Pac-Man VR (found virtual reality arcade game; 1996)

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Pac man vr title screen.jpeg

Title screen.

Status: Found

Date found: 03 Sep 2020

Found by: chilistudios

On December 22nd, 1996 Pac-Man VR was released to the public. The game was developed and published by Virtuality Group, who was known for making virtual reality arcade units specifically for the games they developed.

The game played similar to the original 1980 arcade game but with the player controlling Pac Man in a first person perspective.[1] The virtual reality unit was a 2000 model that came in 2 different versions, the SU unit which has the player wear a headset to move Pac-Man's head 360 degrees while standing in a center of a ring while holding a joystick to move Pac-Man around. The SD unit that has them sit down and play more like a traditional arcade game while wearing the headset. An SU 3000 (which was a small upgrade of the other unit with a gun controller) port of the game was also developed. The company advertised the game on their website stating:

"See the world through PAC-MAN's eyes"

PAC-MAN fever is spreading again with this new fully immersive 3D virtual reality game from Virtuality in which the player actually becomes PAC-MAN himself. Through a licensing agreement with NAMCO, the creators of the original PAC-MAN, Virtuality brings this fun packed game for Solo, Duo and Quattro Series 2000 SU systems.

Retaining all of the original gameplay, Virtuality have enhanced this classic game by networking up to four PAC-MAN characters together, enabling them to see, talk and compete with each in the same virtual maze whilst still trying to outwit the ghosts"[2]

The game performed poorly in the arcades due to how expensive the game was to play ($5 for 5 minutes) and the the general public being confused on how the game worked. As a result, many units ended up being sent back to Virtuality.

Status

Aside from some promotional images, the only thing that resurfaced from the game for a time was a YouTube upload of some gameplay footage from 2008. In 2017, a gaming studio called Virtuosity Systems announced they were acquiring the rights to the game and would re-release it to modern VR headsets. The game was re-released in August of 2020.[3] On September 3rd, 2020 user chilistudios bought the game and uploaded the ROM and assets onto the Internet Archive.

Gallery

Screenshots

  • Pac man vr 2.jpeg
  • Pac man vr 3.jpeg
  • Pac man vr 4.jpeg
  • Pac man vr 5.png
  • Pac man vr.png

Arcade Unit

  • The game demonstrated at an event in Germany.

    The game demonstrated at an event in Germany.

  • The SU arcade unit.

    The SU arcade unit.

  • The SD arcade unit.

    The SD arcade unit.

Videos

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See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ "VR Pac-Man to Hit Arcades" - Next Generation Magazine Issue 20 pg. 25 Retrieved 29 Mar '22
  2. ↑ Archived Virtuality website advertising the game. Retrieved 29 Mar '22
  3. ↑ Archived Virtuosity Systems webpage where the game was available to purchase. Retrieved 29 Mar '22
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