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Namco releases single-level Pac-Man Battle Royale iPad demo
To help boost anticipation for its upcoming multiplayer arcade title Pac-Man Battle Royale for the billions of people who haven't played it at various gaming industry events, Namco America has dropped a brief demo for the game on the iPad App Store. The free trial lets two to four players play simultaneously, gobbling up pellets, ghosts and each other -- unfortunately, the thing only lasts for a single stage. We know! How unsatisfying. After the demo, players are whisked away to the Pac-Man Battle Royale Facebook fan page, where they can look on an interactive map to find out where the game's nearest arcade machine is located. Now, if it were only capable of also tracking down three like-minded Pac-Fans in our area, we'd really be in business.
Pac-Man Battle Royale now shipping to US arcades
Great news for people who live anywhere near an arcade in the US: Distributor BMI Gaming is now shipping the wonderful Pac-Man Battle Royale to American arcade operators. When we played Battle Royale at E3, our sheer delight was tainted by sadness, as we figured that many of you would never get to experience this game if it only saw a limited Japanese release. While this isn't the home version we so dearly want, even the slightest possibility of being able to play this four-player Pac-vs.-Pac game is enough to put a smile on our faces. Arcade Heroes reports that the $4275 price tag for the cocktail-style cabinet is low relative to other new-release arcade games, meaning that arcade operators will have an incentive to choose Battle Royale over other games. And that's good for everyone except the first three Pac-Men we meet in our local arcade.
Preview: Pac-Man Battle Royale
Pac-Man Battle Royale is a delight and a danger. The Joystiq staff's encounter with the four-player arcade game, encapsulated in a classy cocktail cabinet standing at a comfortable height, threatened to derail our E3 coverage with its addictive mixture of nostalgia, playful rivalry and recognizable mechanics. We suspect that Namco Bandai's insistence on making this an arcade system stems from the fact that you can impulsively handcuff yourself to the machine. The shared, upward-facing screen in the table also makes it a very social experience. Surrounded by four joysticks (and, in our case, four Joystiqs), Pac-Man's maze becomes a playground for several differently colored and apparently cannibalistic Pac-people. Eating all the dots and food in a section of the maze will cause a new sequence to appear, and once this happens there's a mad rush for the new power pellets. It makes pathfinding and avoiding ghosts in the maze feel especially pressing. Once you've gobbled up a pellet (and you're rarely the only one to do so in any given moment) your Pac-protagonist grows to enormous size. You're able to eat ghosts as usual, but you can also devour any of your fellow players. The mega Pac-Man is slightly faster than the regular one, making your victim an easy snack if he can't quickly lose you in the maze. Giants can't eat each other, however, and bounce away when they come into contact. That sounds harmless, but there's a risk of getting bumped back into a ghost just as your invincible size wears off. Much like Pac-Man Championship Edition and Pac-Man Vs., Battle Royale is another clever, colorful twist on one of gaming's most comforting icons. It's going to be great fun in bars -- and if Namco Bandai doesn't release a home version on XBLA or PSN, people will start to think of us as hardcore alcoholics. Just one more round, please.
