Shopping Guide
Pac-Man, the worldwide popular game created in Japan, has been made into a new TV anime. Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures began its regular broadcast on America’s Disney XD channel on June 17. This anime, which is being produced by Namco Bandai Games, is being created in Japan as a full CG TV anime series by OLM Digital. However, the aim of the series is for it to become a global title intended for a worldwide audience. For this reason, it was first broadcast in America. Moving forward, it will be broadcast in 40 countries including England, Australia, and Spain. Interestingly enough, a broadcast in Japan has not been announced.
Also, one point worth noting is the show’s extraordinary production budget of $600,000 per episode. This is four or five times the budget for ordinary Japanese TV anime. Investing such a production cost in the anime is the preamble to a global business in which high quality is sought after. Furthermore, the recovery of profits won’t come from just the anime itself. Character licensing will play a crucial role, such as toys and games that are being simultaneously developed. This is also a reason why the game company Namco Bandai Games is working on the anime’s production.
On June 7, Namco Bandai Games announced their outline for business development after Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. First, in the gaming sphere, three console game titles will be developed along with five arcade game titles, as well as one network game title. These will be developed in order until March 2014. These will also be released first in America and then spread to other regions. Among these, one that they are putting their efforts into is a game app called Pac-Man Dash. The app can be enjoyed for free, but item codes attached to toys that will go on sale are being implemented to increase fans’ enjoyment of the game. These toys will come with codes for items to be used in-game by players.
A large-scale development of character items is also planned. This summer, more than 10 toys will go on sale from Bandai Namco Group’s Bandai America. Over 40 companies will create licensed products, with over 500 items projected to be released. It will be interesting to see if these companies can follow in the footsteps of Pokémon and create a boom for Pac-Man, which is loved as one of the world’s most successful arcade games.
Namco Bandai Games:
http://www.namcobandaigames.com/home
Source:
http://animeanime.jp/article/2013/06/08/14340.html (Japanese)
© 2012, 2013 Namco Bandai Games Inc. All rights reserved.
