7 replies to this topic

[KAZ]

I have a question about Pac-Man that has bothered me for THE longest time.

Ok, I have the Mame emulator and Pac-man on my computer.
Using a TV-out, I switch the display to my nearby television. It virtually looks the same as on the computer.


Ok, on my Sony Playstation, I play Namco Museum Vol. 1 Pac-Man on my television. Why doesn't it look the same as Mame? Why can't they make it look the same? It is the same company isn't it?

Forever this question has bothered the hell out of me.

Even on Playstation 2...Pacman world or whatever it is called, the Pac-Man still doesn't look like the arcade...

What is so frickin hard about making it the same (not saying that I could do it of course), but how can Playstation be capable of making awesome
fully animated effects like "Bahamut Summon" on Final Fantasy 7, but simply cannot make Pac-Man look like it is supposed to.



Even when I switch the mode on my Playstation to "horizontal"...it still doesn't quite measure up to Mame Pac-Man. For one, the sound effects seem wrong...And why can't they simply make it look the same right side up...considering using tv out, it fits fine on the screen.


Can anyone provide me an answer?

Thanks.

[Ze_ro]

MAME actually emulates the game based on the original roms... so in theory, everything about the game should be exactly as it was in the arcade (with the exceptions of stuff like your monitor, playing with the keyboard and so on)

My guess is that Namco just re-wrote Pac-Man from the ground up when they release their anthology packs... re-writing a game and getting everything perfect is incredibly difficult, and there is bound to be subtle differences.

--Zero

[SS]

Ze_ro said:

My guess is that Namco just re-wrote Pac-Man from the ground up when they release their anthology packs...

They did.

[Nukey Shay]

Most companies do. Usually screwing up what made the game likable in the first place.

GBA Mario games spring to mind.

[KAZ]

Yeah, Mame pac-man is gloriously awesome. I'm so disappointed in Playstation's effort.

It is so choppy...ever notice that in Playstation Namco?


If you turn the tv on its side...the color sometimes does funny things (I used to have a small tv, and did this)...

It is "less horrible" when you play it in horizontal mode...but what a pain to do it that way.


But if it is Namco who redid their own game, who am I to judge?

Maybe it should simply be viewed as "another version".



Even Super Nintendo Ms. Pacman (with the irritating scrolling action) beats out Ms. Pacman on Namco Museum 3. Nothing comes close to Mame of course.



Playstation 2 would be capable of having a virtual freaking arcade...so why don't they do that? With a bunch of classic games in it, that would look perfect. You could even walk through the arcade in a virtual way.

Again, not that I could even help with this dream in a billion years...but I've seen awesome stuff on Playstation 2 also, makes me think this could be possible.

Thanks for the responses

[ubersaurus]

Nukey Shay said:

Most companies do.  Usually screwing up what made the game likable in the first place.

GBA Mario games spring to mind.

I dunno. All they did was add in voices, and made them look like the SNES ones. Well, and put giant veggies in mario 2. I don't particularly care for the changes, but its hard to mess up mario games.

[Ze_ro]

KAZ said:

Playstation 2 would be capable of having a virtual freaking arcade...so why don't they do that?  With a bunch of classic games in it, that would look perfect.

Unfortunately, it's cheaper for companies to just re-write the game, since proper emulation takes a lot more time. They figure only the hardcore gamers can tell the difference anyways (and they're probably right), and make more profit by spending less time/money in development.

I don't think anyone has ported MAME to the PS2 yet, but it runs on the X-Box and Dreamcast.

--Zero

[Breakpack]

KAZ said:

I have a question about Pac-Man that has bothered me for THE longest time.  

Ok, I have the Mame emulator and Pac-man on my computer.
Using a TV-out, I switch the display to my nearby television.  It virtually looks the same as on the computer.


Ok, on my Sony Playstation, I play Namco Museum Vol. 1 Pac-Man on my television.  Why doesn't it look the same as Mame?  Why can't they make it look the same?  It is the same company isn't it?

Forever this question has bothered the hell out of me.

Even on Playstation 2...Pacman world or whatever it is called, the Pac-Man still doesn't look like the arcade...

What is so frickin hard about making it the same (not saying that I could do it of course), but how can Playstation be capable of making awesome
fully animated effects like "Bahamut Summon" on Final Fantasy 7, but simply cannot make Pac-Man look like it is supposed to.



Even when I switch the mode on my Playstation to "horizontal"...it still doesn't quite measure up to Mame Pac-Man.  For one, the sound effects seem wrong...And why can't they simply make it look the same right side up...considering using tv out, it fits fine on the screen.


Can anyone provide me an answer?

Thanks.

Yup,I wondered the same thing.The Pac-Man sound effects and behaviors of ghosts are not quite the same in the Namco museums As to why it doesnt look the same graphically,Im gonna guess its the resolution.The PS ,I dont think ,can display the same resolution as the TV out on MAME emulated Pac-Man,which is why it prolly looks sharper when u play thru MAME (vertically).I LOVE TV out also:Being able to play Jr.Pac,Pac 'NPal,and arcade perfect MK games!