Two years ago publisher Namco Bandai celebrated Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary with a hopelessly ill-advised mini-game collection. To make matters worse, the game featured the loathsome 3D ‘arms and legs’ incarnation of the character. As a long time fan of the series, I consider this (sadly well established) version of Pac-Man to be an imposter and an abomination. Alas, he is about to make another appearance, this time in Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, a game based on a cartoon series based on a game.

In what can only be described as a small mercy, it looks like Pac-Man will be embarking on a reasonably coherent adventure instead of constantly lobbing tennis balls and popping balloons in asinine mini games. Still, I firmly believe that Pac-Man’s ghost gobbling exploits should take place exclusively on a 2D field of play. The recent Championship Edition titles beautifully demonstrated the range of possibilities inherent in the core gameplay.

The soulless affront known as Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures will ram yet another stake into my heart when it arrives on 360, PS3 and Wii U in October. A side-scrolling variant will be made available for the 3DS.

Precursor Games has taken to Kickstarter to ask fans to contribute US $1.35m to the development of Shadow of the Eternals. The game is a spiritual successor (code for “we don’t own the IP and therefore can’t make a sequel”) to survival horror classic Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Prior to commencing its Kickstarter campaign, the new company raised approximately $150K via its own independent funding drive.

Precursor has strong links to Silicon Knights, the studio responsible for the GameCube original. Numerous former Silicon Knights staff members, including controversial founder and figurehead Denis Dyack, have joined the new venture. As reported by Polygon, Silicon Knights is now a shell of its former self, having vacated its offices following last year’s disastrous court judgement against the company. It appears that the new venture has acquired a range of assets from the old.

Should the project meet its funding goals, the first of 12 planned episodes of Shadow of the Eternals will arrive on PC and Wii U in August 2014. The opening instalment takes place in 17th century Hungary, where players will investigate the crimes of real world sadist Erzébet Bathory.

Disclosure Policy for Kickstarter and Similar Programs: Black Panel staff and contributors will always inform you if they have backed the project they are discussing.

Presented in glorious alphabetical order, New Media: Retail Roundup is your indispensible checklist of the home console and handheld titles arriving in stores this week. What will you be playing?

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Defiance

NINTENDO WU Nothing 3DS Nothing

SONY PS3 Defiance PSV Nothing

VARIOUS PC Defiance

New Media: Downloadable Digest is your handy reminder of the downloadable titles released last week.

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 BattleBlock Theater * Of Orcs and Men * Saw * Tekken Tag Tournament 2 * WWE 13

NINTENDO WU Toki Tori 2 3DS Mega Man 3 (NES) * Monster High: Skultimate Roller Maze

SONY PS3 Gottlieb Pinball Classics (PS2) * Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2) * Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PS2) * Intellivision Lives (PS2) * Just Dance 4 * Pinball Hall of Fine * Racket Sports * Shaun White Snowboarding * Tom Clancy’s Endwar * Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. PSV Nothing

VALVE Steam Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition * Cities in Motion 2 * Dawn of Fantasy: Kingdom Wars * Defiance * Evoland * Ms. Splosion Man

Presented in glorious alphabetical order, New Media: Retail Roundup is your indispensible checklist of the home console and handheld titles arriving in stores this week. What will you be playing?

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Nothing

NINTENDO WU Nothing 3DS Nothing

SONY PS3 Nothing PSV Nothing

VARIOUS PC Nothing

New Media: Downloadable Digest is your handy reminder of the downloadable titles released last week.

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Assassin’s Creed III * Hulk Hogan’s Main Event * Kinect Party * Nickelodeon Dance 2 * Summer Stars 2012 * Terraria

NINTENDO WU LEGO City Undercover 3DS HarmoKnight * Harvest Moon (GBC) * Heroes of Ruin * Luigi’s Mansion 2 * Resident Evil: The Mercenaries * Resident Evil: Revelations * Splinter Cell 3D

SONY PS3 Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel * BioShock Infinite * Dead or Alive 5 * Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires * LakeMasters EX (PS2) * PSN Picks: Killzone HD + Infamous: Festival of Blood * Robot Warlords (PS2) * SEGA Fight Pack * SEGA Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl * Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time * Tales of Graces F * Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 PSV Dead or Alive 5 Plus * Dead or Alive 5 Plus & Dead or Alive: Paradise * Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time

VALVE Steam Anodyne * BioShock Infinite * Bridge Project * Cut the Rope * Dungeon Hearts * Pressure * Uncharted Waters Online * Warframe