Few toys in history are as iconic as LEGO. But the company’s latest partnership celebrates one of the few playthings worthy of that lofty status. LEGO’s newest collectible will let you build your own replica of a truly iconic game. The LEGO Icons Pac-Man Arcade Set will have you hungry to build a shrine to a legendary toy.

LEGO’s latest item recreates a vintage 1980s-style Pac-Man arcade cabinet. The 2,650-piece set, designed for ages 18+, measures 12.5-inches high, 10-inches wide, and 7-inches deep. It also comes with interactive pieces that give it the kind of vibrancy and energy you’d have if you were standing in an arcade with your middle-school friends on a Friday night.

The collection comes with “colorful brick versions” of Pac-Man, Blinky, and Clyde that rotate on a base that you can display either on top of the cabinet or on its own. Once you’re finished putting the whole thing together there’s also a coin-slot that lights up. The collectible also includes a “small vignette of a female minifigure playing Pac-Man” on a tiny Pac-Man machine herself. And finally, the back of the plastic brick replica also opens up so you can see the inner-workings. (Thats also where you can safely store the mini vignette.)

LEGO announced the set on the same day Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (nee Namco) originally release Pac-Man in 1980. You won’t have to wait 43 years to get this version of the game, though.

The LEGO Icons Pac-Man Arcade Set will be available on June 1 to LEGO VIP members. Everyone else can grab theirs ($269.99) from LEGO.com and in LEGO Stores starting on June 4. Well, you can so long as a ghost doesn’t get you first. That goes for a video ghost or a plastic one. Because after four decades those hungry specters are finding new ways to torment us.

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Listen here, nerds; gaming discourse always seems to go in the same direction. Everyone always talks about the best characters, weapons, abilities, or levels; never do I hear a brave soul venture to discuss one of gaming’s most ubiquitous features. I, of course, am talking about the health bar—an often underappreciated work of art.

I’ve come across many health bars in my old, decrepit, mid-twenties age. There’s something to be said for games that are able to craft their own unique health bar creation. A health bar can be remarkable for many reasons, ranging from how well it represents the general aesthetic of the game, to how informative it is in regards to your health-related concerns, to sometimes for just how irresistibly bizarre, and goofy, it looks. 

Health bars have long wished to garner the respect they so rightly deserve. I—being the oh-so merciful ruler (i.e. the biggest nerd)—will oblige. Here are seven picks for health bars that are truly the epitome of remarkable. 

Super Mario Sunshine (2002)

Kicking off the list is a somewhat controversial title, since some consider it to be the black sheep of the mainline 3D Mario titles: Super Mario Sunshine. Not to get overly political or anything, but I’m an anti-summer and anti-beach person. Super Mario Sunshine is the rare exception to this rule. 

This includes the game’s pleasant-looking, sun-inspired health meter, which looks like the sort of cartoonish sketching you’d jot down in your textbooks as you try to brave through the perils of math class.

Resident Evil (1996)

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Resident Evil series, which is hardly a joyous or upbeat experience. While these kinds of games aren’t my cup of tea, the health bar of the Resident Evil franchise deserves praise for simply how unique it is. 

The game uses an ECG (electrocardiogram) to measure the status of your character; it’s the most appropriate thing that I’ve ever seen in anything. Like, nothing—not even the casting of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool—can hold a candle to this magnificent decision.

Pac-Man World Series (1999-2005)

Don’t tell anyone, but one of my core beliefs is that the Pac-Man World series deserves an HD remaster. There are plenty of aspects about this underrated platformer series I cherish deeply, including its simple health bar that makes me giggle with how perfect it is every time. 

Making a health bar that wasn’t based on the legendary pie design would’ve been an insult to our thick yellow boy, so this health bar is an example of when people do their one job and do it well.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (2003)

Is there anything more befitting of the sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea? With the remaster just recently being released, I got to thinking: Has any game ever used underwear as a main commodity as much as Battle for for Bikini Bottom? 

Before any nerds reference, like, some obscure Commodore 64 game, let’s just say it’s not every day you see underpants used to tally hit points.

Kingdom Hearts Series (2002-Present)

I’m not even going to attempt to begin to explain Kingdom Hearts, but I will say that the health bars serve, in a way, as the perfect symbolism for the convolutedness of the series. This monstrosity is actually kind of hilarious to look at.

The health bar also serves as one of the better visual representations of growth in an RPG that I can think of. Seeing your tiny wedge grow into an entity longer than the equator line is immensely satisfying. 

