Search for Pac-Man world champ

Owners of the Xbox 360 gaming console will be able to compete for the title of Pac-Man World Champion next week.

A tournament organised by Microsoft and Namco Bandai, the Japanese company that came up with the yellow pill-chomping video-game character, will begin on 25 April.

“The success of Pac-Man stems from its fun gameplay and host of characters that have been enjoyed by families for generations. It will be exciting to see ‘Pac-Man’ fans from around the world compete on Xbox Live Arcade to become the first-ever ‘Pac-Man’ World Champion,” said Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man.

Nine finalists, including two from Europe, will be taken from the Xbox Live leaderboards and will ultimately compete for the title. The winner will receive a one-off Xbox 360 console featuring a special design inspired by the game, as well as 100,000 points to buy games and other content available on the Xbox Live service.

The Pac-Man game was launched in Japan in 1980 and came to the world's attention a year later.

“Pac-Man reached an iconic status in the 80s across multiple generations and cultures, so the Xbox 360 ‘Pac-Man’ World Championship provides a great incentive for fans old and new to fall in love with the game all over again,” said Jeff Bell of Microsoft.

If you own an Xbox 360 and want to start practicing you can download Pac-Man for 400 Microsoft Points from the Xbox Live Arcade.

http://www.xboxlivetournament.com/

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