Why no 7800 Pac-Man?

[Brian R.]

The subject heading says it all - why didn't we get a new Pac-Man on the 7800? We got Ms. Pac, but no Mr. Pac. Was it even contemplated? Was there a prototype? A hack?

 

While Pac-Man on the 5200 was a dramatic improvement over the 2600 - I still enjoy playing Pac-Man on my 5200 - I can only imagine how arcade-perfect it would have been on the 7800, with the screen in its proper dimensions.

[Witchfynde]

Hmmm, good question, they only had enough arcade translations as it was on the system anyway. Super Pac-Man would've been good (as well as doable) too.

[voiddweller]

Hi,

 

I'll bet it could have been perfect, but the original Pac-Man had probably lost much if it's public appeal by the time the 7800 was introduced. I'll bet the Atari marketing guys didn't think they could sell very many with Ms.Pac-Man being so popular...

 

- VD

[lonesome_pa]

Probably right. Most likely people remembered how horrible Pac-Man was for the 2600 and dreaded to buy it from Atari again, even though it was for a different system.

[Witchfynde]

Yeah, especially since Pac-Man for the Atari 400/800 and 5200 systems (pretty much the exact same game, since the 5200 was pretty much an Atari 400 anyway) were waaaaay better.

[SS]

Yeah, especially since Pac-Man for the Atari 400/800 and 5200 systems (pretty much the exact same game, since the 5200 was pretty much an Atari 400 anyway) were waaaaay better.

 

Atari 8Bit Pac-Man is by far my favorite version of the game. I’d even pick it over the original arcade game. This is definitely do to the fact that I got a copy of it very early on, not long after I got the 2600 cart. In comparison, the 8Bit version seemed “perfect”. I know a bit better now but it still remains my favorite.

[Tempest]

I believe that was pretty much the feeling back in 84. Ms. Pac-Man was the hot Pac-Man at the arcades not regular old Pac-Man. Also remember GCC did the first batch of games for the 7800 (they helped create the damn system). Ms. Pac-Man was GCC's creation (originally a hack of Pac-Man called Crazy Otto) so it would make sense that they would go with their own game. When Atari decided to actually bring out the 7800 in 87 Pac-Man was old news (really old) so they never bothered making it themselves.

 

Tempest

[Brian R.]

That's what I thought the answer was, that by when the 7800 came out Pac-Man was out and Ms. Pac was in.

 

Could Ms. Pac be hacked to be Pac-Man in the same way 2600 Ms. Pac was hacked to make a better 2600 Pac-Man? For that question, have any 7800 games been hacked? Is it even possible???

[King Atari]

I'd like to see a hack of Ms. As good as Ms. is, I just love the original.

[The Night Phantom]

A 7800 Pac & Pal would have been nice. So far as I know, that game has never been converted to a home version. But yes, a more-or-less arcade-perfect original Pac-Man would also be a welcome addition to the 7800 library.

[Inky]

A Pac-Collection would have been nice.. Pac, Ms, Jr. Super....

[Big_Mo]

I'd like to see a hack of Ms. As good as Ms. is, I just love the original.

 

That would be fun. I just wish the home adaptations would get the nuances right. So many of them miss things like:

--The monsters (Blinky's fur/sheet gets ripped off in the 3rd halftime show...he's pink and fleshy...no ghost!) should decide which way to turn just before the intersection and LOOK that way just before they make the corner. You can tell which way they're going to turn in the arcade game because of this.

--There are "safe spots" in the maze where PacMan can turn and the monsters won't follow. They can do it whern they're "blue", but that's it.

--The monsters should do the 6 and 26 second reverses.

--And each monster should have slightly different behavior.

[Agent X]

Could Ms. Pac be hacked to be Pac-Man in the same way 2600 Ms. Pac was hacked to make a better 2600 Pac-Man?

 

Someone needs to try this.

[chrisbid]

while these reasons may be true, why did tengen bother to make a port of Pac Man for the NES?

[Rhindle The Red]

while these reasons may be true, why did tengen bother to make a port of Pac Man for the NES?

 

Tengen was a division of Atari Games (the arcade arm of the old Atari, Inc.) and Atari Games in turn was owned at the time by Namco.

 

As the owners of the Pac-Man franchise, Namco would naturally be more inclined than a licensee to feature the entrie Pac-Man line, not just Ms. Pac-Man. Besides, they had already programmed Pac-Man for the Famicom. It would be little trouble to convert it over for the NES.

 

Well, my dear, what...what agency do you come from?

[ZylonBane]

Atari Games in turn was owned at the time by Namco.

Ummm... well, if by "Namco" you meant "Time-Warner", then yes.

[AtariLeaf]

What I want to know is why there was no Defender or Stargate for the 7800. The 8 bit one is very good. A 7800 version could have been arcade perfect.