[1] This would also be the last time Ms. Pac-Man (1982) would be included in a Namco Museum video game compilation, as future reissues were strictly standalone or on dedicated minicades.

Virtual Arcade was designed to be the largest and most comprehensive in Namco Museum line of compilations, in addition to serving as a convenient and affordable way for consumers to play its back catalog.

[8] Pac-Man Championship Edition, Galaga Legions, and Mr. Driller Online were added to the lineup to represent the company's ability to produce well-designed followups to its older arcade games.

[3] Namco Bandai Games announced Virtual Arcade at the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3),[9] and released it in North America on November 4, 2008.

[11] The inclusion of Namco Bandai's Xbox Live Arcade library was also met with praise, and critics said this helped make the collection worth the purchase.

[15][2][6] GameSpot's Don Francis felt the library relied too heavily on Pac-Man games, but possessed a good selection of titles regardless.

[14] Writing for IGN, Ryan Geddes pointed out that most of the games were included in past Namco Museum collections, and said those are likely worth seeking out instead of Virtual Arcade.

[11] The lack of included extras was criticized by Geddes, who unfavorably compared it to collections like Activision Anthology that contained additional content like developer interviews and artwork scans.