10 Times You Bought The Wrong Video Game INTENTIONALLY

Namco, for several years, held a patent which allowed them (and only them) to use classic minigames as loading screens. Instead of watching a boring wee spinner, you could have a quick game of Galaxian. Awesome.

But they took it to another level when they released R: Racing, the Nintendo-focused spinoff to Ridge Racer, on the GameCube, by bundling the arcade racer in with the asymmetric multiplayer bonanza, Pac Man Versus.

Nintendo was experimenting with the Gameboy Advance link cable at the time (with some of the most clever gameplay I’d see in ages, a precursor to the Nintendo DS and Wii U), and Pac Man Versus was Namco’s effort in this regard; the game was a five-player experience which let four people play as ghosts with restricted vision on the TV, whilst one person on their own GBA screen controlled the hungry wee yellow pie himself, with full view of the playing field.

This meant the ghosts needed to coordinate and communicate in order to catch that gluttonous little banana-coloured paracetamol, a neat innovation at the time facilitated by the unique hardware link.

I’ve no shame in admitting I bought R: Racing with no intention of finishing a race.