peanuts, lead-based paints, and oxy-clean.) R.I.P Billy Mays~

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garrett_daniels

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Hopefully this isn't another Bomberman: Act Zero...

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garrett_daniels

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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cytheh

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i guess... with the new 3d technology, we will just eating Spheres instead of Dots. how ever the idea may be fun (like in 3ds or ps3 with 3d googles). Imagine, instead of running around in a 2d maze, you run in a cubic 3d maze that comes out of the screen. But i think pac man needs more power ups, i mean just few bigger peas that makes you able to eat ghost for a few seconds is not enough as gameplay element now a days...

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abbiegator

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Pacman brought back by Google then EA? Winner.

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PKA34000

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thank you gaming gods for giving back our favorite munching yellow sphere

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riou7

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riou7  Moderator

Pacman forevaar!!

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grasshopper6

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hopefully it'll look good and not retarded to keep up with fashion

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Glade_Gnarr

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I know they're going to turn pacman into a werewolf. No really, what can they do with a ball that eats more balls?

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baseballfan15

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Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 with Co-op, Versus mode, Map creator, Character Customization, and Natal Integration.

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KillerWabbit23

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Please let it not be another Pac-Man World game.

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Quietpower09

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Hooray for Pacman!! :D

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1blackone

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They better not try to pull a fast one on us and re-release that quasi-3D Pac-Man game from 12 years ago where you could jump and down into different tiers of a large maze. But more likely it'll be an announcement that they bought the movie rights from Crystal. Sadly, i can already foresee it being a "The Running Man" and "Rollerball" mashup. Josh Hartnett will be Pac. Zoe Saldana Ms. Pac. The movie industry just craps them out like that....

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SadPSPAddict

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Go Pacman :lol:

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ahpuck

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Pac-Man 3D!

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Flint247

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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XanderZane

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I liked Pac-man back in the 80's, but I'm pretty Pac-man'd out right about now. It would have to be something revolutionary for me to take interest. I would rather Namco give us more new IP's honestly. There are old games I'd like to see remade (Kid Icarus, Mystic Marathon, Major Havoc and even Marble Madness), but Pac-man has been done to death.

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kirby456

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I loved Pac-Man World on the Playstation, it was a fun platforming twist on the formula I know and love. Pac-Man World 2 was even better than it's predecessor in every way by incorporating new elements (Ice Skating, a fully 3-D explorable environment, etc.), and keeping what made the first one such a hit. Everything kinda went down-hill with Pac-Man World 3, it tried to hard to be funny, and there was way too much pellets to collect (Try finding and eating 1000 pellets in one stage...seriously). Plus Pac-Man spoke. I know he can talk, but I prefer him as the silent protagonist. I just hope this new evolution is really good, a new platform game most likely in the same style as Pac-Man World 1 and 2. At least, that's what I hope... Maybe they'll do a remake of Pac-Man World, kinda like what they tried to do with Klonoa last year by remaking his first game for Wii...maybe

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Land-0-Funk

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Always come back to the awesome gameplay of Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man..but I only find it fun if it has arcade controls and the always important speed hack. Just doesnt have the same control when playing with a gamepad or cellphone.

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pete_merlin

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Pacman with a sword?

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Units420

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I absolutely love the folks calling Pac Man old, asking to stop rehashing old stuff and give us new games. Because more likely than not, these are the same people who drool at the latest FPS, which is usually a rehash of stuff that came before....unreal!!

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Dorgoth12

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imagine Pac-Man beefed up like steroids to look like Marcus Fenix, growing synthetic limbs to use like Rayman and then carry some huge bazookas like in Worms and we have the future of Pac-Man.

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AuronAXE

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Their going to make a full-fledged serious game, with Pac-Man as some normal citizen who gets blackmailed by the government into arming terrorists and ends up in jail...now, he's coming back for revenge..but first he has to go through 99 floors of the jail, collecting keys and dodging the guards.

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capedshadow7

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I'm with you helldews. I hope Tales of Graces appears in their presentation (likely or not).

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Mickleohb

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Pacman movie!

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HawkEye1997

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@ everyone on gamespot whether you're a user or not The last sentence says he is currently developing films based on Mass Effect, Lost Planet, and Uncharted. UNCHARTED LOST PLANET AND MASS EFFECT MOVI FTW!!

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Halloll

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pacman fps

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user_93475765

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Considering the horrors of last gen's ill-conceived Pac-Man makeovers, I'm expecting something... indescribably awful. The Pac-Man game mechanic has been outdated since the late '80s; continuing to cling to the "character" is a recipe for... well, hilariously bad games.

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Kontax

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Pacman,tetris,space invaders and many other arcade games have a special place in ALL gamers hearts(at least to those who play video games the last 15 years).I'd love to see pacman again :)

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BLaZe462

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exciting! oh, wait, nvm

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comb5

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They already tried to do 3D Pac-Man a few times. Maybe this time they'll actually do a good job.

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hakjie11

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I think it will be a "3D platformer" just like Mario Galaxy.

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madsnakehhh

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So, now it will be Pacman 3D?

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denicola_a_god

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cant wait to see i love pacman

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AngelCage-2

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on 1980 packman had no eyes... just a ball with a mouth that likes to eat fruit, ghosts and maybe he was a Junkie. Then he got Eyes... same eating habits, later he got a nose, hands and feets and even some boots to wear... but he keeps doind the same thing to live, die or get fun. on 2010 he will get: I don't know, a different color skin, pants and jacket and maybe hair to make him fully match with a 30 years old drug-addict fat guy who sees death people trying to eat him and the only way to survive is eat them first, who likes to eat fruit to keep a good health? Why they are trying to milk this one again?

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bsnimunf

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I will be interested in the moral choices pac-man has to make. Buying cheaper pills from the bad drug dealer, will encourage that drug dealers violent behavour for solving bad debt problems, this will have far reaching consequences as addicts in the world of Pac will be forced to rob negihbours to fuel their habits and Pac man himself may become a victim of robbery or violent crime. Will pacman show mercy to the criminal he is partly responsible for creating? will pacman grow horns if he makes bad choices? These are things we need to know Gamespot.

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ThAdEa82

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Now the pellets are made from whole grains instead of those high in carb pellets that made him blimp up to 3d

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reubthadude

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They are going to make him into a triangle instead of a sphere ha-ha This has sparked some curiousity..I have always been a fan. Bring back Earthworm JIM..random I KNOWWWWWW!

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Gelugon_baat

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A Pac-Man revision? I can't wait for more details! *Wakka-wakka-wakka-wakka*

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helldew

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we dont want pac man. we want tales of graces dammit. everything else is second rate at this point

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KrayzieJay

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If it's anything like Bomberman Act Zero, may god help us...

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Twin-Blade

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First person, horror/survival pac-man please.

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gamer082009

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Great another Pacman revision that will probably fail. Use the old formula and re-build from that. There must be something they can do that hasn't been done.

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MonkeyMan743

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I remember playing pacman....now that i read about it. Hes dead nowadays what whith all BBC2s and the CODs. He's a dinosaur, leave him in extinction for crying out loud!!!

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acer_062

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You've got to be kidding me!!!!!!!!!

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