'PAC-MAN' Named App of the Week, Available for Free

MacRumors · Jan 9, 2014

Namco Bandai's classic PAC-MAN app has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it is available for free for the first time since its initial 2011 release.

PAC-MAN is based on the classic arcade game and the gameplay focuses on navigating Pac-Man to eat pellets and fruit while avoiding ghosts. Along with the original maze, the game offers eight other mazes that all feature ghost-free bonus modes.

Who can forget the countless hours and quarters spent avoiding pesky ghosts while chompin' on pellets and gobbling up fruit for bonus points?

- Arcade perfect classic PAC-MAN
- 8 new mazes for all new challenges
- Two different control modes
- Three game difficulties
- Retina display support

During its years on the App Store, PAC-MAN has ranged in price from $0.99 to $6.99, but it has not been offered at no cost. The app, which can be downloaded from the App Store, will be free for the next week. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'PAC-MAN' Named App of the Week, Available for Free

Black Magic · Jan 9, 2014

Classic. I bought it a while back though. Guess I can get it for free now on the iPad.

Porco · Jan 9, 2014

I'm going to gobble that right up Agghh!

Ghost!

mejsric · Jan 9, 2014

Happy Birthday iPhone...!!

More FREE#

Carlanga · Jan 9, 2014

lol all the freebies that came out today are much better than anything they gave on the 12d app

MikhailT · Jan 9, 2014

Free app with paid IAP is not FREE.

wikiverse · Jan 9, 2014

Look at all the shiny new In-App Purchases!

What an amazing coincidence that they are available just as the app becomes free.

Kobayagi · Jan 9, 2014

Hehe, that's how it goes these day. Real unfortunate, I'd rather pay for the app and enjoy it as it's intended, than to get it for free and be bothered by countless yap'.

Xenc · Jan 9, 2014

Watch out for the in-app purchases. Refilling your Continues costs tokens, and so does entering the weekly challenges. You also need to buy the "8 new mazes" mentioned in the description.

It's not the best deal at $6.99 with so much IAP.

Brian Y · Jan 9, 2014

Yeah, it should be "available for freemium".

Nevaborn · Jan 9, 2014

Controls are quite unresponsive. But classics free so it's ok.

YMark · Jan 9, 2014

I feel sorry for anyone that paid $6.99 for this.

seamer · Jan 9, 2014

Was excited until I saw IAP. IAP != Free. This is bait and switch. First hit's free.

mw360 · Jan 9, 2014

Kobayagi said:
Hehe, that's goes it goes these day. Real unfortunate, I'd rather pay for the app and enjoy it as it's intended, than to get it for free and be bothered by countless yap'.

Yeah, but you didn't buy it, did you? So now it's freemium.

If the resistance to IAP were in any way as strong as some folks believe there'd be more straight purchase games in the Top Grossing chart. There are probably 3 out of 50. If you want the old ways back you have a heck of a lot of spending to do.

zorinlynx · Jan 9, 2014

The extreme obsession with IAP is why I don't game much anymore on iOS.

nutmac · Jan 9, 2014

Carlanga said:
lol all the freebies that came out today are much better than anything they gave on the 12d app

Most of the giveaways on 12 Days of Gifts were ho hum at best, but I did enjoy Hugo and Diary of a Wimpy Kids.

N64 · Jan 9, 2014

zorinlynx said:
The extreme obsession with IAP is why I don't game much anymore on iOS.

Same pretty much. I play Pheonix Wright and Nintendo games in emulators still since they don't have any IAPs.

----------

"PAC-MAN is based on the classic arcade game and the gameplay focuses on navigating Pac-Man to eat pellets and fruit while avoiding ghosts. Along with the original maze, the game offers eight other mazes that all feature ghost-free bonus modes."

The sad part is that this might be news to some native-born American kids.

simon48 · Jan 9, 2014

Big let down, bad and laggy controls. And why Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man is so much better?

OriginalMacRat · Jan 9, 2014

Wondering why MacRumors links to a 3rd party web site instead of linking directly to the app on the iTunes store?

nagromme · Jan 9, 2014

OriginalMacRat said:
Wondering why MacRumors links to a 3rd party web site instead of linking directly to the app on the iTunes store?

Not third-party exactly: AppShopper IS a web site created by MacRumors. (And I personally prefer AppShopper links: you're still one click away from the App Store, but you ALSO have the ability to Wishlist an item. Ironically, TouchArcade--another MR sister site--usually doesn't use AppShopper links, and I wish they would!)

OriginalMacRat · Jan 9, 2014

nagromme said:
Not third-party exactly

If it isn't a link to iTunes, it's 3rd party.

nagromme said:
AppShopper IS a web site created by MacRumors.

So it is a self promoting ad link. Still just as annoying.

gatearray · Jan 9, 2014

nagromme said:
Not third-party exactly: AppShopper IS a web site created by MacRumors. (And I personally prefer AppShopper links: you're still one click away from the App Store, but you ALSO have the ability to Wishlist an item.

Not sure if you're aware, but now the App Store itself lets you add apps to a wishlist, as well.

JackieInCo · Jan 9, 2014

zorinlynx said:
The extreme obsession with IAP is why I don't game much anymore on iOS.

Me too. I try and avoid anything with IAP. I can't believe that devs think people want this. Just charge me for the game or app and let me be done with it.

The developer of this app loses now.

C DM · Jan 9, 2014

OriginalMacRat said:
If it isn't a link to iTunes, it's 3rd party.

So it is a self promoting ad link. Still just as annoying.

If the link is to a site owned by the the same organization that owns the site that posts the story with the link, would that be more like 2nd party or something since it wouldn't really be 3rd party in the usual sense of going to yet another completely different party unrelated to the first two.

Sometimes going to an iTunes link doesn't present anything useful and only asks to open iTunes which a lot of people wouldn't usually care to do at the time (assuming they even have iTunes installed). So sometimes another site might not be that bad in comparison to situations like that.

mw360 · Jan 10, 2014

JackieInCo said:
Me too. I try and avoid anything with IAP. I can't believe that devs think people want this. Just charge me for the game or app and let me be done with it.

The developer of this app loses now.

You've had five and a half years to reward Namco for offering the game as a straight sale and you think suddenly boycotting the game now is going bite them?

Its too late to make a stink. You and other IAP whiners had your chance to make the alternative models viable.

See the guy above who's so incensed by IAP from various developers that he turns to emulated Nintendo games. Excuse me if I presume that Nintendo doesn't get a penny out of this arrangement. You only have yourselves to blame. If you won't pay for what you want, companies will make stuff other people want instead.

'PAC-MAN' Named App of the Week, Available for Free

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