It’s been far too long since Pac-Man has been in the spotlight.  No one would argue that the little yellow ghost avoider/hunter is the Babe Ruth of gaming, but with the exception of Pac-Man Championship Edition, he and his cast of characters have been largely ignored for the better part of two decades.  With Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary approaching, Namco Bandai and Hirokazu Yasuhara are looking to do something about it.

"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 and COO Makoto Iwai in an interview with Gamasutra, adding, "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."  Hirokazu is most well known as one of the creators of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, and, more recently, as a game designer for the Jak series and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. 

It warms the heart to see some attention being paid to gaming’s original superstar, and I can’t wait to see what Namco Bandai comes up with.  It also makes me happy to see the project in hands as capable as Hirokazu’s.  It makes me miserable, however, to think that I’ve been playing Pac-Man for 30 damn years.  I am ancient.

[image source]

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