Today is a very special day, as one of the elder statesmen of gaming, Pac-Man, turns 40. Whether or not you were around during the birth of “Pac-Man Fever,” the little yellow guy has reached levels of fame only seen by other icons like Mario. Pac-Man is known all over the world and has been on basically every form of gaming device since his debut. To celebrate this occasion, Amazon Games and Bandai Namco have teamed up for something very unique: Pac-Man Live Studio.
I’ve got a fever…
Pac-Man Live Studio will be available for free for all Twitch users sometime this June. The game runs out of Twitch itself in your browser and will give you access to a few different game modes. Studio Maze Creator lets you create your own Pac-Man mazes that can then be played by others, Endless mode is a four-player score attack mode, and Classic lets you play the original 1980 classic.
Pac-Man will also be celebrating his birthday in some other ways as well. Starting today in Minecraft, you will be able to play the original arcade classic in-game through some new DLC. Also, the folks at Arcade 1Up have released a special 40th anniversary arcade cabinet that is available now on their website. Lastly, Bandai Namco has announced that some new Pac-Man games are in development for late 2020. But that was all the information we were given as far as that goes.
… and the only prescription is more Pac-Man
It is great to see such a beloved mascot of gaming still going strong all these years later and speaks to the power of games, regardless of how old you are. Whether your first gaming experience was in a dimly lit arcade, or if it was at home with your first-ever home console, Pac-Man has always been there in some way, shape, or form. It is a safe bet to say that wherever gaming goes, Pac-Man won’t be far behind. Probably preceded by “Waka Waka”…
