The Ms. Pac-Man arcade game remains an important part of gaming history 40 years later
Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade game that made the leap to video game consoles thanks to its great popularity.
Few games in the history of video games have marked the industry forever. Among those that come to mind are Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy VII, and the original DOOM. But, the game that really marked a before and after in the industry was not the main title but a sequel: the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game.
The arrival of Ms. Pac-Man was the confirmation that video games could go mainstream. But, this is known to those of us who are 25+ years old. The new generations don’t know many of these arcade titles, or they think of them as long-forgotten dinosaurs. Today, we will explain both to retro gamers and new generations what Ms. Pac-Man is and how it has adapted to the current times.
One of the most recognized video games in history
The Ms. Pac-Man arcade game celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. It was released in 1982 by the now-defunct Chicago-based Midway Games. Ms. Pac-Man is one of the most recognized arcade games in video game history. It’s not only because it was one of the first games to have a female character as the main protagonist, but also because Ms. Pac-Man is a sequel to Pac-Man‘s popular arcade game.
The player controls a round yellow character with a pink bow. She must race through a maze eating dots and avoiding ghosts that chase her around corners or through tunnels (a feature that wasn’t present in the original Pac-Man).
Despite being a continuation of what was already seen in the original Pac-Man, the simple fact of having a facelift made it an arcade sensation at the time. So popular was Ms. Pac-Man that it managed to make a successful leap from the arcade cabinets to the most popular video game consoles.
How much is an original Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine worth?
Having come out in 1982, many of the original Ms. Pac-Man cabinets have said goodbye to this world. This has resulted in it being a tough item to obtain nowadays. In addition to this reason, they are highly valued objects because only Midway Games made the production of this cabinet. Something very different from the rest of the games of the time was that the cabinets were made by different companies.
Surely on the internet, you will find many reproductions of this arcade cabinet. Even so, there are very few originals left that are in good condition. If you happen to run across one of these machines or even see one in an antique store or garage sale, you may think the asking price would be exorbitant.
However, this is not necessarily true. You can find it on eBay. The typical price range for an original Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine that is in “good” condition in 2022 falls between $2,000 and $4,000.
Still, if you find an arcade cabinet that is in great condition, it could easily be worth $10,000 or more.
What consoles have the Ms. Pac-Man arcade game?
As has been customary in recent years, Ms. Pac-Man has also been part of those retro video games that have been brought to current platforms. But, in its day, Ms. Pac-Man came in multiple versions of the most popular consoles in the industry.
Among the most known physical editions, we have those of the following retro consoles:
- Atari 2600
- Atari 5200
- Atari 7800
- ColecoVision
- Game Boy Advance (GBA)
- Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
But, as we have previously mentioned, Ms. Pac-Man is not limited only to the owners of these consoles. Also, we can find versions of Ms. Pac-Man for current consoles and mobile phones as digital downloads. As if that wasn’t enough, we can also find web versions of Ms. Pac-Man that are completely free! Unfortunately, Ms. Pac-Man is not included with Pac-Man Museum + or Midway Arcade Origins.
Although this causes the loss of the essence of the retro game provided by the aforementioned consoles, they have immortalized this unforgettable title.
