Microsoft and Namco Bandai Games have unveiled the first new Pac-Man mazes in more than twenty-six years with the Pac-Man Championship Edition. The game will be available on the Xbox Live exclusively for the Xbox 360. The announcement comes at a time when Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani has decided to retire to spend more time teaching the next generation of game designers at Tokyo Polytechnic University.
Toru Iwatani said, “The designer of Tetris was not from the industry. He was a scientist. For someone thinking outside of the industry, they can have a fresh new idea. I wanted to stay with the original simple rules of Pac Man.”
Pac-Man Championship Edition will feature innovative mazes that dynamically change shape during gameplay, six new timed game modes, new soundtracks and high-definition (HD) graphics. The game will also have the usual Xbox Live stuff like leaderboards, Achievements and Gamerscore. Here are the details of the new modes in Pac-Man Championship Edition:
The Championship Mode. This is the main game mode designed by NAMCO BANDAI Games and Iwatani specifically for the championship round of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. This mode – as well as all others within the “Pac-Man Championship Edition” – features redesigned mazes with wide maze walls and a widescreen configuration to better enable high-speed game play. Timed limit of five minutes.
Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course). This mode is an evolution of the Championship Mode. Patience mazes strategically offer fewer Power Pellets and Reward mazes provide a large number of Power Pellets – providing unique challenges and rewards for the player. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course). In this mode, only the area directly around Pac-Man and the Ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. Timed limit of 10 minutes.
Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course). An extremely high-speed mode for advanced players, this mode features warp-speed Pac-Man and Ghosts and plenty of tunnels. Timed limit of five minutes.
Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course). A mode inspired by the streets of Manhattan — the home for the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. Timed limit of five minutes.
Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course). A mix of all other modes resulting in extreme mazes for the most devout Pac-Man fans. Timed limit of 10 minutes
Pac-Man Championship Edition will be available for download from today and will cost 800 Microsoft Points. It seems that Xbox 360 gamers will have something really cool to play as the new features in the game look very interesting.
