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Today, Pac-Man turns 30 years old!

I remember the first time I saw Pac-Man. It was in the little dark pizza place near where I lived. I must have been around 11 years old and it was one of the first video games I had ever seen. I remember dumping quarter after quarter into the machine while drinking Pepsi after Pepsi trying to get the high score. I never got the high score. Well, not until the fragile local power grid helped me out.

There had been a thunderstorm that morning, and the power was out in the whole neighborhood for a couple hours. When I went to play Pac-Man later that day, all of the high scores had been zeroed out! I finally had a chance and I did it. I got the high score. Proud of myself I headed home feeling like a king. That was until the next day when I went back and not one, but 4 people had beaten my high score with scores that I had never come close to.

Pac-Man was first released 30 years ago and in that time there have been a couple dozen off-shoot games. It's available on just about every single platform you can imagine. There was even a cartoon series for a short while.

But what we remember most is the original video game. The original is still the best.

To celebrate the birthday, Namco has decided to put all of the Pac-Man games for the iPhone and iPad on sale through Sunday evening.

Also on sale are Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Pac-Man Remix.

Happy Birthday Pac-Man! You don't look a day over 25!

One for the game developers now. Since the iPhone's launch and the App Store's debut, we've seen a slurry of companies take it upon themselves to create a "social" medium or space in which gamers of all ages and skill levels can communicate and interact with each other on a device to device basis. But so far, supposedly due to the limitations of the iPhone SDK, this has been restricted to three methods of gameplay for us here gamers; iPhone to iPhone. iPhone to iPod touch or iPod touch to iPod touch.

Namco, most famous for its worldwide Pac-Man franchise, have announced at GDC yesterday that they have been working on a new, different method. Unite is a cross-platform gaming technology that will allow users to play against gamers using different types of devices and machines and challenge each other in the same game. Acting very much like a social network, Unites aim is to unite gamers the world over, no matter which device they choose to play on.

"For example, an iPhone gamer could play a game against a PC player in Pool Pro Online 3. Unite will have a single login across all platforms supported by the platform. Gamers have a profile fronted by an avatar and a score, boosted by the accumulation of achievements in Unite-powered games.And having a central web site (and soon, an iPhone app) where you can manage your account should also make it an attractive alternative to developers looking for a social solution for their games."

Zombie Recycling Inc. will be, if nothing else, an entertaining app. I know this because A. It looks to be very Japanese B. the press release starts with "We are pleased to offer more places to recycle zombies".

Zombie Recycling Inc.: Rotten Red is the sequel of sorts to the under the radar Namco title Zombie Recycling Inc.: Moldy Green. Rotten red features 48 stages of zombie recycling action that promises to be harder than the first title, Moldy Green (which is on sale right now for 99 cents).

From the looks of the promo video, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but the game is downloading right now on my iPhone. I'm a bit scared.

Namco last week released Gravity, a physics puzzler that channels Sir Isaac Newton, to create one of the more difficult iPhone puzzlers of late. The game focuses around placing various objects on the screen to use various physics properties to trigger a switch and complete the level.

As you can see from the trailer above, there is a huge variety of levels. They do ramp up rather quickly once the tutorial levels are complete. You can also create your own levels and a future revision will allow you to share these online.

When creating these physics based Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions, it became quickly apparent what makes this game special. While we've seen many other physics puzzlers, this one has a steampunk look about it, great 2.5D graphics, and a good variety. Here's a short tutorial on the game.

I think Namco have a good start to a game right now, but there are some issues. I found myself constantly struggling with the controls of the game. Both in selecting and positioning them as they just didn't seem to respond as I wanted. This eased with use, but I still want to see some refinements in the controls in an update.

Isaac Newton's Gravity is available now in the App Store.

Namco has joined the great Holiday sale craze and put many of their games on sale. Some of them at the lowest prices we've ever seen for them. Included in the sale are Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man for $2.99 each. The lowest prices we've seen for those games. Also, the recent release, excellent game Pac-Man Championship Edition is on sale for only $0.99! Another recent release, Garters and Ghouls is also only $0.99.

Other great deals include Star Trigon, Pole Position, Burgertime Deluxe, Brain Exercise, Mr. Driller, and Worst Case Scenario for $0.99 each. The games are on sale for these prices until 12/27. Check out all the Namco sale apps at the App Store.

According to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Namco Bandai it set to release a version of their classic arcade racing franchise to the iPhone. Ridge Racer: Accelerated is tentatively scheduled for a worldwide release before the end of the year.

The Ridge Racer series has been gracing a variety of gaming platforms since 1993 with its unique, drift-heavy racing style. The iPhone version looks similar to the recent PSP editions of the game, where you race against up to 12 competitors. The controls are said to be accelerometer-based, and the screenshots show a gas pedal & brake located either both on one side, or one on each side of the screen. Both behind the car and front bumper camera options are visible as well.

Not much else is known regarding the feature list of the game, but we should be finding out soon enough considering the tentative release date. The price of Ridge Racer: Accelerated has not been revealed at this time.

I've had a few days now to play through a preview version of Garters & Ghouls, the first original IP that Namco have created for the iPhone. It's great to see one the the giants of the video game industry developing new games on such a new platform as the iPhone.

The story of Garters & Ghouls is very fitting for the Halloween season. You have been brought back from the dead to fight the Thrum (think multi-species zombies). The game is a dual stick shooter with various weapons and enemies to hunt down. Your goal is to clear each level by destroying the portals and the evil creatures that come from them. You do this through 25 different levels set in many different scenes including graveyards, churches, and various carnival-like areas. There are of course power-ups that can be bought with gold collected from the dead Thurm.

