Arcade classic Pac-Man could be getting a little more interactive with the release of a new wearable peripheral from Bandai Namco Entertainment and smart toy manufacturer Moff.Pac-Man, one of the highest-grossing arcade games of all time, will be taking on a much different style of video game for a new generation of player. Photo courtesy: Moff Band
Bandai Namco, an arcade, mobile, and home video game developed based in Japan, stated in a press release that Pac-Man Powered by Moff will be coming to North America this spring.
Players will be able to the pizza-shaped protagonist by wearing a bracelet that slaps onto their wrist. The Moff Band works by connecting to a smartphone or a tablet via Bluetooth and sends all of the player’s movements to the device.
This is the first collaboration between the companies since Bandai Namco bought a stake in the Moff in September 2015 after a successful Kick Starter campaign.
The wearable band is designed to promote a more healthy and active lifestyle for not only kids, but for families too; however, they aren’t the first video game developer to try this.
Wii Fit was released by Nintendo in 2007 and used much of the same technology through the Wii Remote to track the movements of players. The game eventually received a pad that players could stand on that would track the weight of users and provide more styles of exercises.
As of September 30, 2015 Nintendo announced on its website that Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus had reached over 40 million sales in total, so this new peripheral has a bit of catching up to do.
But in terms of awareness, Pac-Man is one of the best-known video game characters, recognized by 94 per cent of U.S. consumers according to PR Newswire. The question remains whether or not North Americans will be willing to pick up the Moff Band for about $50 (USD).
The peripheral is aimed towards younger audiences, but Pac-Man is a game typically associated with older players who remember the days when arcades existed in the United States and Canada.
The Namco character has received a television show that has played in North America, a video game compilation in 2014, and was also heavily featured in the recently released and heavily despised film Pixels.