Spider-Man on GameBoy Advanced (2002)

Not only is Spider-Man my favorite character fictional character in existence, but I remember playing this game a ton. When my mom would drive me to school, I’d spend some time trying to beat whatever level I was stuck on; I swear the boss fight against Shocker was impossible.
The health bar came in the form of a literal red web that would see chunks of it disappear. Despite how arbitrary the amount of damage you took seemed, the thing was just plain rad.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day (2001)

This should be pretty self-explanatory for anyone that enjoys good things (i.e. chocolate, which is an extremely good thing). While a lot of the jokes and crudeness of Conker’s Bad Fur Day don’t exactly age well, the boldness and “how in the world is this game real?” sentiment of the game can’t be understated. 

Honestly, I’d put forth a bill to the senate to have more games use chocolate—or any number of other delectable treats—as their health bars. 

Originally published September 3, 2020.

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And the first two games are PAW Patrol and Pac-Man, of course!

Arcade1Up

According to the brand, the line is specifically meant for the tiniest of gamers. The junior-sized machines will be no taller than 36”. And they feature lightweight yet sturdy construction. Additionally, they state that their cabinets “are an ideal way to introduce your kids to the magic of the arcade experience you grew up with.”

Available in either the Pac-Man or PAW Patrol format, the cabinets are vibrant enough to entice the youngest members of your family. However, keep in mind that these are designed for kids ages 4 to 8. So your toddler may have to wait a couple of years.

And by the way, parents! If any of you are like me, you spend far too many hours yelling at instructions for a kid’s toy. So, you’re probably wondering if it would be worth the hassle to purchase. Well, I have good news for you because these mini arcade machines come with no assembly required! Huzzah!

Though accessories will vary by retailer, the following are specs for both machines:

• Dimensions: 17.50″ D x 15.50″ in W x 36.50″ H
• 8-inch screen
• Joystick-4 way + oversized ball top
• Oversized buttons
• Power: Micro USB (includes a cord with plug)

Plus, there’s more than one game in each cabinet! For example, the Pac-Man machine includes Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug. The PAW Patrol system also features three games: Chase is in a Race, PAW Patrol Off Duty, and PAW Patrol Pups on the Go! With this much fun in store, we only have one question: can Santa carry these? These will be one of the top gifts at Christmas, we’re sure!

On October 15th, the Arcade1Up Jr. Pac-Man will be for sale. And just a month later, on November 15, the PAW Patrol version will also be available. Both will be available at a variety of retailers and will start at $280.

Featured Image: Arcade1Up

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The announcement trailer revealed Pac-Man‘s release date and time: April 7 at 6 p.m. PT for Nintendo Switch Online members only. The clip explains the differences between the classic game and this amped up version. Players who eat a ghost will send a Jammer Pac-Man to an opponent. If the competitor touches the Jammer, they will not be able to move as quickly as they could previously.

Players can eat Sleeping Ghosts to make a line of them to eat; this action will wipe out your enemies with lots of Jammer Pac-Men. The clip does a solid job of showing off the game while giving a really great explainer for curious players. It all sounds like the definition of chaotic fun and possible annoyance over a swarm of Jammers.

There have been a couple of Pac-Man battle games before this one, including Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle and Pac-Main Battle Royale. But, Pac-Man 99 will certainly stand out on the ever-popular Switch, which has the full attention of avid Nintendo gamers and casual players alike. It’s not clear if this game will be a limited release but hopefully it will stick around for a while.

Nintendo

Perhaps Pac-Man will become the face of Nintendo now that Mario is dead. Anyway, Switch fans can get ready to chop and chase ghost in hopes of basking in their enemies’ frustrated tears.

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Not to sound too much like a pandemic-themed commercial, but the holidays do look different this year. Many of us are foregoing our usual traditions and travel plans to keep our loved ones and strangers safe. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get something special for the pop culture aficionado in your life! (Or, you know — add it to your wishlist, hint hint.)

And so, we’ve gathered a wide selection of gifts at different price points that might bring a little cheer to your winter. If you’ve got a gamer in your life, someone who wants to try every game and system out there, who wears their love of games on their shelves, this is the guide for you.

Shopping for a different kind of nerd? Check out our other gift guides here.

Steam Gift Card

Have a PC gamer in your life? No idea what kind of game to get them? Get them a steam gift card, so they can choose their own. They (and their game library) will thank you for it. Buy one here.

