{"id":40862,"date":"2024-12-05T13:23:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T04:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=40862"},"modified":"2024-12-05T15:25:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T06:25:38","slug":"bandai-namco-wanted-secret-levels-pac-man-episode-to-be-as-weird-as-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-wanted-secret-levels-pac-man-episode-to-be-as-weird-as-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"Bandai Namco wanted Secret Level&#8217;s Pac-Man episode to be as weird as possible\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Although all of the episodes in Amazon Prime Video\u2019s upcoming <strong>Secret Level <\/strong>anthology series are based on video games and their respective worlds, some are weirder than others. Case in point: the Pac-Man episode. While the classic video game revolves around a yellow circle eating pellets, fruits, and ghosts, the Secret Level episode seems to be focused on a robed alien and his spherical companion:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You are the chosen. Enter p4cm4n @ <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7bjJpufMyM\">https:\/\/t.co\/7bjJpufMyM<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SecretLevel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SecretLevel<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/officialpacman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@officialpacman<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BandaiNamcoUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BandaiNamcoUS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BandaiNamcoEU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@BandaiNamcoEU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9K3OzWl8Sw\">pic.twitter.com\/9K3OzWl8Sw<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Secret Level (@SecretLevelonPV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecretLevelonPV\/status\/1864331418567860552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re still confused after watching the teaser video, you are not alone. Apart from the floating sphere that resembles Pac-Man and the line \u201cEat or be eaten,\u201d which refers to the video game\u2019s core loop, there seem to be little to no similarities or references between the Pac-Man we know and love and this strange episode.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Bandai called and literally said to us &#39;We would like audiences to wonder what the f*ck did they do to PacMan?&#39;,&quot; &#8211; Dave Wilson, Supervising Director &amp; Executive\u00a0Producer of Secret Level <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CeZ3URzgzr\">https:\/\/t.co\/CeZ3URzgzr<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XUfePMbGd0\">pic.twitter.com\/XUfePMbGd0<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Riana MP\ud83d\udc9c (@therianamp) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/therianamp\/status\/1864441029866475968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This disconnect seems to have been intentional, as <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4BecGajYLk4?si=s6ShyEGOdKptK4sR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a Danny Pe\u00f1a and Riana Manuel-Pe\u00f1a interview<\/a> with Secret Level Supervising Director and Executive Producer Dave Wilson and Creator and Executive Producer Tim Miller reveals that Bandai Namco itself wanted audiences to \u201cwonder WTF did they do to Pac-Man?\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wilson says that the initial pitches for the Pac-Man episode were very close to the source material. It was J.T. Petty, writer for the horror games Outlast, Outlast 2, and Outlast Trials, who came up with the outlandish script that was used for the final episode. Pac-Man\u2019s weirder elements were also discussed in the writer\u2019s room, such as the game\u2019s \u201ceat or be eaten\u201d mentality and why the ghosts\u2019 eyes are never consumed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1352\" height=\"757\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1352px) 100vw, 1352px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241205-40862-001.jpg\" alt=\"Secret Level Pac-Man episode\" class=\"wp-image-40867\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241205-40862-001.jpg 1352w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241205-40862-001-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/20241205-40862-001-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Pac-Man\u2019s Secret Level episode was directed by Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres, two of three directors who worked on the animated Netflix series Love, Death, &amp; Robots&#8217; episodes Alternate Histories and When the Yogurt Took Over. Maldonado and Torres\u2019 unique brand of strangeness combined with J.T. Petty\u2019s dark writing created a Pac-Man episode unlike any other.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Secret Level streams on Amazon Prime Video on December 10, 2024.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secret Level&#8217;s creators reveal that Bandai Namco itself wanted audiences to \u201cwonder WTF they did to Pac-Man?\u201d in its dedicated episode.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":40865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-40862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bandai Namco wanted Secret Level&#039;s Pac-Man episode to be as weird as possible\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Secret Level&#039;s creators reveal that Bandai Namco itself wanted audiences to \u201cwonder WTF they did to Pac-Man?\u201d in its dedicated episode.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/bandai-namco-wanted-secret-levels-pac-man-episode-to-be-as-weird-as-possible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bandai Namco wanted Secret Level&#039;s Pac-Man episode to be as weird as possible\u00a0 - 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