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Pac-Man is 45 years old in 2025, and series owner Bandai Namco has a big old shindig planned to distract the ravenous yellow circle from the slowly encroaching spectre of death. The publisher has outlined a ‘year-long celebration’ to commemorate Pac-Man’s anniversary, hosting numerous events around the world and, er, releasing a cookbook.
According to a press release, the celebrations are planned to run through 2025 and into early next year, running along the theme of ‘imPACt’, whatever that means. This will include live events occurring across the next few months, such as a “special display” showcased at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, which runs from April 30 through June 4 this year. Moreover, the Great Park Gallery in Irvine, California will host a “Pac-Man retrospective exhibition” starting in May and concluding in late September.
While I’m always up for a videogame exhibition, I’m more intrigued by the “Pac-Man live experience”. This is partly because it’s happening more locally to me, hosted in the UK at Manchester’s Arcade Arena. But it also sounds like it’s basically giant Pac-Man, with participants able to “step into a life-sized interactive maze for a fun, multi-sensory adventure.” In my head, I imagine this as gobbling up sugar cubes while being occasionally chased by men dressed as ghosts, but presumably there will be more to it than that.
The celebrations aren’t limited to live events. Bandai Namco is partnering with Club América to offer a “limited number” of Pac-Man branded football shirts, and is also working with Insight Editions to publish an official Pac-Man cookbook. Yes, you read that correctly.
The press release is light on information on the cookbook front, simply asking, “Ever wonder what a Ghost or Power Pellet tastes like?” (See the previous paragraph for my answer to the latter.) However, the book has a store page over on bookshop.org, which provides a few extra details. The cookbook will apparently feature “a maze of imaginative recipes” for “energy-filled snacks” and “super-filling dinners”. I’m mildly intrigued to see how they stretch this concept beyond two hundred pages of yellow pizzas, which Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani has intermittently claimed to be the inspiration for Pac-Man’s design. Bizarrely, the cover art features no pizzas whatsoever, but does represents Pac-Man’s ghosts, cherries, and, er, a random burger. If you’re desperate to discover the recipe for Pac-Man’s iconic quarter pounder, the book launches May 13.
Naturally, Bandai’s upcoming game Shadow Labyrinth also ties into the festivities. The bizarre Pac-Man action platformer was originally unveiled at last year’s Game Awards, and sees players exploring a destroyed world with the aid of a yellow orb named Puck who can “consume darkness.” Bandai Namco hasn’t shared any new info on Shadow Labyrinth as yet, but promises more details on this weird spin on the arcade classic “in the coming months”.
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Kurt Indovina
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