109 replies to this topic

[NightSprinter]

Was at Wal-Mart with a friend a few nights ago, and saw a new PnP stick from Jakks/Namco. It seems to have the styling of an original Pac-Man arcade panel to an extent (and even has a light up "coin return" for the reset button). The joystick is eight-direction with twist features, and comes with the following games:

Pac-Man
Pac-Man Plus
Pac-n-Pal
Super Pac-Man
Bosconian
New Rally-X
Pole Position
Galaxian
Galaga


There may be a few more games I can't remember, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head. Shame they didn't include Ms. Pac-man.

[Jess Ragan]

Is it wired or wireless? If it's wired and the circuit board has the same small footprint as the one in previous Jakks P&P sticks, it could work really well in one of Coleco's arcade tabletops.

[keilbaca]

One of these days once I get some spare cash, I want to build a tabletop arcade with a bunch of these sticks on it, with a combo 4 way/8 way joystick.

This would be the perfect thing for that, as pac-man don't like 4 way, and bosconian likes 8 way.

I would even make a small wheel custom mount with the joystick for pole position.

Edited by keilbaca, Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:01 PM.

[atarian63]

NightSprinter, on Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:39 PM, said:

Was at Wal-Mart with a friend a few nights ago, and saw a new PnP stick from Jakks/Namco. It seems to have the styling of an original Pac-Man arcade panel to an extent (and even has a light up "coin return" for the reset button). The joystick is eight-direction with twist features, and comes with the following games:

Pac-Man
Pac-Man Plus
Pac-n-Pal
Super Pac-Man
Bosconian
New Rally-X
Pole Position
Galaxian
Galaga


There may be a few more games I can't remember, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head. Shame they didn't include Ms. Pac-man.

I want PacMania!

[NightSprinter]

Jess Ragan, on Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:56 PM, said:

Is it wired or wireless? If it's wired and the circuit board has the same small footprint as the one in previous Jakks P&P sticks, it could work really well in one of Coleco's arcade tabletops.

Wired, most likely.

atarian63, I want that and Jr. Pac-Man. Plus given these games were 2P-alternating, having them in 2-player mode would be great.

[S1500]

*sigh* Will Namco release any OTHER games on a dedicated stick and not just Pac Man, etc over and over again? There is way too much overlap on these dedicated consoles.

[Deteacher]

I bought the first gen Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man P-n-P games and they were ok. I was a little disappointed that they weren't the actual Arcade ROMs. I gave up on those dedicated games afterward. If I want to play those games on my tv, I just plug my laptop into it and fire up MAME with my X-Arcade now. Eventually, I'll have the MAME cabinet I've always dreamed of, but that's in the distant future.

[TwinChargers]

S1500, on Fri Dec 12, 2008 9:47 PM, said:

*sigh* Will Namco release any OTHER games on a dedicated stick and not just Pac Man, etc over and over again? There is way too much overlap on these dedicated consoles.

Yeah, whats the deal? Namco acts as if it only released 10 or so games with the way they produce plug-n-plays. Maybe if they made a joystick with games other than the ones they've already released atleast 3 times already they would get some new sales.

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

S1500, on Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:47 PM, said:

*sigh* Will Namco release any OTHER games on a dedicated stick and not just Pac Man, etc over and over again? There is way too much overlap on these dedicated consoles.

I said the same thing about 3 years ago.

[Wickeycolumbus]

looks like its a combination of the original namco stick and the super pac man stick.

[atarian63]

NightSprinter, on Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:39 PM, said:

Was at Wal-Mart with a friend a few nights ago, and saw a new PnP stick from Jakks/Namco. It seems to have the styling of an original Pac-Man arcade panel to an extent (and even has a light up "coin return" for the reset button). The joystick is eight-direction with twist features, and comes with the following games:

Pac-Man
Pac-Man Plus
Pac-n-Pal
Super Pac-Man
Bosconian
New Rally-X
Pole Position
Galaxian
Galaga


There may be a few more games I can't remember, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head. Shame they didn't include Ms. Pac-man.

I was at the local Kroger this evening and they had a New Genesis game/controller with 12 games,golden axe II Sonic, several other and what else they had was interesting. The had a Sega Master system game/controller with 12 games. $9.99 I may get one.
Anyone else seen these?

Edited by atarian63, Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:02 PM.

[onmode-ky]

NightSprinter, do you think you could go back and snap a picture of this sometime, for posting here? I haven't seen this, nor the new Genesis and SMS plug-and-plays atarian63 mentioned, in any of the stores I've visited while Christmas shopping. If you would, please also note the developer of the games (written on the bottom of the box, most likely, probably also with developer's logo on the front and back of the box). I'd bet it's HotGen again, since they did all the previous Namco TV Games for Jakks Pacific; no doubt Jakks simply reused the existing binaries and just repackaged them. Until recently, my pnpgames.txt file had not had a substantive update since October, and that was just one new product since the month before. The plug-and-play category continued its decline this year, so new releases have been few and far between.

