London hosts Grand Finals for Namco's Pac-Man Tournament

Finalists from five different countries will meet today at the Namco Station in Central London, to battle it out for the title of Pac-Man Tournament Champion 2005 and potentially walk away with an authentic limited edition 25th anniversary arcade machine.

Regional heats took place throughout September, spanning multiple carriers in France, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany and the UK. Using Namco's Pac-Man Arcade service, available on i-mode mobile Internet in each of the countries, gamers submitted their highest scores on retro classic Pac-Man, in a bid to compete for the grand prize in London today.

Regional heats closed on October 31st, and the five finalists have been flown to the Namco Station for the final showdown this afternoon, switching from mobile handsets to authentic arcade machines as they compete in front of a crowd of industry professionals, gamers and selected media.

The tournament, organised and supported by Namco Europe's web and mobile content division, is the first of its kind, as it not only covers multiple countries, but also multiple carriers throughout Europe who offer the i-mode mobile Internet service. The UK entered the tournament following the debut of NTT DoCoMo's i-mode on the O2 network in August.

Further news on the unique collaboration between Namco and each of the mobile carriers, the tournament finals and its winner will follow shortly.