Pac-Man Gets Championship Update For XBLA

Microsoft and Namco Bandai have announced Pac-Man Championship Edition, an Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive title featuring multiple new modes and "...the first new Pac-Man mazes in more than 26 years", to debut this Wednesday. According to the announcement, made in New York City at the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship, the updated version includes new mazes that dynamically change shape during gameplay, six new timed game modes, new soundtracks and high-definition graphics. The specific new timed modes developed for the updated game, which follows updated versions of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man onto Xbox Live Arcade, are as follows: - The Championship Mode. This is the main game mode designed by Namco Bandi Games and Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani specifically for the championship round of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. This mode – as well as all others within the Pac-Man Championship Edition – features redesigned mazes with wide maze walls and a widescreen configuration to better enable high-speed game play. (Timed limit of five minutes.) - Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course). This mode is an evolution of the Championship Mode. Patience mazes strategically offer fewer Power Pellets and Reward mazes provide a large number of Power Pellets – providing unique challenges and rewards for the player. (Timed limit of 10 minutes.) - Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course). In this mode, only the area directly around Pac-Man and the Ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. (Timed limit of 10 minutes.) - Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course). An extremely high-speed mode for advanced players, this mode features warp-speed Pac-Man and Ghosts and plenty of tunnels. (Timed limit of five minutes.) - Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course). A mode inspired by the streets of Manhattan — the home for the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. (Timed limit of five minutes.) - Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course). A mix of all other modes resulting in extreme mazes for the most devout Pac-Man fans. (Timed limit of 10 minutes.) The title, which is rated E For Everyone by the ESRB, will cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10), and will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360 starting at 0900 BST on Wednesday, June 6, 2007. [UPDATE: Microsoft has revealed Carlos Daniel Borrego, a 27-year-old man from Pachuca, Mexico, as the winner of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship taking place in New York today. The 10 participants from four continents and eight countries around the world — Austria, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. — competed at The Supper Club in New York City’s Times Square. To advance to the championship finals, each participant had to earn the highest Pac-Man score in their respective home country during the qualifying rounds that took place from May 4 through May 10, 2007. In the finale, these top players competed on the new Pac-Man Championship Edition ahead of its launch on Xbox Live Arcade. “It feels great to be the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion,” said Borrego, who achieved a score of 222,160 on the Pac-Man Championship Edition during the final match. “It is a thrill to hold the title and to have won it by playing on the new game. This is amazing, and I want to dedicate it to my family and Mexico!”]