Namco Museum Vol. 3

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (ナムコミュージアム VOL.3 Namuko Myūjiamu VOL. 3) is a compilation of Namco arcade games, originally released for the Sony PlayStation in 1996. It is the third title in the Namco Museum series, and the third of its five original PlayStation installments (represented by the letter "M"). This volume includes the original Ms. Pac-Man arcade game, alongside five other titles.

Overview[]

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (in addition to the other four original volumes) takes place in a virtual museum, which is navigated in a first-person view. Pac-Man acts as the player's tour guide, appearing in the bottom-right corner of the screen. The museum segment can also be skipped entirely via the title screen or pause menu; allowing the player to start up a specific game without navigating the museum.

The museum layout in Namco Museum Vol. 3 is considerably altered compared to Vol. 1 and 2. Upon entering the museum, the player is automatically introduced to Uketsuke Komachi, a pink robot receptionist in the front hallway; she allows the player to create and access save data from the PS1 memory card. On the same level floor as Komachi is a door leading to a "lounge" area; a portrait of Kai from The Tower of Druaga is on the opposite-facing wall. A set of two staircases lead to the main floor area, featuring a series of exhibit halls based on different Namco games. Each game's exhibit begins with a long hallway, showcasing arcade artwork and other memorabilia on display; leading to a decorative room featuring the game's arcade machine. Exiting back out of the front museum entrance displays the game's credits sequence.

Opening[]

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (USA)-intro3 — Opening intro still

The game opens with a 3D-animated cutscene, showing Gil (from The Tower of Druaga) unlocking a treasure chest. Upon opening the chest, it is revealed that Pac-Man is inside, causing Gil to jump back; Pac-Man stares and blinks back at Gil, then rushes off on a skateboard.

As Pac-Man skates away, he ends up falling off of the top of Druaga's tower; his landing is cushioned by a trampoline, which itself launches Pac-Man into a dirt hole on the Pole Position racetrack (which Pookas emerge out of). Pac-Man climbs out of the hole, as the ships from Galaxian fly by; he continues skateboarding in front of a row of TVs, accompanied by three mascots who originate from "Namcot" Famicom commercials.^[1] Pac-Man then runs into Ms. Pac-Man; echoing the first volume, the two hold hands and walk to the Namco Museum together.

Games[]

Namco Museum Vol. 3 features six main games, including:

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (USA)-mspacman-gameplay-type1 — *Ms. Pac-Man* gameplay (under default video settings).

Ms. Pac-Man (1982)
Galaxian (1979)
Dig Dug (1982)
Phozon (1983)
Pole Position II (1983)
The Tower of Druaga (1984)

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (USA)-mspacman-gameplay-type2 — *Ms. Pac-Man* in vertical video mode.

The games themselves were ported from the source code of the original arcade versions, and are not based on pure emulation. Because of this, the included version of Ms. Pac-Man (alongside the other titles) features minor differences in comparison to the arcade original. Titles that were originally in vertical resolution are letterboxed in horizontal resolution by default; the games can be changed to run in their original aspect ratio, with the TV set needing to be flipped on its side.

There are two hidden games in this compilation - The Tower of Druaga: Another Tower and The Tower of Druaga: Darkness Tower. Both games were seemingly created for Namco Museum Vol. 3 itself.

Exhibits[]

Note that the below section(s) only detail the Pac-Man-related exhibit halls.

Ms. Pac-Man exhibit[]

Hallway[]

Namco Museum Vol. 3 (USA)-exhibit1 — *Ms. Pac-Man* exhibit, showing a seemingly-unreleased Pac-Man plush.

The Ms. Pac-Man exhibit's hallway takes place in front of Pac-Man's house; similar in appearance to the main game room itself in Namco Museum Vol. 1. Only two exhibits are on display in this room: the game's PCB board (labeled as "PC board"), and a set of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man plush toys. The hall also features "how to play" and "tip" signs. The player enters Pac-Man's house to view the main exhibit room.

The Ms. Pac-Man plush shown was released as part of a 1991 set of arcade prizes (detailed on the list of Japanese 1990s merchandise), alongside Goro and Meowky from Mappy. However, the Pac-Man plush was not part of this set, and was seemingly unreleased.

Main room[]

Upon entering Pac-Man's house, the player is greeted to Ms. Pac-Man and Chomp-Chomp dancing in the living room. A rendition of the "Junior" (Act 3) intermission theme from Ms. Pac-Man plays in the background, with a voice periodically singing "Ms. Pac-Man". The duo's dance routine lasts approximately two minutes, with each character having unique dance moves (including Ms. Pac-Man singing). On the wall behind Ms. Pac-Man is a "cocktail table" arcade machine; clicking on the cabinet will start Ms. Pac-Man (though on close inspection, its artwork is actually that of a Puckman cocktail table).