VR Headset Compatible with Nintendo Switch

Yes, Nintendo has its own option, but if you really want to experience your favorite Switch games in virtual reality, try this baby on for size. Unlike some of the other VR options out there, this oddly affordable headset is not made of cardboard. It’s adjustable for all users, including those who wear glasses. Buy it for $22.99 here.

PAC-MAN Ghost Light Table Lamp

Perfect for the Gen Xer in your life, this PAC-MAN Ghost table lamp can turn any room into an 8-bit haunted house. The 8” lamp has 9 color options, plus a “party” mode where it flashes all the colors to the beat of your music. Buy it for $29.99 here.

Razer BlackShark V2 Gaming Headset

For the friend who trips over their gaming headset wire every time they get up, here’s a wireless one that won’t break the bank. Buy it for $59.99 here. 

Sega Genesis Mini – Genesis

Loaded with 42 games, the SEGA Genesis Mini could work for almost anyone on your list. Nostalgic for the good ol’ days of Sonic and Street Fighter? Get ‘em one of these. Want to introduce a new generation to this system? Prepare to be laughed at, but like, in a fun way. Buy it for $79.99 here.

Nintendo Switch Lite

Want to get the person you’re sharing lockdown with into games? Try the Nintendo Switch Lite. Unlike its big sister the regular Switch, the Lite is handheld only and has built-in controllers instead of detachable. But otherwise, it’s pretty much the same console. Buy it for $199.00 here.

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Then you can play Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit with them! “Place gates and customize courses in the real world, then see them come to life with different in-game environments, like jungles and snowscapes, and obstacles like Piranha Plants. Use objects from around the house to customize your courses, then watch the game transform your home into the world of Mario Kart.” Buy it for $99.99 here.

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Games historian David L. Craddock’s latest book, Arcade Perfect: How Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, and Other Coin-Op Classics Invaded the Living Room, is an engrossing read. Drawing on extensive research and dozens of new interviews, Craddock explores the world of video-game “ports,” which are often the result of tedious reverse engineering or the conversion of a game from one platform to another.

Focusing on games that began life in arcades, the author chronicles the process of adapting them for home consoles from manufacturers like Atari, Nintendo, and Sega. “Arcade perfect. That’s what we called those rare home versions that looked, played, and sounded like the monolithic cabinets in arcades,” Craddock writes. “They were few and far between during the epoch of Genesis and Super Nintendo. Now? The days of kids shouting at each other from opposite sides of the playground in red-faced insistence that their version of Mortal Kombat was superior have long since ended.”

From Al Alcorn’s Pong to the Mega Man Legacy Collection, the book sheds light on an underappreciated but essential part of the games industry. Here are some of our favorite bits of trivia from Arcade Perfect.

Image: Space Invaders, Taito

Space Invaders on the Game Boy Color

In the late nineties, a programmer named David Leitch was tasked with developing a Game Boy Color version of arcade staple Space Invaders. When Leitch discovered that the Color had many of the same hardware limitations as the original 1989 Game Boy, he devised a clever trick for getting lots of aliens on the screen at one time: he made the invaders part of the background. So the aliens you see most of the time aren’t “sprites” like Mario or Pac-Man but rather elements of a scrolling “character map.” Traditional sprites show up in Space Invaders on the Game Boy Color to deliver a particular effect on screen—an explosion, for example, or the remnants of a destroyed space invader.

Missile Command on the Atari VCS (2600)

Sometimes porting a game to console means tailoring the design to suit a far simpler controller. When Rob Fulop set about recreating Missile Command—a strategy game defined by its Cold War-era nuclear anxieties (it can never be beaten)—he had to account for the Atari system’s crude, single-button joystick. That meant less complexity across the board. Fulop also had memory issues to contend with, so he spent as much as half the project’s development cycle carefully cutting features in order to squeeze Missile Command onto a four-kilobyte cartridge.

Image: Pac-Man, Atari

Pac-Man on the Atari VCS (2600)

Today, the arcade cabinet of Namco’s Pac-Man is universally thought to be the definitive version. But the game was more or less a flop when it hit arcades in its native Japan in 1980. In the U.S., however, players dropped a billion dollars’ worth in quarters on the little yellow circle and the colorful ghosts who haunted him. For Tod Frye, the Atari employee charged with adapting Pac-Man for the 2600 console, the project was just another job; he would’ve preferred to work on something like Defender instead. Not having access to the original source code, his goal was simply to capture the game’s essence. “I abstracted the heck out of it. I did not even try to make the game like the coin-op,” Frye recalled. “And in truth, I feel very good about how I did that.”

