As we all well know Pac-Man has fallen off as a franchise for all but the most dedicated fans. While many of us still have him in our hearts we only see him in our games as a cameo. Namco and 41 Entertainment are pairing up to bring him over to the Middle East.
Why is Pac-Man Heading to the Middle East Interesting?
Due to the obvious cultural wall both cartoons and games have come over there but not to the same degree as to America or Europe. However the Middle East has many affluent countries. While Pac-Man is heard of there he could be much more popular.
The second reason is that when a character falls off in popularity in some parts of the world, companies send them to other parts. A translation can create an entirely new fanbase in Arabic. This is nothing new but we expect to see it happen more often. Both of these show that game companies must adapt to the world market in more ways than they might expect.
The Actual Pac-Man Show
The show itself is a moderately popular 3D CG show about the star and a few of his new friends. It follows the Lord of ghosts Betrayus bumbling around with the classic ghosts to destroy the good guys. You know, the basic He-Man setup. It’s a kids show so we can criticize it too heavily.
Namco is Making Pac-Man More Visible
In the current setup older companies are trying to figure out what to do with their old characters. After some interesting cameos and some rather poor platformers Namco seems to just be trying to put him in the spotlight again. Is this the best way to do it? We aren’t sure but a new market that isn’t so used to him might be the solution.
