Hi, I'm writing to you under the assumption that NoahsMyBro at AtariAge is the same person as NoahsMyBro at DigitPress. I read through the
Namco Hand Held Unit... thread and thought I could contribute some helpful information, but I didn't feel like opening an account at DigitPress just to do so. If you would pass this info on to the thread, it might answer some questions.
Here is the breakdown of Jakks Pacific's line of Namco TV Games:
- Namco TV Games ("Namco 1"; 2003):
Pac-Man,
Galaxian,
Rally-X,
Dig Dug,
Bosconian. Stick is 4-way.
- Namco Portable TV Games (2003 or 2004): same as above, but in a smaller form factor, and with more of a nub instead of a stick.
- Ms. Pac-Man TV Games ("Namco 2"; 2004):
Ms. Pac-Man,
Galaga,
Pole Position,
Mappy,
Xevious. Stick is 8-way, which causes some problems with
Ms. Pac-Man control.
- Wireless Ms. Pac-Man TV Games (2004 or 2005): same as above in new, two-part (base and wireless controller) form factor which looks nothing like the non-wireless version, with 2 added games:
New Rally-X and
Bosconian.
Bosconian has been revamped in this and is more arcade-accurate, including voice (I believe the map is off the playfield, as well). Also, the 8-way stick makes this the only 8-way TV Games rendition of
Bosconian.
- Ms. Pac-Man TV Games with GameKey slot (2005): 2 GameKeys were available for this, though neither was ever sold separately from the TV Games controller. There was a controller/key bundle with 1 GameKey (I believe it was the
Pac-Man and
Dig Dug key) and another bundle with both GameKeys (
Galaxian and
New Rally-X, I believe). Of course, this means the second key is much rarer than the first. All of the games on these keys were revamped and more arcade-accurate than the original 2003 TV Games versions (e.g., improved sound in
Pac-Man, flowers in
Dig Dug).
- Super Pac-Man TV Games ("Namco 3"; 2006):
Pac-Man (revamped version),
Super Pac-Man,
Pac-Man Plus,
Pac & Pal. Stick is 4-way, with a tangible notch plate in the base of the stick to prevent diagonals.
- Pac-Man Arcade Gold TV Games ("Namco 4"; 2007): really just a combination of Namco 1 and Namco 3, with
Pac-Man,
Galaxian,
Rally-X,
Dig Dug,
Bosconian,
Super Pac-Man,
Pac-Man Plus, and
Pac & Pal. ALL the games from Namco 1 are the revamped versions here, closer to the arcade originals (however,
Bosconian is still 4-way due to the stick again having the notch plate inside the base). The controller is noticeably different in design styling from the previous Namco TV Games; while the earlier models went for a retro arcade vibe, this one is much more "kiddy," with
Pac-Man character moldings.
I hope this helped.
onmode-ky