By now, I am sure all of you have heard the news that tomorrow's XBLA release is Pac-Man: Championship Edition.

Many of you are likely intrigued, some of you might be puzzled by the hype, and some are probably downright disgusted by certain Microsoft employees that blew the hype out of proportion.

But let me say this: the game is fun.

For me personally, this update to the basic Pac-Man premise is both welcome and exciting. I was never very good at the original Pac-Man, and I did not want to spend the time necessary to become good enough to enjoy it more. It was always an old-school hardcore arcade game from my perspective. But this new addition adds a furious pace (even near the start), short 5-10 minute games, and fluid gameplay (no more level loading screens) to the game that was the most successful arcade cabinet ever.

As a result of the changes, I feel like the game is more casual friendly (a big plus for people like me) and yet I already spy the intricacies and depth of the new modes peeking out at me.

Yes, the could have added multiplayer. Yes, the mazes could have been made more dense (although some of the new mazes and modes will freak you out). There are a lot of other things that could have been done to change Pac-Man. But ultimately, Iwatani, as his swan song at Namco Bandai, brought his career full-circle with a return to his lasting legacy -- Pac-Man. And with this re-imagining of his classic for a new fast-paced age of worldwide connectivity, he has moved the battle for the ultimate Pac-Man high score from Chucky Cheese to a worldwide leaderboard.

Let the games begin!

I will be covering the Pac-Man world championships tomorrow today in NYC (it's where I live after all) so look out for the upcoming coverage. Of immediate interest is hype surrounding a secret announcement that will be made at the press conference before the competition.

Aaron Greenberg of Microsoft has been quoted as saying:

"We have a secret unveil for gamers around the world that I think will go down in video game history."

Hide the kids, because we all know how the fanboys react to a boatload of hype like that. Let's just hope it's not a total riot letdown. We should get the word by 1:30PM Eastern tomorrow, so stay tuned to XBLArcade.com.

[via Game|Life, Gamertag Radio, and our secret XBLArcade.com connections, Thanks Measure]

Continuing along with their XBLA Wednesdays promotion, Microsoft and Namco have released the 1982 classic Dig Dug. Weighing in at just under 12MB it's the smallest XBLA title that I can remember, and those of you who like to pinch their MS points, will be happy with the 400 point price.

JDude11 gave us the heads up that the official XBLA site now has a Dig Dug page up and running, the interesting part is that it has tomorrow (the 20th) listed as the release date. Add that to the existing TotemBall page with the same release date and it looks like we'll be doubly "blessed" this week.

While I'm starting to tire of the constant Coin-Op Classics, this one has a special place for me. What games will you guys be getting? both, neither?