Wickeycolumbus, on Sat Dec 13, 2008 3:11 PM, said:

looks like its a combination of the original namco stick and the super pac man stick.

No, the games he listed include some from the Namco 2 (Ms. Pac-Man) stick, namely Pole Position and Galaga. The Namco 4 ("Arcade Gold") stick from last year was the one that combined the Namco 1 (Pac-Man) and Namco 3 (Super Pac-Man) sticks. This one seems to be a partial mash-up of sticks 1-3 (or 1-4, considering that 4 was just 1 + 3--and no, that's not an intentional math joke).

TwinChargers, on Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:41 AM, said:

Yeah, whats the deal? Namco acts as if it only released 10 or so games with the way they produce plug-n-plays. Maybe if they made a joystick with games other than the ones they've already released atleast 3 times already they would get some new sales.

Actually, the game selection is probably all Jakks Pacific's choosing. They're the ones making the toys, not Namco. Namco just gives them the right to do it.
Also, I don't think making new TV Games with a different set of Namco games would result in many more sales. Aside from what's already been released, the general public does not know the other Namco titles. Think of how the Namco Museum releases of late (not the multi-volume releases from the PS1 era) have all included the same core set of games, with the lesser known ones tacked on for the ride. Namco's PS1 Museum releases probably trailed off in sales with the final volumes because fewer and fewer people had heard of those later volumes' games. So, for the newer Museum releases, they always include a few familiar, ultra-popular titles to grab the mainstream consumer who may not have bought one of the earlier releases that had that same core set of games. Personally, I can say that I had never heard of games like Dragon Spirit and Rolling Thunder until the recent Museum releases, and if they had been released on their own, without any big Namco names accompanying them, I think sales would have been very poor.

onmode-ky

[Atariboy]

Whatever they do for a possible follow on for this, I wish they'd take advantage of the excellent twisting ability they've created for Pole Position, and at least give us Pole Position II as well.

Would like to have a playable version of PPII outside of my Atari 7800 version of it.

[tremoloman2006]

I wish they would release a version of Ms. Pac-Man WITHOUT the twisting controller so we could play the game with accurate control.

My sister's favorite game ever is Ms. Pac-Man. I have purchased 3 Ms.Pac-Man sticks (2 regular, one wireless) and all 3 are unplayable when playing Ms.Pac-Man. Both her and I have been so frustrated trying to play that game that we just don't any longer. It's too bad becuase all the other games don't seem to suffer fron the touchiness of that joystick the way Ms.Pac-Man does.

I tried rebuilding one and lubricating all the mechanics of the joystick. It did help a bit but it's still horrible. Maybe I'll try upgrading it to a real arcade stick. Hmmm...

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

That's funny, I've had problems with all of my sticks EXCEPT the Ms. Pac-Man stick(I have the gamekey version). In fact, it's really the only one I can play anymore. The Super Pac-Man stick needs some serious maintenance... and so does my gen1 Pac-Man stick. I'm glad I bought the game key version, as it has most of the other games except ones on the Super Pac-Man stick. I'll have to work on that one, though..... because I like the games on it. I'm also going to alter it(if possible) to an 8-way, rather than 4-way. I'm hoping that will be easy.

[pinball22]

onmode-ky, on Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:38 PM, said:

Personally, I can say that I had never heard of games like Dragon Spirit and Rolling Thunder until the recent Museum releases, and if they had been released on their own, without any big Namco names accompanying them, I think sales would have been very poor.

onmode-ky

I hope now that you've heard of them you've played them... those are two of my favorites!

[Atariboy]

Why would you alter a 4 way stick thats used with games that don't need diagonal control, to a 8 way stick? Seems like it would just make the control even more frusturating.

If you want to retire it and own a Xbox 360, and recent Namco Museum release has all the games from that Super Pac-Man stick, including Pac and Pal and Super Pac-Man.

[onmode-ky]

pinball22, on Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:58 AM, said:

onmode-ky, on Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:38 PM, said:

Personally, I can say that I had never heard of games like Dragon Spirit and Rolling Thunder until the recent Museum releases, and if they had been released on their own, without any big Namco names accompanying them, I think sales would have been very poor.

onmode-ky

I hope now that you've heard of them you've played them... those are two of my favorites!