Donkey Kong on the Atari VCS (2600)

Garry Kitchen’s Atari VCS conversion of Donkey Kong nearly had flat, parallel platforms in its famous opening level. But after a meeting with Activision’s VP of product development, Tom Lopez, Kitchen spent three weeks scrambling to rewrite the game to get the slanted ramps from the arcade version to work on the Atari. He wanted a job at Activision; getting Coleco’s Donkey Kong port right was how he intended to win them over. When one of the cofounders of Atari offered him a job working for them instead, Kitchen told him, “You can offer me anything you want. But I couldn’t work for a company that put out a piece of shit like Pac-Man [on the 2600].”

Ms. Pac-Man on the Nintendo Entertainment System

Although Namco released a port of Ms. Pac-Man on the NES (or Famicom) in Japan in the mid-eighties, an American company called Tengen developed its own, completely distinct conversion of the title in 1988. Franz Lanzinger, a former Atari programmer who’d done a game called Crystal Castles, tackled the responsibility of doing Ms. Pac-Man proper justice on Nintendo’s home console. Lanzinger achieved his superior port by using scrolling mazes with more detail than could be achieved on a single static screen.

Image: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game, Ultra Games

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Xbox 360

In late 2004, Digital Eclipse’s Steve “Snake” Palmer developed an emulator program to run the original 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game in his spare time, hoping one day Microsoft would come asking for a port of the game. In early 2007, with the computer-animated TMNT film just around the corner, Microsoft came calling; they wanted the emulator within a matter of days. “It has to be the fastest turnaround in history,” Palmer told the author.

T2: The Arcade Game on the Sega Genesis

While other developers often hauled arcade cabinets into their cubicles, playing the original games in order to achieve their conversions, Paul Carruthers made T2: The Arcade Game for the Genesis based on an analog videotape. Rather than provide him with source code or a T2 cabinet, Midway gave Carruthers video footage of an entire playthrough of Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s coin-op version. The Genesis port utilized Sega’s Menacer light gun to try and simulate the arcade-shooter experience.

Image: Mortal Kombat, Midway Games

Mortal Kombat on the Super NES

When Sculptured Software set out to port Mortal Kombat to the Super NES, the studio assembled a team of artists around a single software engineer named Gary Lindquist. With a six-month deadline looming and mounting external pressures (Mortal Kombat grew in popularity throughout development), Sculpted eventually replaced Lindquist with a crack trio of programmers. One of them was a seasoned game designer named Adam Clayon, who, as a teenager, was the first to discover Warren Robinett’s signature hidden inside 1980’s Adventure—the very first Easter egg in video-game history.

Featured Image: Atari

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Reader submissions keep Inked Wednesday going strong. This installment is all about Cameron’s shoulder pieces. He has two of them with separate themes done by different artists. Cameron drew the art for each piece himself and worked with the tattooists to ensure his designs would look their best for the permanent ink medium.

First up, let’s admire his gaming inspired sleeve:

Inked by Mike at Tat-2-U

This was Cameron’s first tattoo and combines some nods to older video games and geeky items. You’ll find the Atari symbol, a Nintendo controller, Pac-Man, and other elements in the ink.

Cameron has a Star Wars sleeve, too:

Inked by Julie Whittaker

He started the Star Wars piece on May the 4th last year, and you can see the date on the arm of Boba Fett‘s armor. The image includes the bounty hunter, Darth Vader, and the Death Star.

You can see more views of Cameron’s gaming and Star Wars sleeves in the gallery below, so go check them out from every angle.

If you have nerdy ink on your skin or you’re a tattoo artist that applies pop culture, STEM, music, or other nerd-inspired ink (tl;dr: I want to see basically all of the tattoos) on a regular basis, then please hit me up because I’d like to highlight you in a future Inked Wednesday gallery. You can get in touch with me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me photos of the tattoos you’d like me to feature (the higher resolution, the better) and don’t forget to let me know the name of your tattoo artist if you have it, as well the name of the shop he or she works out of. If you are the tattoo artist, give me links to your portfolios and/or Instagram accounts so I can share them with our readers.

Images: Cameron

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You might not think of the original Pac-Man arcade game as having a theme song—it’s really more of a jingle than a full-fledged musical number. Whatever you want to call it, you’ve probably heard it a thousand times by now. It’s that little ditty that plays right before you start hearing the pill-eating “waka-waka” sound and Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde begin their ceaseless pursuit of the insatiable Pac-Man. It’s quietly one of the most iconic songs in video games, and here it is in its original glory in case you still need your memory jogged:

Now that we’re on the same page, musician and YouTuber Dave Wave went ahead and recorded this timeless jingle in a smattering of different styles, proving that with very little, you can do more than you’d probably expect.

