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Pacman-zone-front-building

A former "Pac-Man Zone" location from Kennesaw, GA (circa 2020).

Pac-Man Zone (パックマンゾーン Pakkuman Zōn) was a multi-regional chain of arcade locations, operated across several subsidiaries of Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first location was opened in 2014 in Abu Dhabi,[1] with subsequent locations later opening in Japan and the United States.

Following the closure of Namco USA in 2021, all remaining Pac-Man Zone locations were stripped of their original branding, and now operate under different names.

History[]

The "Pac-Man Zone" branding appears to have been conceptualized in 2013, following the release of the TV series Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Notably, Bandai Namco Amusement America began utilizing the Pac-Man Zone branding for trade shows in 2013, alongside the release of new Pac-Man redemption games by the company.

The first Pac-Man Zone location was opened on July 24th, 2014, located inside of a "Sparky's" amusement center in Abu Dhabi.[1] Bandai Namco (of Japan) formed a licensing agreement with Al Hokair Group, who owns the Sparky's franchise, to open Pac-Man Zones within additional Sparky's locations.[2] The retail layouts and designs for the UAE locations were created by ASI Design Solutions.[3]

Upon the unveiling of the UAE licensing agreement, Bandai Namco announced plans to expand the Pac-Man Zone branding to Europe and the United States.[4] The eventual U.S. operations were handled by Namco USA, with the first overseas locations opening in the mid-2010s (exact year unknown). Japanese Pac-Man Zone locations were also opened in Japan in 2016.

In 2019 - likely in connection with the Pac-Man Zone franchise - Namco USA announced plans to brand all future locations under the Pac-Man name.[5] All Namco USA arcades were "unified" under the name "Pac-Man Play", with locations still under other names (e.g. Aladdin's Castle and Time-Out) being dubbed as "Powered by Pac-Man".[6]

The Pac-Man Zone franchise appears to have been moderately successful, with new locations opening up until mid-2020. However, Namco USA would be closed down in 2021, following "extraordinary losses" of profit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;[7][8] this appears to have ceased all Pac-Man Zone operations worldwide. Following the company closure, most (if not all) remaining U.S. Pac-Man Zone locations were acquired by CTM Group; they remain in operation under the name "At the Pier Arcade", with all Pac-Man branding removed.

Location details[]

Pac-Man Zone locations operated similarly to Namco USA's other arcade chains. Each location would feature Pac-Man-themed visuals and arcade prizes; giant Pac-Man statues were also a common fixture. The arcade machines are believed to have been provided directly by Namco for each franchisee; ironically, the storefronts were not provided proper Pac-Man arcade machines by default.[9]

While the initial UAE locations used Ghostly Adventures-themed branding, all known U.S. operations used standard Pac-Man theming (largely based on the general 2010s licensing designs); the Japanese locations appear to have used a mixture of both assets. Additionally, U.S. locations were in dedicated Pac-Man Zone storefronts, whereas the UAE and Japan locations were moreso themed "areas" within other amusement centers.

Japanese locations are known to have featured Pac-Man ride-on cars, housed in a small, sectioned-off area of the arcade.[10][11] Each car features a coin slot and two joysticks to direct steering. These are not known to have been featured at any other regional locations.

Trivia[]

  • The Japanese Pac-Man Zones imported most arcade machines from North America and Europe; resulting in the locations featuring games that otherwise did not enter full production in Japan (such as Pac-Man Smash and Pac-Man Basket). A notable exception to this is Pac-Man Hammer Match, a game solely developed for the Japanese market.
  • The Pac-Man ride-on cars from Japanese locations would later be modified and repurposed for the virtual reality game Pac-Man Racer.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://www.intergameonline.com/coin-op/news/worlds-first-pac-man-zone-opens
  2. https://gulfnews.com/technology/media/pac-man-comes-calling-again-1.1379645
  3. https://asidesigns.com/retail-ip-concepts/
  4. https://www.bandainamco.co.jp/files/ir/newsletter/pdf/bn_news35.pdf (Note: clicking link will download document)
    "バンダイナムコゲームスのオリジナルI P「パックマン」の業務用ゲー ム機を中心に設置した施設が、今春、アラブ首長国連邦のアブダビにオープン予定です。[...] バンダイナムコゲームスでは、パックマンのI Pを活用し、業務用ゲーム機のビジネスを大きく拡大すべく、この取り組みを欧米にも広げていく予定です。"
  5. https://www.wilcoxarcade.com/single-post/2018/12/24/namco-usa-is-rebranding-as-pac-man-entertainment-so-lets-see-some-change
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20210116050915/https://pacmanplay.com/
  7. https://www.siliconera.com/bandai-namco-will-no-longer-handle-amusement-facilities-in-america/
  8. https://www.bandainamco.co.jp/files/eigoE58C97E7B1B3E696BDE8A8ADE4BA8BE6A5ADE996A2E980.pdf (Note: clicking link will download document)
  9. "He [a Pac-Man Zone franchisee owner] said he will continue to seek out a combination of new and old machines to diversify the selection. The must-have game for [the arcade] is Pac-Man." https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2019/12/pac-man-themed-arcade-debuts-at-jackson-crossing-mall.html
  10. https://bandainamco-am.co.jp/game_center/loc/makuhari-shintoshin/NEWS/New_page_2.html
  11. https://miki800.com/pacman_zone/

External links[]

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