Pac-Man Zone

Pac-Man Zone (パックマンゾーン Pakkuman Zōn) was a multi-regional chain of arcade locations, operated across several subsidiaries of Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first location was opened in 2014 in Abu Dhabi,https://www.intergameonline.com/coin-op/news/worlds-first-pac-man-zone-opens with subsequent locations later opening in Japan and the United States.
Following the closure of Namco USA in 2021, all remaining Pac-Man Zone locations were stripped of their original branding, and now operate under different names.
== History ==
The "Pac-Man Zone" branding appears to have been conceptualized in 2013, following the release of the TV series Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Notably, Bandai Namco Amusement America began utilizing the Pac-Man Zone branding for trade shows in 2013, alongside the release of new Pac-Man redemption games by the company.
The first Pac-Man Zone location was opened on July 24th, 2014, located inside of a "Sparky's" amusement center in Abu Dhabi. Bandai Namco (of Japan) formed a licensing agreement with Al Hokair Group, who owns the Sparky's franchise, to open Pac-Man Zones within additional Sparky's locations.https://gulfnews.com/technology/media/pac-man-comes-calling-again-1.1379645 The retail layouts and designs for the UAE locations were created by ASI Design Solutions.https://asidesigns.com/retail-ip-concepts/
Upon the unveiling of the UAE licensing agreement, Bandai Namco announced plans to expand the Pac-Man Zone branding to Europe and the United States.https://www.bandainamco.co.jp/files/ir/newsletter/pdf/bn_news35.pdf (Note: clicking link will download document)"バンダイナムコゲームスのオリジナルI P「パックマン」の業務用ゲー
ム機を中心に設置した施設が、今春、アラブ首長国連邦のアブダビにオープン予定です。[...] バンダイナムコゲームスでは、パックマンのI Pを活用し、業務用ゲーム機のビジネスを大きく拡大すべく、この取り組みを欧米にも広げていく予定です。" The eventual U.S. operations were handled by Namco USA, with the first overseas locations opening in the mid-2010s (exact year unknown). Japanese Pac-Man Zone locations were also opened in Japan in 2016.
In 2019 - likely in connection with the Pac-Man Zone franchise - Namco USA announced plans to brand all future locations under the Pac-Man name.https://www.wilcoxarcade.com/single-post/2018/12/24/namco-usa-is-rebranding-as-pac-man-entertainment-so-lets-see-some-change All Namco USA arcades were "unified" under the name "Pac-Man Play", with locations still under other names (e.g. Aladdin's Castle and Time-Out) being dubbed as "Powered by Pac-Man".https://web.archive.org/web/20210116050915/https://pacmanplay.com/
The Pac-Man Zone franchise appears to have been moderately successful, with new locations opening up until mid-2020. However, Namco USA would be closed down in 2021, following "extraordinary losses" of profit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;https://www.siliconera.com/bandai-namco-will-no-longer-handle-amusement-facilities-in-america/https://www.bandainamco.co.jp/files/eigoE58C97E7B1B3E696BDE8A8ADE4BA8BE6A5ADE996A2E980.pdf (Note: clicking link will download document) this appears to have ceased all Pac-Man Zone operations worldwide. Following the company closure, most (if not all) remaining U.S. Pac-Man Zone locations were acquired by CTM Group; they remain in operation under the name "At the Pier Arcade", with all Pac-Man branding removed.
== Location details ==
Pac-Man Zone locations operated similarly to Namco USA's other arcade chains. Each location would feature Pac-Man-themed visuals and arcade prizes; giant Pac-Man statues were also a common fixture. The arcade machines are believed to have been provided directly by Namco for each franchisee; ironically, the storefronts were not provided proper Pac-Man arcade machines by default."He [a Pac-Man Zone franchisee owner] said he will continue to seek out a combination of new and old machines to diversify the selection. The must-have game for [the arcade] is Pac-Man." https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2019/12/pac-man-themed-arcade-debuts-at-jackson-crossing-mall.html
While the initial UAE locations used Ghostly Adventures-themed branding, all known U.S. operations used standard Pac-Man theming (largely based on the general 2010s licensing designs); the Japanese locations appear to have used a mixture of both assets. Additionally, U.S. locations were in dedicated Pac-Man Zone storefronts, whereas the UAE and Japan locations were moreso themed "areas" within other amusement centers.
Japanese locations are known to have featured Pac-Man ride-on cars, housed in a small, sectioned-off area of the arcade.https://bandainamco-am.co.jp/game_center/loc/makuhari-shintoshin/NEWS/New_page_2.htmlhttps://miki800.com/pacman_zone/ Each car features a coin slot and two joysticks to direct steering. These are not known to have been featured at any other regional locations.
== Trivia ==
*The Japanese Pac-Man Zones imported most arcade machines from North America and Europe; resulting in the locations featuring games that otherwise did not enter full production in Japan (such as Pac-Man Smash and Pac-Man Basket). A notable exception to this is Pac-Man Hammer Match, a game solely developed for the Japanese market.
*The Pac-Man ride-on cars from Japanese locations would later be modified and repurposed for the virtual reality game Pac-Man Racer.
== Gallery ==
Pacman-zone-iaapa-2013-booth.jpg|A Pac-Man Zone booth at IAAPA 2013
Pacman-zone-iaapa-2013-statue.jpg|A Pac-Man Zone statue, as seen at IAAPA 2013
== References ==
== External links ==
*"Sparky's PAC MAN Zone - Al Hokair Group" (YouTube) - grand opening video of the first location
*"Namco Pac-Man Zone - Sapporo, Hokkaido" (YouTube) - tour of a Japanese location
*3D-modeled interior plan for a UAE Pac-Man Zone (Behance, Milan Novakovic)
Category:Real-World locations and events
Category:Arcade locations
Category:Amusement attractions