Why has Mrs. Pac-Man’s appearance changed for Arcade: Pac-Land?

Quick, what does Mrs. Pac-Man look like? She definitely pictured a red bow, and maybe a go-to shoe as well. Well, this version of Mrs. Pac-Man, steadily disappearing Thanks to Byzantine conflict involving Bandai Namco and AtGames, in a new version of Back Land It launches today – presumably in next month’s edition of Pac-Man Plus Museumwhich is an ancient compilation that also includes Back Land.

Graphic artist Nicolas Caballero from Paraguay Noted on Twitter Wednesday The anthropomorphic Mrs. Pac-Man appeared in 1984 Back Land Instead, it’s what Bandai Namco calls Pac-Mom: she wears a pink hat, gloves, and heels instead of a red bow, orange gloves, and red shoes. Baby Pac swapped out the color palette, for good measure, replaced her bow with a flower and removed the pacifier.

So, what does it give? Well, come back with us to 2019, when Bandai Namco sued AtGames, makers of small consoles and arcade vaults, who worked on the 2016 Genesis/Mega Drive for Sega He didn’t make them any friends. Among other things, Bandai Namco alleged that AtGames had interfered in publisher negotiations with the original creators of Ms. Pac-Man — a group of seven MIT colleagues who call themselves the General Computer Corporation — to purchase their property rights.

Well, AtGames itself ended up buying those benefits, which means that, from now on, if Bandai Namco releases anything with Mrs. Pac-Man (or Baby Pac), it will owe leftovers to AtGames, the people who are now sued. (Note: These rights must be paid whenever the work is used; Bandai Namco continues to have full ownership and control of Mrs. Pac-Man as intellectual property, and may unilaterally manufacture any product including her.)

Bandai Namco alleged some unauthorized use of its intellectual property; AtGames said Bandai Namco was punishing it for a private deal with rights holders who weren’t happy Bandai Namco was making nothing with Ms. Pac-Man in it. suit settled in November 2020but AtGames still owns an ownership stake in Ms. Pac-Man.

Thus, when the Arcade archives are re-released from Back Land Appearing on the Nintendo eShop today, Buck-Mom has stepped into the role.

Photo: Bandai Namco

Pac-Mom seems to be the version that Pac-Man Museum Plus, which will be launched at the end of May, will be used. This anthology features 14 games from the Pac-Man franchise, dating back to the original 1980 – but 1981 Mrs. Pak Man It is, you guessed it, not included. (Obviously, the revised Pac-Mom and Baby Pac will be collectible characters that one can earn to decorate their in-game arcade, as shown in Pac-Man Museum Plus‘Trailer of a movie’.)

There was no console re-release Mrs. Pak Man Since the predecessor of this group, 2014 Pac-Man Museumfor PlayStation 3, Windows PC and Xbox 360. That was two years after Bandai Namco turned down AtGames’ offer Mrs. Pak Man mini-cabinet, which was related to the allegations made in the 2019 lawsuit.

Speculation is that the publisher did not want to make anything for which he owes royalties, and that the lack of Ms. Buck’s products is circumstantial evidence of this. Steve Goulson, one of the original designers, He gave an hour after death On Mrs. Pak Man At the 2016 Game Developers Conference, where he discussed the interlocking royalty agreement that the two sides had reached.

Polygon has reached out to representatives from Bandai Namco Entertainment America and the original creators in the GCC for additional comments.