Roomba Pac-Man? Done before, but mostly as a cosmetic enhancement. Here it’s taken to the next level — five Roombas (Roombi?) engaged in a contest of Pac-Man with programmed “chase” and “escape” AI.

Roomba Pac-Man [site, via RipTen]

Four Zippos themed on classic Namco properties Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious and Galaxian are yours for pre-ordering and importing should you have the desire and funds to complete the transaction. I say that because, like the Sega Saturn and Mega Drive Zippos, these aren’t cheap. Each is ¥10,000, equating to a $US108.90 price at importer National Console Support.

But if you think you’ll be needing a Zippo in January, these might be exactly what you’re looking for.

ZIPPO Namco Classic Game Zippo Lighters – Import Preorder [NCSX]

Over on his Gamespite blog, 1Up editor and staunch 2D-ophile Jeremy Parish despairs, when discussing the new Wii version of A Boy and His Blob, at the relegation of 2D games to the domain of the download-only or retro throwback. He writes:

The pervasive mindset that downloadable games are somehow less worthwhile than retail games. In truth, the ratio of cream vs. crap is about the same regardless of medium — most things are terrible, and the relatively rare good stuff is worth celebrating no matter what form it takes — so that’s a meaningless dichotomy to begin with. But it becomes even more irritating when you consider the aforementioned collective dismissal of 2D graphics and apply the logical transitive conclusion to these assumptions: that is, 2D games should be downloads; downloadable-only games are worthless; ergo, 2D games are worthless. This is not acceptable.

Allegedly – and this may be an apocryphal tale – during the PlayStation 2 era, Sony actively discouraged the release of 2D games in the fear such antiquated graphics technology would reflect poorly on the capabilities of their hardware. It’s not hard to imagine Microsoft thinking along the same lines with the original Xbox. Does the same mindset pervade the gaming community as well?

I’ve written before about the psychological barrier when it comes to downloadable games pricing and perhaps it’s also true of 2D games. The question remains: why?

Many of this medium’s finest experiences were crafted in 2D; from Pac-man to Super Mario Bros. to Street Fighter II. Why do we perceive modern 2D games as somehow less valuable than their 3D cousins?

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

2D: Crisis of confidence [Gamespite]

From the creator of Contra Vs. Duck Hunt comes another incredibly mismatched mash up — Sonic the Hedgehog versus Pac-man. Well, Sonic versus Pac-man nemeses Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde.

Dane, creator of these two mash ups, we humbly request that you keep ‘em coming. There’s something satisfying about watching these types of crushing defeats.

The first perfect Pac-Man score was achieved by hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell in 1999, and once the perfect score was achieved, there was no way to top it, unless you did it faster. Until recently, the top speed record was held by Chris Ayra, who completed the game in three hours, 42 minutes, and four seconds back in 2000. Now Ayra slips to the number two position, as the suspiciously-named David Race has been confirmed as the world’s fastest, with a time of three hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds, only 42 seconds faster than the previous record.

Achieving a perfect Pac-Man score requires the gamer to eat every dot, bonus fruit, and blue ghost possible across 256 levels, after which the game glitches out. The fact that people are still trying to beat records for doing this never ceases to amaze me.

Namco Bandai will be using the Namco Sounds label to release exclusive re-mastered tracks from its extensive stable of classic games. To inaugurate the launch of the label, songs from Pac-Man, Xevious and SoulCalibur Suite: The Resonance of Souls and Swords are now available for purchase, with the latter being a special exclusive release in honour of the launch of SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny on the PSP. Additional tracks under the new label will be showing up on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.

It’s always good to see more video game music showing up on iTunes, though I’d have to say that I’ve never sat back and thought to myself, “Gee, I wish I had Xevious music on my iPod.” Should be interesting to see what other rarities the company makes available as the label progresses.

Sure, these could be fuzzy memories of something I wish I would’ve have experienced between the ages of five and seven-years-old, but here it is, Pac-Man Land at theme park Six Flags Over Texas.

This Pac-Man children’s play area was open from 1983-1985. It was awesome.

Pacman Land [Flickr via Technabob via Tiny Cartridge]