OLD NEWS

20/10/03 - Hi everyone. My name is Alex Seward and I am one of the co-creators of Pac-Master. It’s with a heavy heart that I must bring the news that Pac-Master co-creator Zach Darcy has passed away. I’d like to take this moment to remember my time working with him at PixelPulse Entertainment.

Zach and I created this series in 1996 by just messing around in Klik & Play. He’d make a level, send it to me, I’d send one back, and so on and so on until you had the cobbled together nonsense that made up the first Pac-Master game. I don’t think we were kidding ourselves that it was anything amazing, but we threw it on gameguyz.com where it quickly shot up to the #1 downloaded game and stayed there for two whole months!

We were over the moon. We put together a few more spin-off shareware games, and eventually compiled them into The Pac-Master Collection. We managed to get it onto one of those 1001 games CDs, and pocketed just enough out of that deal to fund development of two further Pac-Master games (and with a little much needed help from a private benefactor).

Looking back at it now, it’s obvious we wouldn’t be able to recapture the same success that we achieved with the collection, especially when making not-Pac-Man doesn’t make you friends with Hasbro. But the time we spent as PixelPulse Entertainment, “professionally” working on Trouble In Pacville and Pac-Master 3 were some of the happiest of my life. Zach always came into work (well, my spare room turned development hub) with a smile, a joke, and a new goofy idea for where the story would go next. I’d reply as Pac-Master, “uhhh, hold on, you want to clone my son??” “A Pacwerewolf! That sounds dangerous!” “You want to send a UFO to my house!??” (and yes, the voice came long before you heard it for the first time in Pac-Master 3.)

And then we’d add whatever mad idea he’d had into the game. There was an amazing, spontaneous energy to it all and it all came from Zach. He was a tornado in the best way.

As we were developing Pac-Master 4 (or Pacvasion Day) we had a falling out that saw my exit from the company. But I don’t want that to be how we remember Pac-Master, or PixelPulse, or Zach. All it was was a circumstance of Zach’s passion for the series he cared so much about. He had a vision and ambition and wasn’t going to compromise on it. There’s an admirability to it. He didn’t need me anymore – he knew what he wanted and he knew how he was going to make it happen. At the end of the day, we wanted to do different things.

The lesson, kids, is don’t work with your friends. Happy as those times were, I regret not being there for Zach in the end. I’d trade all those happy memories if it meant he could be here with us today. I’d like to express condolences to his family on behalf of all the fans that made his time on this Earth so meaningful.

Thank you to everyone who supported us over the years, and who kept up interest in the 4th Pac-Master game for those last few years of Zach’s life. It meant the world to him.

- Alex

24/04/03 - Just a reminder to all Pac-Master fans to look after yourselves. You never know what’s coming. The mega fans who played Pac-Master 3 all the way through will know what I mean.

13/09/02 - A brand spanking new website design! Isn’t it something else? PixelPulse is now simpler and easier to use (and to look at!) And no, don’t worry, it didn’t take any time away from the new Pac-Master game!

20/05/02 - We are excited to announce that Pacvasion Day will release this year! It’s the biggest game PixelPulse Entertainment has ever made and even has 3D elements. Please tell your friends about the game and look forward to the best game you’ve ever played!

17/12/01 - Alexander Seward, the co-creator of Pac-Master, has decided rather than finish Pacvasion Day, to depart PixelPulse Entertainment without notice. This will slow down the development of Pacvasion Day as now it is a solo development project heralded by Zach Darcy (many people work on a full release Pac-Master game however it is mainly headed by 1 or 2 people). This will also mean Pac-Master will get a new voice. However, the game will still be completed even if it takes longer to release, and may end up being better for it.

03/05/01 - If you visited this site on 02/05/01 and an "adult" web page appeared our sincerest apologies. This was the result of piracy and was not our fault, I repeat, it was not our fault so please don't send angry e-mail. We maintain that this is a website SAFE FOR CHILDREN and we intend to keep it that way!

01/01/01 – Happy New Year! Celebrate the New Year in style by getting our special 2-in-1 offer which includes Trouble in Pacville and Pac-Master 3 for just $9.95! That’s 50% off for each game. Only lasts for a limited time so get it while it’s hot! Order here.

