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Pac-Man (universe): Difference between revisions
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''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over four decades, with many remakes and sequels released on numerous platforms. This is not to mention the influx of unauthorized ''Pac-Man'' clones that took place soon after the original release, nor of the ill-fated port of the game for the Atari 2600 (which ironically was a contributing factor to the infamous North American {{s|wikipedia|1983 video game crash}}, due to underpowered hardware and rushed development leading to poor sales and an oversaturated market). | ''Pac-Man'' became one of few games to have been consistently published for over four decades, with many remakes and sequels released on numerous platforms. This is not to mention the influx of unauthorized ''Pac-Man'' clones that took place soon after the original release, nor of the ill-fated port of the game for the Atari 2600 (which ironically was a contributing factor to the infamous North American {{s|wikipedia|1983 video game crash}}, due to underpowered hardware and rushed development leading to poor sales and an oversaturated market). | ||
One such unauthorized clone, a modification titled ''Crazy Otto'' developed by General Computer Corporation, received attention from Midway, who subsequently | One such unauthorized clone, a modification titled ''Crazy Otto'' developed by General Computer Corporation, received attention from Midway, who subsequently licensed the game as an "official" ''Pac-Man'' sequel. With some changes to the character design, ''Crazy Otto'' became ''Ms. Pac-Man'', which garnered a great deal of success of its own due to its improvements over the original title. Despite its development happening without Namco's consent, the company approved of the character, received the rights to the property, and subsequently included the feminine take on ''Pac-Man'' in various ''Pac-Man'' compilations and ports. However, a series of legal and financial battles between Namco and several parties — primarily General Computer Corporation, its successors, and the company currently licensing from them, AtGames — have led to a dispute over who truly owns the character and who is owed royalties. This has resulted in a complete erasure of Ms. Pac-Man in recent years, with products featuring her being pulled from stores and different characters replacing her in re-releases. | ||
As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves — an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This design was first seen in-game in the 1984 title ''Pac-Land'', in part to tie in with a [[wikipedia:Pac-Man (TV series)|Hanna-Barbera animated series]] about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. ''Pac-Land'' is an innovative title in itself as one of the first side-scrolling platform games, and one of the first games to include {{s|wikipedia|parallax scrolling}}. It is considered a major foundation for later platformers, codified by 1985's ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' | As the series progressed with continued releases that explored different genres, the iconic yellow wedge shape that ordinarily defined the title character onscreen was phased out for a design closer to his appearance on the promotional artwork printed on the arcade machines themselves — an abstract, spherical humanoid with rudimentary limbs and a massive face with a stick-like nose that varied in length between appearances. This design was first seen in-game in the 1984 title ''Pac-Land'', in part to tie in with a [[wikipedia:Pac-Man (TV series)|Hanna-Barbera animated series]] about Pac-Man that ran for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. ''Pac-Land'' is an innovative title in itself as one of the first side-scrolling platform games, and one of the first games to include {{s|wikipedia|parallax scrolling}}. It is considered a major foundation for later platformers, codified by 1985's ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' | ||