In the back of the house is a yellow couch and a Pac-Man-shaped table, along with a TV displaying Ms. Pac-Man winking in front of an American flag; likely in reference of Ms. Pac-Man being an American-developed title. A door labeled "toilet" appears on the side of the house which, when opened, reveals Pac-Man sitting on the toilet, shocked at the player. A family photo showing Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Jr. Pac-Man, and Baby Pac-Man also appears on the wall.

Ms. Pac-Man and Chomp-Chomp's character designs are based on Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, as is the house design itself. Pac-Man's design is based on his standard appearance.

Lounge area[]

The "lounge" area is accessed from an unlabeled room near the museum's entrance; it is split into two additional rooms, a library and a theater. Between both doors is Namco's Wagyan robot; speaking to Wagyan will show a list featuring the players' high scores, total play time, and amount of games played.

Library[]

The library area features the following:

A "Namco Official History" screen that displays a list of Namco arcade games published in Japan (up until 1996). In this volume, the screen is introduced by an alien mascot who was used in some "Namcot" Famicom advertisements. Pac-Man will reminisce on the games that are included in the museum itself.
- Due to the list only featuring Namco-published titles, Ms. Pac-Man is not listed (which, at the time, had only been published in its arcade form by Bally Midway).
A display showcasing the front covers to monthly issues 15-28 of "NG - Namco Community Magazine".
A series of additional picture displays: including images from the production line of Galaxian machines, and pieces of artwork and production material related to The Tower of Druaga.

Theater[]

The theater area is a large auditorium featuring a movie theater screen. Clicking the screen will open a "Slide Show" selector for each included game; allowing the player to view the games' sprites and animations, as well as their music and sound effects. Various characters can be seen in the theater's audience; including the Pac-Man family, the Ghost Gang, Miru, Mappy, Pooka, and the Runner from Metro-Cross.

Trivia[]

There is a secret Ms. Pac-Man tour guide icon that (if unlocked) appears when viewing the player's statistics via the Wagyan robot. Ms. Pac-Man will only appear if certain level thresholds are passed in every game:
- In Pole Position II, the player must complete one full course in the game (excluding the qualifying lap).
- In Phozon, the player must reach level 10 (i.e. reaching world 2, level 2, rather than passing 10 worlds).
- In Galaxian, the player must reach level 10.
- In The Tower of Druaga, the player must reach level 60 (with or without continues).
- In Ms. Pac-Man, the player must reach level 5.
- In Dig Dug, the player must reach level 10 (with or without continues).
The included port of Ms. Pac-Man features a custom screen border modeled after the original Puckman bezel artwork; with the artwork completely redrawn to show Ms. Pac-Man (in the style of her Japanese artwork by Tadashi Yamashita) in place of Pac-Man.
- A similar screen border design would be used for the Xbox Live Arcade version of Ms. Pac-Man in 2007, though used a different Ms. Pac-Man design modeled after Hideki Tanaami's 1998 design of Pac-Man.
The Pretzel in the Ms. Pac-Man "Slide Show" is erroneously referred to as a "Cookie".
The outside of the Theater features a poster showing Namco's "PicPac" robot band. The PicPac band would be shown performing in the same theater in Namco Museum Vol. 4.
The included port of Pole Position II features a redesigned set of billboards; likely due to the original arcade versions (by both Namco and Atari) using billboards of various company logos (e.g. Marlboro and Pepsi). This includes modifying the "Agip" sign (originally showing a dragon) into a sign reading "Danger.", showing Pac-Man eating a ghost. The "But Clyde!" sign is retained from the Japanese arcade version of the game.
- This version of Pole Position II was the basis for the version of the game included in Namco Museum for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, resulting in the same billboard designs appearing in those versions.
The version of Phozon included in international versions is a full English translation of the game, which is otherwise exclusive to Namco Museum Vol. 3 (as the game was originally only released in Japan, with a later Italian version by Sidam).
This compilation sold an estimated 2.2 million copies in the U.S. (as of 2007),^[2] with approximately 150,000 additional copies sold in Japan. Namco Museum Vol. 1 would sell in similarly high numbers; though the other three volumes are notably much scarcer, especially volumes 4 and 5.
The compilation would be re-released as a "PS1 Classic" downloadable title in 2014, compatible with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita. This version has since been delisted.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

References[]

[1] Example commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJJfLIGwq1g

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20220101032316/http://the-magicbox.com/Chart-USPlatinum.shtml

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