Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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More about Ms. Pac-Man (from Wikipedia):
Ms. Pac-Man is a maze video game developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) and published by Midway for arcades in 1982. It is a sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, which turn blue and flee.
General Computer made the game as a modification kit for the original Pac-Man, titled Crazy Otto. However, due to previous legal action with Atari, Inc., GCC was forced to present the project to Midway, the North American distributor of Pac-Man. Midway purchased the project and enlisted GCC to use the game as a basis for the sequel to Pac-Man. Multiple names were considered for the game, including Miss Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man, before the final name was chosen for being easier to pronounce. While development had started without Namco's consent, company president Masaya Nakamura was brought in and provided feedback on the player character's design. The company ultimately collected the same royalties on each cabinet as they had with Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man was acclaimed by critics for its improvements to the original gameplay and for having a female protagonist; some have described it as superior to Pac-Man. It has been listed among the greatest video games of all time and as one of the most successful American arcade games ever made. The game's success inspired a variety of successful merchandise, several ports for numerous home consoles and handheld systems, a television cartoon that included Pac-Man, and numerous video game sequels and remakes which spawned a Ms. Pac-Man spin-off series. The rights to the game are owned by Namco's successor company, Bandai Namco Entertainment. However, the game and its title character have suffered legal ownership issues between Namco and General Computer Corporation.
Release and versions
Reporter Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times reported that the game made its public debut on February 3, 1982 "in typical showbusiness style at a press conference at the Castle Park Entertainment Center in Sherman Oaks." He noted that "[t]he game is expected to appear in many video arcades during the next few weeks."
Atari, Inc. released versions for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit computers. There were also versions for the VIC-20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC compatibles, Apple II and TI-99/4A released under the Atarisoft label. Unlike Pac-Man, most home versions of Ms. Pac-Man include all three intermission screens from the arcade game. The Atari 2600 rendition of Pac-Man was infamous for its flashing ghosts, while the 2600 port of Ms. Pac-Man had minimal flicker.
A tabletop version of Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1983 by Coleco. The unit was shaped like a miniature arcade cabinet, was controlled with a small built-in joystick, and used a multicolor vacuum fluorescent display. It was a runner-up for Stand-Alone Game of the Year at the 1983 Arcade Awards held in January 1984.
Later ports and re-releases
Hardware
Ms. Pac-Man has been re-released into new arcade cabinets since. In 2001, Namco released an arcade board with both Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga in honor of the 20th anniversary of both games with the subtitle "20 Year Reunion / Class of 1981". It also has Pac-Man as a hidden bonus game. The later 25th Anniversary Edition in 2005 allows all three games to be selected on the main menu. As part of Pac-Man's 30th anniversary, Ms. Pac-Man is one of the games included on the home version of Pac-Man's Arcade Party arcade machine. Pac-Man's Arcade Party was succeeded in 2018 by Pac-Man's Pixel Bash, which added 19 games to the existing roster, but Ms. Pac-Man was only available if the machine was set to Free Play.
In June 2020, Tastemakers' Arcade1Up decided to announce that Ms. Pac-Man would finally be added to their lineup of 3/4 scale arcade cabinets. The unit will also contain a few other Bandai Namco arcade games, including Galaxian, Pac-Mania and Pac-Man Plus.
Additionally, a standalone, battery-powered version of the game released by Jakks Pacific can be plugged directly into a television.
Non-arcade versions
In January 1984, the Atari 2600 port of Ms. Pac-Man won the Videogame of the Year award at the 1983 Arcade Awards, tied with Lady Bug.
Computer Games magazine called the Commodore 64 version a "Spectacular" and "Incredible" conversion, while stating that the Atari 5200 and IBM PC versions suffered from limitations, but were nevertheless "enjoyable" ports. They later gave a "Classic" rating for other home computer versions, calling Ms. Pac-Man the "greatest" maze game.
