Pac-Man Maker trademark filed by Bandai Namco

Bandai Namco has filed a trademark for Pac-Man Maker, suggesting the 80s icon may soon star alongside ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde in a Super Mario Maker-style game allowing players to create their own Pac-Man mazes.

Filed with the EU IPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) on 18 April, the trademark application is currently under examination. No further details can be gleaned from the page, other than it was Bandai Namco who filed the trademark.

Nintendo's 2015 Wii U title (and 2016 3DS title) Super Mario Maker was a big success, capitalising on people's nostalgia for the famous plumber and letting them create their own levels to share online.

It's not clear how the trademark relates to Nintendo's game. Bandai Namco could looking at it as inspiration and hoping to see whether it can utilise the same naming convention, or it could be working with Nintendo in a third-party capacity.

This is purely speculation at this point, but a hypothetical Pac-Man Maker game that lets users create mazes and layout paths for the game's ghosts, conjuring up all manner of other fiendish tricks, seems like an excellent idea.

One of the best parts about Super Mario Maker was how inventive the player base proved to be, and the excellent, often insanely difficult creations they made and tasked other gamers with.

Since the game was released, fans have wondered how the format could be applied to other Nintendo properties such as The Legend of Zelda and Metroid (if Nintendo won't make a new game, maybe we could). What about other franchises though? Not just Pac-Man but perhaps even Sonic or Final Fantasy...

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