The game itself, while a little rough around the edges still, has done something that most games of this genre haven't, it's held my attention. I'm not sure what that says about the game or me, but it has interested me. Could be the garter belts.

Garters & Ghouls is expected to launch right around Halloween. We'll let you know as soon as it has launched.

Hit the jump for more screen shots.

In a teaser trailer released tonight, Namco gives us a first look at a new game coming to the iPhone. Garters & Ghouls is the first Namco game specifically created for the iPhone. Their other releases are franchises that we all know and love. Some we've loved for 30 years. But Garters & Ghouls is different, it's new, it's well, we don't really know yet. Take a look at the teaser below and let us know what you think it will be in the comments.

[youtube oD4ckW4IYKc]

Well, it's got zombies, how bad could it be?

Random musings of the App Store.

Retro Invasion

Retro games are appearing in the App Store in droves! Pac-Man Remix, Q*Bert Deluxe, and of course, the incredible Space Invaders Infinity Gene. All of these are updated in some way from the classic games. Q*Bert has updated graphics, Pac-Man Remix has updated graphics (though they are still not too hot on the iPhone) along with power-ups that sometimes feel gimmicky, and Space Invaders is a complete re-imagining of the classic game. Of these, the only game that really captivates me is SIIG. In my opinion, retro games are retro for a reason - frankly, they're boring and outdated. However, the concepts are still good, and if they're updated for modern gamers, they can turn out like SIIG. To go with these retro games, there are plenty more on the way: Snood, a classic match-3 shooting game, TAITO's Bust-a-Move, and most importantly, Pac-Man Championship Edition. Pac-Man CE, for XBLA, is, along with SIIG, one of the best re-imaginings of a retro game I have ever played and, if the controls are changed from Remix, should translate fantastically for the iPhone.
[caption id="attachment_15570" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pac-Man CE, a great re-imagining of the classic game"]

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Gameloft coming on strong (maybe)

Along with NFL 2010, Gameloft has an upcoming FPS, Sandstorm, and a GTA knockoff, Gang$tar in the works. These games are particularly of note because it seems as if Gameloft is attempting to directly compete with other developers. NFL 2010 was notably released before EA's upcoming Madden 2010, and at a lower expected price point - $7.99 compared to $9.99. Sandstorm seems to be in line for direct competition with ngmoco's upcoming FPS (as yet unnamed). Gang$tar looks to have a huge advantage on current App Store GTA-a-likes with a fully roam-able 3D world. If I was a betting man (ok, I am a betting man), though, I would count on the other two games losing out. If there's two things Gameloft games have in common, with the notable exception of Castle of Magic, it's lackluster, on-screen controls, and uninspired gameplay. Gameloft seems to put all of the genre "requirements" in their games, without doing anything truly unique to make the game their own. They seem stubborn about their controls as well, always opting for mediocre on-screen d-pads or joysticks, rather than attempting any innovation for the iPhone. NFL 2010 is a solid football game with licensing, and I'm sure Sandstorm will be a decent FPS. However, neither if these titles, probably, will be great.

[caption id="attachment_15571" align="alignright" width="184" caption="Get out of my games, stupid pygmy"]

[/caption]Games requiring 3.0 software

I wanted to briefly address a common complaint springing up various places: games requiring 3.0 software or higher. Developers are excited to utilize 3.0 features and making their apps 2.2.1 compatible takes a lot of time, resources, and extra testing. Look, I know that the update is $10 for iPod touchers (whoops, that sounds weird), but that's really not a lot for a major software upgrade, and if these stubborn users don't update soon, they're going to find themselves left out in the cold for some of the App Store's best apps and games.

This week's sign of the apocalypse

First Doodle Jump, now Harbor Master; the Pocket God pygmies are invading other games! It was bad enough that I had to look at those stupid pygmies while playing Pocket God, thinking I would eventually like it. But no, that wasn't enough, now they have to ruin games that I actually play! I really want to kill a pygmy, and in a way so that they can't be magically dropped from the sky a few seconds later.

Apps of the Week

Gomi

[caption id="attachment_15572" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gomi, an app of the week!"]

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Last week, I previewed Kevin Calderone's new game Gomi, mentioning the staggering amount of content. Now, the app is out, and not only is it huge, but all that content is actually worth playing! In Gomi, you clean up the world by eating pollution and the like while spitting (?) out trees and flowers. You have to eat smaller things to build your appetite, eventually building up to shopping malls and the like. The regular levels are great, the boss battles are challenging and clever, and the game is seemingly endless with 140+ levels, eight mini games, achievements, and online scoreboards. At the low price of $1.99, Gomi is a unique game and a highly recommended bargain. Expect a full review soon (sorry, I'm on vacation).

BargainBin

BargainBin is an app that allows you track other apps; creating wish lists with target prices and viewing the newest apps, updates, and price drops. BargainBin recently was updated with two major improvements: a nice UI update and a killer feature: push notifications. Now, whenever an app you're tracking reaches your desired price, you'll instantly receive a push notification without ever having to open the app. Finding the App Store's best deals has never been easier!

Well, that's it for this week, and I'm still loving writing this column! Apparently, I messed up the links for the previous articles, so commenting was impossible. This has been fixed, so hopefully this week my begging for feedback/comments will succeed!