As an old fogey, I can’t recall a year not going by since 1980 without playing a Pac-Man game. Granted, I’m sure a lot of other people can say that, but it’s pretty incredible that the dot-munching, ghost avoiding/chasing character has held up for over 30 years. Of course, next to the arcade classic, the best ways to play a good game of Pac-Man these days is by hopping online and getting in some quality time with the excellently addictive Pac-Man Championship Edition on the Xbox 360, which is finally getting a content upgrade soon in the form of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. The original game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, while DX made its Windows 8 debut earlier this year. Pac-fans old and new will LOVE this one for its spin on the classic game, the funky HD neon visuals and the lighting fast pace of the game that’s bound to keep you playing ’til the wee hours…

My time with the 360 version at Namco’s recent stopover in NYC was only about ten minutes of Score Attack (one of three gameplay modes), but between the super-fast gameplay and mega scoring jag I went on I was hooked in and wanted to go back for more. Unfortunately, I had a few other games to see, but I’m definitely looking forward to diving back into DX when it’s released over XBLA shortly. As this is an expansion pack, the price point will probably be lower than the original game, but that news hasn’t been announced. The only other gripes I had were the game SCREAMS for a decent arcade stick, as the Xbox 360 pad isn’t great for the precise corner turning you’ll need to survive near-doom scrapes with ghosts or chaining a long chain of escaping ghosts when you grab a power pellet that sends them scooting away.

That and this is one title that would do exceptionally well on ANY platform (I can only imagine the competition across PSN, Wii U, 3DS, PC (and assorted smartphones or tablets), but for now, it seems bound to Microsoft products. Given that this one seems like a simple port job, I think Namco Bandai needs to make itself some more money with this one on anything that can play it rather than restrict its success to a single system or OS. Of course, I don’t make those sort of business decisions at all, but if I did, you’d be playing Pac-Man Championship Edition DX on just about anything with a screen and the horsepower to run it.