subject: Pacman Meets His Soul Mate [print this page] It was bound to happen eventuallyIt was bound to happen eventually. The most iconic of all video game characters, Pac-Man, went and found himself a girlfriend in 1981. Ms. Pac-Man, with the pretty red bow, long eyelashes and bright red lips, was the ideal mate for the popular chomper.
Midway introduced Ms. Pac-Man as a sequel to the extremely popular Pac-Man, and became one of the most popular video arcade games of all time, next to her world-famous boyfriend. The two games are very similar in many ways, with a few small changes, such as the designs of the mazes, and the addition of two more warp tunnels. Unlike Pac-Man, where the ghosts had pre-set patterns of movement, the ghosts in this new game had semi-random movements.
Other differences between Ms. Pac-Man and her mate include: fruits enter and leave the play area through the warp tunnels rather than appear in the middle of the screen; the orange ghost's name is "Sue" instead of "Clyde"; and three mini-movies that tell the tale of the Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man romance.
Ms. Pac-Man And Pop-Culture
Easily recognized throughout the world, Ms. Pac-Man can be found in a number of popular movies and television programs, even nearly 30 years after she was introduced to the world. In the 80's, Ms. Pac-Man appeared in such movies as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Footloose. The 90's saw her appearance in Wayne's World, and she showed up again in 2005's Are We There Yet.
Some of Ms. Pac-Man's television appearances include The Simpsons, Scrubs, Weeds, Futurama, Family Guy, and many more, with more appearances now than ever. Can you imagine...all those years of being in show business, and her looks haven't changed one bit. It's gotta be plastic surgery!
Hopefully, her many movie and television appearances haven't affected her relationship with hubby Pac-Man. Since their own television show went off the air, Pac-Man and Pepper Pac-Man (wow...try saying that ten times fast) are rarely seen in anything together, and can often be found working on separate projects. Each has their own home-game versions, and Ms. Pac-Man even found her way to the IPod in 2006.
Ms. Pac-Man Spawns Products Galore!
Ms. Pac-Man is a woman who loves to shop, so it is no wonder that her image is on so many products. Of course, there are Ms. Pac-Man arcade games, hand-held games, computer games and plug & play television games. And, there are also clothing items, such as tee-shirts, you can also find books, stickers, magnets and lots, lots more with the Ms. Pac-Man image. Naturally, they all have the Ms. Pac-Man seal of approval!
Ms. Pac-Man In The 21st Century
Nearly 30 years after she munched her way into the arcade scene, Ms. Pac-Man is still as popular as ever. There are versions of the game online, and because her fans have never given up on her, Ms. Pac-Man is now popular with a whole new generation of gamers. It just goes to show that beauty wins over brawn every time. Compared to today's complicated and challenging games, Ms. Pac-Man is considered to be simple by most standards, but, maybe it's the simplicity of the game that keeps players coming back time after time. Who knows? The one thing that we do know, however, is that Ms. Pac-Man and her famous hubby are going to be around for a long, long time to come.