18/08/00 – To those of you who have asked “where’s Pacvasion Day?”, rest assured, it’s on its way. The game is taking extra time for two reasons – firstly, it’s by far the biggest and most ambitious Pac-Master game yet and demands a lot more time. Secondly, due to sales of both Pac-Master sequels being lower than anticipated we’re running less. This has also meant the additional private funding we had on Pac-Master 3 has been withheld for this follow-up as our sales did not meet their expectations or goals (this isn’t to say they’re any less excited by the project, just that they no longer see it as productive to fund it).

12/06/00 – The error in the shareware downloads has been fixed, so if you downloaded one of the shareware versions of a programme and experienced an error, then it should work now if you re-download.

27/02/00 – Brand new to the Pac-Mastery merchandise store is a high quality T-Shirt featuring Uncle Pac saying one of his famous clever quips! No doubt directed at Pac-Master! Click here to check it out.

16/11/99 – The teaser for Pacvasion Day that previously could only be found on copies of Pac-Master 3 is now available for download on this website! Enjoy!

15/10/99 – For those of you who ordered a game from our catalogue but did not receive a CD, please note we have resolved this issue with our supplier and will fill these incomplete orders as well as provide a 50% refund for the trouble. If you have had this issue but have not contacted us, please do so here so you can be included in the resupply.

23/05/99 – We are back online after a week of dealing with server issues. We are in the process of migrating to a new server that should hopefully offer more consistent service. If you sent email to us within the last week or 2 please resend as we will have not received it.

22/04/99 – Exciting news! We have new merchandise available in the Pac-Mastery Store on this website, including a baseball cap, coaster and frisbee! Click here to check it out.

10/02/99 – Have you ever wanted to hear Pac-Master cover Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise'? No? Well, we were bored and thought it'd be funny, so we put him in the recording booth anyway! You can hear the song here.

01/12/98 – Merry Christmas! Up until the 25th of December we are offering a special deal to get all 3 major Pac-Master releases (the Pac-Master Collection, Trouble in Pacville, Pac-Master 3) in a special all-in-one collection for just $19.95! Get the entire Pac-Series in time for that perfect Christmas gift! Get in quick and order now!

09/07/98 – Guess what!? To celebrate the release of Pac-Master 3, we’re doing a special deal which lets you purchase the game for just $9.95! This deal will only last a limited time so act fast and order now!

04/07/98 – Pac-Master 3 is here! Click here to order the biggest and most polished Pac-Master game ever made! We also have a downloadable demo available so you can try before you buy!

02/05/98 – Pac-Master 3 is coming soon! We’ve just got some kinks to work out and add some last-minute goodies. This game is especially personal for me as it’s the one I’m proudest of and best reflects my own values. It’s still as silly and goofy and ever, don’t get me wrong. But it’s easily the best Pac-Master game we’ve made and that makes me so excited.

19/04/98 – For a limited time only we are offering a special deal to get both ‘The Pac-Master Collection’ and ‘Pac-Master 2: Trouble in Pacville’ in a special bundle for just $14.95! Woah! That’s basically half price! Get in quick before the deal comes to an end.

21/03/98 – To avoid legal catastrophe, we have decided to remove our ‘freeware games’ section as many of these games used music that certain companies didn’t like us using. No legal action has been threatened but we wanted to get ahead of any greedy attempts to take them down after seeing this happen with some of our competitors. On the bright side, most of these games were old and not up to current PixelPulse Entertainment standards.

05/02/98 – Love Pac-Master? Then why not visit our new merchandise store! Anything you buy helps support the series more than you can know, as well as being great quality and a perfect souvenir for any Pac-Master fan.

12/04/97 – Special announcement! The next game in the Pac-Master series will be titled simply ‘Pac-Master 3’ and continue the story of Pac-Master from where we left off in ‘Pac-Master 2: Trouble in Pacville’. We have an idea of what the story will be, but don’t want to give it away just yet. Let’s just say PacKill isn’t quite finished with his arch nemesis Pac-Master…

25/03/97 – Pac-Master 2: Trouble in Pacville is here! Trouble in Pacville is the long awaited follow up to The Pac-Master Collection and sees Pac-Master take on the vicious Pacwerewolf in the first truly full-fledged Pac-Master game! Click here to order the game or click here to try out the demo.

02/03/97 – Welcome to the new official PixelPulse Entertainment website! The site should now be easier to navigate and use. In the change we have taken down several of our freeware games as we feel they no longer fit with our family-friendly mission. However, you can still find these online at gameguyz.com.