He takes us to an old Western saloon with his jaunty ragtime arrangement of the song, and then to Havana, Cuba with his Latin jazz take on the jingle. It feels like we’re at Sunday mass with his church organ version, and we teleport back to the 1600s via his baroque harpsichord rework. And of course, we felt the beat drop when Wave went all dubstep on us.

It’s always fun to see classic songs reinterpreted like this, even if the source material is a mere five seconds long. Check it out above, and let us know in the comments what other iconic and catchy video game jingles you’d like to see given this treatment.

Featured image: Nintendo

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What could possibly be better than a night out in a dimly lit arcade with soda (or Snape-Ricot beer), pizza, and friends? How about a night out with all of that goodness plus THE WORLD’S LARGEST PAC-MAN GAME. (Yes, caps are required when talking about mondo Pakkuman.)

If you’re a human living on planet Earth with access to any kind of electronic gaming device, it’s just about guaranteed that you’ve already experienced the visceral pleasure of munching down pac-dots and the clenching thrill of narrowly avoiding Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. But what you probably haven’t experienced is Pac-Man on a stupidly large 108″ display that essentially immerses you in the classic arcade game.Although the award for coolest giant Pac-Man game still probably has to go to that real-life version that appeared in DTLA last year, this giant Pac-Man game, which was posted by YouTube channel Inside the Magic, is the one that belongs in a proper home arcade.

The video above shows the game in action at the 2016 IAAPA Expo, and it’s clear that once players stand in front of the mega screen, all of their faces are belong to Pac-Man. The video below, posted by Bandai Namco, shows off the game’s specs in a bit more depth (and also tries to sell you on the glories of purchasing a giant Pac-Man machine):

What do you think about the world’s largest Pac-Man game? Are you itching to stand in front of a 108″ screen and gobble dots until your eyes bleed? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Inside the Magic

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It’s not often you see a video game that got its roots from a popular novel, but when it happens, (the right way, mind you) it can be quite a sight. That’s exactly what occurred with Bedlam, a 2013 novel by Christopher Brookmyre that became a PlayStation 4 first-person shooter, developed by RedBedlam.

Paying loving ode to the games of the 80’s and 90’s, Bedlam puts you in the shoes of Heather, a programmer for the medical scanning conglomerate Neurosphere. Bored with her job, she finds herself volunteering for a mysterious gig in which she can test out the world of Starfire, built up to utilize the themes of many classic video games.

However, her journey takes her further than she imagined, as she steps outside the world of Starfire and finds a series of interconnected game worlds filled with danger. Through it, she’ll see the roots of many of these older video games–first-person shooters and a few other classic nods–as she struggles to find her way back in one piece.

Immediately starting the game, you get an idea of what RedBedlam had in mind in terms of theme, as you begin in an outer space level akin to the classic Duke Nukem games, with enemies shooting vector bullets at you while you try to reach objectives within primitive-looking buildings. But this isn’t a shooter where enemies simply succumb to bullets, you can actually shoot their limbs off and watch them collapse on the ground in a blocky blood heap.

As your adventure continues, it “evolutionizes”, jumping into more current first-person genres, including Wolfenstein, Halo, and even older classics like Scramble and Pac-Man. The trailer below provides a better idea of how this evolution takes place as well as what players can expect from the game.

Bedlam is very true to form as far as its contents are concerned, as Brookmyre also wrote the game in its entirety. More importantly, it becomes just as complicated as Heather’s journey goes on, stacking the odds against her with more enemies to take on, as well as complications that enter into the world of Starfire and beyond.

That said, while it can be challenging, the journey is far from terrifying. RedBedlam has lovingly dug into numerous genres for this game, from classic space shooter to military-based action, so that it has something to offer for everyone. And it all ties together into a story that follows Heather, thick Scottish accent and all, through each steps she takes. While Bedlam certainly fits in the “niche” category as far as shooters are concerned (it’s a far cry from the usual Call of Duty fare, that’s for sure), it’s definitely something fans of the genre, and Brookmyre’s original work, shouldn’t hesitate to check out.

More information can also be found on the official Bedlam game website.

For those interested in the book, it can be found here on Amazon.

Cover image source: RedBedlam

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