Er . . . no, actually, I haven't. I don't own any of the Namco Museum collections; I think the reason is a combination of some negative reviews with the fact that the collections never offered many new games on top of the ones I already had in TV Game form (and I was never too bothered by the TV Games' imperfections). That, and I was trying to limit the number of console/PC titles I bought.

It's been a week since my last post in this thread, and still no pictures available of the new Namco stick nor Kroger's Sega plug-and-plays? Don't you people have camera phones? I thought I was the only one still with a cell phone from 2003. I've checked my local Targets and Wal-Marts, but they don't have any new Namco sticks. And I don't think there are Krogers near where I live.

And so, I continue to hold off on updating my comprehensive plug-and-play list.

onmode-ky

[pinball22]

onmode-ky, on Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:38 PM, said:

Er . . . no, actually, I haven't. ...And I don't think there are Krogers near where I live.

Go play them in MAME or something, then. I'll look the next time I go to the Krogers and see if I see PnPs.

[TwinChargers]

Sega plug n plays

I know that this article I'm linking to is from 2006, but I've never seen the SMS plug n play on the right around at any store I've been at. Is that one in the comprehensive list?

Edited by TwinChargers, Wed Dec 24, 2008 8:51 AM.

[pinball22]

I've never seen that SMS one either... but the fact that they swapped the stick and buttons bugs the heck out of me.

[Crimefighter]

Guys this is the 4th Edition Pac-man stick. It's been out on the market for a year.

http://www.jakkstvga...arcadegold.html

[nathanallan]

atarian63, on Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:01 AM, said:

I was at the local Kroger this evening and they had a New Genesis game/controller with 12 games,golden axe II Sonic, several other and what else they had was interesting. The had a Sega Master system game/controller with 12 games. $9.99 I may get one.
Anyone else seen these?

Why didn't I keep up with this thread?? I haven't seen any new Sega plug n plays, I'd love to get one of these! Got a make or model? Or an idea of what other stores they are in?

Nathan

Edited by nathanallan, Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:24 PM.

[atarian63]

nathanallan, on Wed Dec 24, 2008 11:22 PM, said:

atarian63, on Sun Dec 14, 2008 12:01 AM, said:

I was at the local Kroger this evening and they had a New Genesis game/controller with 12 games,golden axe II Sonic, several other and what else they had was interesting. The had a Sega Master system game/controller with 12 games. $9.99 I may get one.
Anyone else seen these?

Why didn't I keep up with this thread?? I haven't seen any new Sega plug n plays, I'd love to get one of these! Got a make or model? Or an idea of what other stores they are in?

Nathan

Hi Nathan!!

I see them a Kroger grocery stores here in ohio, I'll try to find a Manf for you

[onmode-ky]

TwinChargers, on Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:51 AM, said:

Sega plug n plays

I know that this article I'm linking to is from 2006, but I've never seen the SMS plug n play on the right around at any store I've been at. Is that one in the comprehensive list?

No, that one is not in my plug-and-play list, because I have never seen it anywhere other than in that same picture. I think it was just a marketing mockup, created before any actual production, much less product release, was done. I think this product, which I have seen actually for sale on some sites (and which is in my list), was the end result from that announcement, a combination of the two in that picture (i.e., form factor from the left, SMS/GG game selection as from the right). I believe that 2006 picture is attributed to AsianToySource.com, a site which has been inactive since 2006. The claim was that they had the rights to create products based on Sega's back catalog, rights which are currently claimed by AtGames, the creators of the Sega handheld/plug-and-play/cartridge-based units which Play-Asia.com sells. Maybe the "At" in "AtGames" stands for "Asian Toy," and AtGames is a rebirth of sorts of Asian Toy Source? I'm just guessing, with no real basis.

As for the new Sega units being sold at Krogers, with no photographic evidence yet, I would guess they were from AtGames.

Crimefighter, on Wed Dec 24, 2008 10:23 PM, said:

Guys this is the 4th Edition Pac-man stick. It's been out on the market for a year.

I'm not so sure. The original post says, "It seems to have the styling of an original Pac-Man arcade panel to an extent (and even has a light up "coin return" for the reset button). The joystick is eight-direction with twist features." The Namco 4 ("Pac-Man Arcade Gold") stick does not have arcade styling (at least, not by my definition, and definitely not to the extent of the earlier Namco TV Games), and the stick is most definitely not 8-way and has no twist features. However, at the same time, I note that I have visited multiple Wal-Marts and Targets in my area, plus a Toys 'R Us, and have not seen any new Namco TV Game, so maybe NightSprinter was mistaken in his description? It doesn't help that no one else has reported seeing it, either.

For now, I continue to wait for some pictures, and I continue to delay a new upload of my list.

onmode-ky

P.S. atarian, what's a Manf?