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#mspacman #pacman #arcadegames #dosgames
No Commentary
More about Ms. Pac-Man (from Wikipedia):
Ms. Pac-Man is a maze video game developed by General Computer Corporation (GCC) and published by Midway for arcades in 1982. It is a sequel to Pac-Man (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's wife, the player is tasked with eating all of the pellets in an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating the larger "power pellets" lets the player eat the ghosts, which turn blue and flee.
General Computer made the game as a modification kit for the original Pac-Man, titled Crazy Otto. However, due to previous legal action with Atari, Inc., GCC was forced to present the project to Midway, the North American distributor of Pac-Man. Midway purchased the project and enlisted GCC to use the game as a basis for the sequel to Pac-Man. Multiple names were considered for the game, including Miss Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man, before the final name was chosen for being easier to pronounce. While development had started without Namco's consent, company president Masaya Nakamura was brought in and provided feedback on the player character's design. The company ultimately collected the same royalties on each cabinet as they had with Pac-Man.
Ms. Pac-Man was acclaimed by critics for its improvements to the original gameplay and for having a female protagonist; some have described it as superior to Pac-Man. It has been listed among the greatest video games of all time and as one of the most successful American arcade games ever made. The game's success inspired a variety of successful merchandise, several ports for numerous home consoles and handheld systems, a television cartoon that included Pac-Man, and numerous video game sequels and remakes which spawned a Ms. Pac-Man spin-off series. The rights to the game are owned by Namco's successor company, Bandai Namco Entertainment. However, the game and its title character have suffered legal ownership issues between Namco and General Computer Corporation.
Release and versions
Reporter Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times reported that the game made its public debut on February 3, 1982 "in typical showbusiness style at a press conference at the Castle Park Entertainment Center in Sherman Oaks." He noted that "[t]he game is expected to appear in many video arcades during the next few weeks."
Atari, Inc. released versions for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit computers. There were also versions for the VIC-20, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC compatibles, Apple II and TI-99/4A released under the Atarisoft label. Unlike Pac-Man, most home versions of Ms. Pac-Man include all three intermission screens from the arcade game. The Atari 2600 rendition of Pac-Man was infamous for its flashing ghosts, while the 2600 port of Ms. Pac-Man had minimal flicker.
A tabletop version of Ms. Pac-Man was released in 1983 by Coleco. The unit was shaped like a miniature arcade cabinet, was controlled with a small built-in joystick, and used a multicolor vacuum fluorescent display. It was a runner-up for Stand-Alone Game of the Year at the 1983 Arcade Awards held in January 1984.
Later ports and re-releases
Hardware
Ms. Pac-Man has been re-released into new arcade cabinets since. In 2001, Namco released an arcade board with both Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga in honor of the 20th anniversary of both games with the subtitle "20 Year Reunion / Class of 1981". It also has Pac-Man as a hidden bonus game. The later 25th Anniversary Edition in 2005 allows all three games to be selected on the main menu. As part of Pac-Man's 30th anniversary, Ms. Pac-Man is one of the games included on the home version of Pac-Man's Arcade Party arcade machine. Pac-Man's Arcade Party was succeeded in 2018 by Pac-Man's Pixel Bash, which added 19 games to the existing roster, but Ms. Pac-Man was only available if the machine was set to Free Play.
In June 2020, Tastemakers' Arcade1Up decided to announce that Ms. Pac-Man would finally be added to their lineup of 3/4 scale arcade cabinets. The unit will also contain a few other Bandai Namco arcade games, including Galaxian, Pac-Mania and Pac-Man Plus.
Additionally, a standalone, battery-powered version of the game released by Jakks Pacific can be plugged directly into a television.
Non-arcade versions
In January 1984, the Atari 2600 port of Ms. Pac-Man won the Videogame of the Year award at the 1983 Arcade Awards, tied with Lady Bug.
Computer Games magazine called the Commodore 64 version a "Spectacular" and "Incredible" conversion, while stating that the Atari 5200 and IBM PC versions suffered from limitations, but were nevertheless "enjoyable" ports. They later gave a "Classic" rating for other home computer versions, calling Ms. Pac-Man the "greatest" maze game.
